after dark | matthew tkachuk

0.1

Whether or not parties were enjoyable, Y/N hadn't decided quite yet. She enjoyed the rush of taking shots and dancing with her friends, mingling with new people and having a break, but the hangovers and nausea the next morning weren't her biggest joy in life.

Nonetheless, when her friend Cam threw a party, she always showed up. She knew the man from his days in Edmonton as the Oilers goalie. While Y/N was studying a general science degree in university, she used to frequent the same bars that he did. They bumped into one another a couple times and despite their twelve year age difference, they got along rather well.

After they hung out a few times, Cam had invited Y/N into his inner circle. She met some of his hockey teammates that were on the oilers at the time and became a regular face in his life. When he got traded they kept in touch and that lead them to today.

Y/N just finished her science degree and she had zero prospects. Hearing that his friend needed a hand, Cam searched around and talked to some people he knew. He got her a job at one of the hotels he had a partnership with and it went from there. Now Y/N was flying in the Calgary Flames' inner circle instead of the oilers. It almost felt like treason.

The bass echoed behind her head as the woman walked through the house party, there were string lights of all different colours hanging on the ceiling and various tables set up, filled with food and drinks. There were so many options that Y/N knew she could never get bored- even if she made several trips to the tables that night, there was a good chance she could find something new to try. "Y/N! Glad you could make it!" Kelly- Cam's wife- called out, she pushed her way through the crowd and wrapped the younger girl in a hug. They were beyond close and Y/N was thankful for that. When she first moved to calgary, she didn't know anyone- leaving behind her family in edmonton was a big step. Especially since she had never left home before. The first few months of Y/N's life in calgary were tough- she called her brother almost every day, just wanting to hear the familiarity of home in his voice. But as she got busier with work and started going out more, the homesickness began to fade away.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world Kell-" she grinned and wrapped her arms around her friend, pulling away, she looked through the options and grabbed herself a drink. Deciding to go with vodka and soda. "So who's here tonight? I swear everytime you guys throw a party- I recognize less faces." she chuckled softly.

Kelly turned around and looked at the crowd, even she was having a trouble knowing exactly who was in her house. "Hmm well the flames are all here- Johnny, Giordano, Tkachuk-"

Y/N groaned. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the last name. "Keep him away from me." she pointed her glass at Kelly and sighed.

The older woman smirked. "I know you two hate each other, but just you wait- one day you guys are gonna get together." Y/N looked at her as if she was crazy. "Kelly I'm saying this as your friend- I think it's time you slow down tonight, how much did you drink?" she fired back.

Laughter echoed around the pair, "Im serious Babe- you and matthew are perfect for each other. Just give it a chance." she shrugged it off before heading back out to continue her duties as host.

For a while, Y/N hung out by herself she kept to the back corner and scrolled through her phone. She hadn't seen too many of her friends there that night and if she was being honest- now that she knew matthew was there, her party spirit had dwindled.

"You're so lame you know that?" She heard a voice call out to her. Standing before her, head full of curls and devilish smile in all, Matthew Tkachuk. He was a nuisance, a pest, a pain in Y/N's ass and he knew it.

Rolling her eyes, Y/N looked up from her phone, there was irritation crawling along her skin like fire ants whenever Matthew was around. Y/N prided herself on being a patient person- but when it came to Matthew, she had no such thing. If he were to drop off the face of the earth tomorrow, she wouldn't be too upset about it.