TUESDAY, April 16th
"Let's share a toast for tonight's win, and for many to come!"
We all raise our glasses as the man who just held a short speech walks down from the chair he were standing on. Touching my glass with Steph's, we then take a sip from our drinks.
After the Leafs' win against Boston tonight, William invited me to this event arranged by the team. I haven't seen him for almost two weeks and therefore answered him yes over text, expecting for it to be a good chance to catch up as I've actually been missing him.
Though the only problem is that I haven't seen him all evening. Thankfully, Steph is here to keep me company while Mitch and Auston talks to others.
"Hey Steph!" A guy suddenly greets my friend happily, walking up to us. "Nice to see you, it's been a few weeks!"
They hug each other as I stay in my spot, observing the brown haired guy to see if I recognize him at all. Judging his clothing, I guess he's in the team, but that's pretty much the only conclusion I've got so far.
As they let go of each other, his brown eyes immediately lands on me. He takes in my looks in a pretty obvious way, making me slightly uncomfortable.
"We haven't met before," he says, an accent hiding in his words. "I'm Kasperi, Kapanen. People call me Kappy."
He reaches out his big hand which I look at for a second, before letting my hand shake his. "I'm Elle, it's nice to meet you."
"Elle?" He repeats, letting go of my hand as he raises his eyebrows. "I was sure you couldn't be single. Willy's lucky."
I can feel my cheeks heat up after hearing his words, finding myself smiling a little. "Yeah, me and William are not a couple."
"Oh really?" Kappy raises his brows again, this time with a small smile on his lips. "So you're here all alone?"
I notice Naia moving impatiently beside me, kinda obvious with her annoyance. "No," I start off. "I mean, Naia's here so-"
"What are we talking about?"
With big eyes, Kappy and Naia watches the guy who just slid into our conversation. Getting a little annoyed with the fact that William were gone all night and just decided to crash our conversation out of nowhere, I choose to look at the floor instead of him.
"Where have you been all night?" Naia is the first one to break the silence, she also seems to be the one to appreciate his arrival the most. "You really have been the worst company ever."
After watching Naia while she was speaking, I look at Kappy whose gaze is everywhere but in someone's eyes. Just by looking at him, I can feel the tension being built out of nowhere.
"Yeah," William starts, his gaze deeply laying on the guy in front of us.
It doesn't take long until I've figured out what makes his teammate so uncomfortable.
"Um, there was a lot of sponsors and important people I had to talk to, so.. sorry."
The four of us fall silent after his words, making the sound of others voices surrounding us much more obvious. During the silence, I notice the arm resting over my shoulders. For some reason, I find myself smiling very lightly at the sight.
William's staring comes to an end as Kappy eventually leaves us alone. He casually removes his arms from me, looking at us like nothing just happened.
"What?" He asks as we stay quiet.
The silence stays for a few seconds, as I try to process what just happened in my head. I've never seen him be this rude to anyone before, his behavior towards Kappy really made me thinking.
Is this how he really is? No. That's at least what my gut tells me.
"You scared him!" Naia exclaims, making William jump at the sudden sound.
"No I didn't!" He defend himself as me and my friend both sigh.
"You watched him like he just killed your sibling or something!"
He goes silent after her words, the defensive look fading away as the regret takes its place instead. "I've just had the most stressful night ever," he sighs, shaking his head before looking down at me for the first time in weeks. "I'm sorry."
It's obvious that what he just said is genuine, I'd like to think that I can read people that well by just looking them in the eyes. But it's not like I'm glad that he's stressed, it rather places a light frown on my forehead.
"So I'll go find Mitch," Naia says, making me look at her instead. "Now that your company finally arrived, I guess that's fine?"
I laugh at her, glancing back at William, who's still watching me, before nodding. "It's fine. Thank you."
"Bye," she smirks and turns around, her blonde hair swaying while she walks over to the other side of the room.
As I turn back to facing William, I immediately catch his eyes again. Getting slightly uncomfortable with his gaze never leaving me, I smile a little as I shake my head in a questioning manner. "What?"
He smiles too, seemingly watching every inch of my face. "I'm sorry," he says quietly. "I've just missed you."
My smile becomes more genuine after his words, I find myself starting to watch him too. "You can be cute when you want to."
William snorts cheekily, though he finally releases his gaze from me. "Oh come on," he says. "I'm always cute."
I roll my eyes at his confidence, choosing not to share my thoughts with him about how he's literally one of the most adorable humans I've ever met.
His mood changes quickly, turning from cheeky to stressed very quickly. "I can't stand being here, acting nice to every single stranger," he mumbles, looking around like he's scared that someone's eavesdropping on us. "I feel like I can't breathe in here."
I can tell that it's everything but easy to share these thoughts with me, though I couldn't appreciate it more that he does. It's like the pressure and anxiety filling his voice make its way over to my body as well, though I sure can't imagine the weight he's got on his shoulders.
Observing his face for a few seconds, it's not hard to me to know what to do. "Come on."
I grab his hand in mine without hesitation, not even trying to see his reaction when I start to make my way against the exit. A lot of people are watching us as we try to make it through the crowd, it makes me understand how known he really is in this community.
When we're finally out of the room and enter a hallway, I let go of his hand as I close the door. All of the sounds disappear with that move and I can immediately spot his shoulders lower. He takes a few very deep breaths, staring at the wall behind me for a good two minutes.
Once the pace of his breathing has become more regular, his blue eyes land on me. They are a bit blanker than usual as he opens his mouth. "You really don't need to care about me like thi-"
Placing my arms around his torso, he immediately goes silent. I can soon feel his arms around my shoulders as well, his heartbeat slowing down until it's almost in sync with mine.
The feeling of him being this close to me makes me feel a new kind of tranquility, though I'm also pretty insecure after all of the sudden moves I've made. I don't even know where I found all of this courage, though my not so outgoing self is showing inside of me now.
His grip of me becomes looser and we both smile as soon as our eyes meet. "You really seem to be knowing what's best for me better than I do," he grins quietly, observing every detail of my features as I do the same to him.
It doesn't take long until his head starts leaning towards mine, and I'll be honest, it surprises me a little. Though for some reason, I'm not nervous at all as his lips comes closer to mine, neither when they softly lands on mine. His warm lips softly massages mine and the touch places a new kinda explosion inside of me.
It all last for about five seconds and the shock within me is obvious as it ends. When I catch his eyes, I can tell that he's not shocked at all. His eyes digs deep into mine, almost searching for any type of confirmation that I'm okay with whatever just happened.
Though it was more than okay for me, and I don't even try to show it by my eyes as I press my lips back on his again. He grins against them before kissing me back, this time more confidently and eagerly. I tangle my fingers into his brown hair as his hands find their way down to my waist, pulling me closer if that's even possible.
The make out session ends too soon for my liking. When I meet his gaze, I can see those sparks in his eyes shining brighter than ever before.
"Remember when I accidentally texted you instead of Auston, asking you out?" He questions as he's now back to observing my face. "Well, it wasn't really an accident at all."
I smile as his grip of me tightens again, his lips landing on my temple. "Do you think we should go back?"
He keeps on planting small kisses, before resting his chin on the top my head. "No one has noticed yet, have they?"
Just as I playfully roll my eyes, I can hear the door open down the corridor. Plenty of voices kill the silence and I turn my head towards the direction, just to spot Auston standing by the door frame.
"There you are!" He exclaims, totally ignoring the way me and William are still hugging each other. "Elle, Naia's looking for you. She said something about a lost earrings, I don't really know."
As we let go of each other, I smile at Auston. "Okay, thank you."
With a silly smile on my face, I walk back into the crowded room.