~~~~
It was nearing the point in the evening when your social battery was dangerously close to zero. Like, blinking red about to be stranded in the middle of the ocean with no life preserver, dangerously close to zero. And if you knew Connor McDavid as well as you thought you did, his would be in the danger zone too.
"That time of the night, Y/N?" Zach chirped as you walked past him. You shot him a look and playfully flipped him off as you continued on your way to what would become your safe corner for the night. You sat down and tried your best to look like you didn't want to jump out the window.
"I see the clock has struck midnight for the both of us," the voice of your fellow introvert Connor McDavid had you genuinely smiling for the first time all night.
"Thank god," you sighed as he sat down at the table across from you, placing his drink down in front of him. "It looks like you lasted longer than me this year."
"I actually think we both tapped out at the same time," Connor said, looking around for any sponsors he might have to hide from. "There are times I rethink my career choice and this is one of them."
"Yeah," you agreed, making eye contact with him. Like always, your stomach fluttered. "This industry isn't the best if you're not an extrovert."
"I genuinely have no idea how Leon does it," Connor said, looking over to see Leon Draisaitl in the middle of the room somehow managing three different conversations and one of them was in German. "Man is a god."
"He has to be," you agreed, shaking your head in awe. "There is literally no other explanation."
Connor laughed and took a sip of his drink. He swallowed before turning his gaze onto you. Your cheeks heated up to the point you would have sworn your face was literally glowing.
"So what was the conversation that did you in?" with his question the party around you seemed to melt away.
"New camera equipment, believe it or not," you answered.
"Really?" Connor was surprised. "I thought you loved getting new gear?"
"I do, believe me I do," you worked for the Edmonton Oilers' media department. Getting new gear before a season was like Christmas. "But there was just something about it tonight that I could not sit through."
"Business conversations are the worst," Connor agreed. "I couldn't even explain what the one I just abandoned was about. I think it was skate laces? I don't even know."
"Who knew these black tie events could be so goddamn boring," you said, eliciting a laugh from Connor.
"Agreed."
Connor thought for a second before speaking again. He wasn't sure if it was the amount of drinks he'd had at the party or if it was something else, but he had a little extra courage that had his threshold for stupidity so far up it was in danger of becoming part of the ballroom ceiling.
"Hey, wanna leave?"
"I'm sorry?" you looked at him in shock. You had been to countless of events like these and ended up in this scenario countless of times before but not once had Connor proposed the idea of ditching. "I know you won't get fired but I still have my job to worry about."
"Oh don't worry about it," Connor said as he stood up. Oh. He was serious. "If someone gives you a hard time just point them in my direction. I'll say you were feeling sick and since I was with you you just asked me to take you home."
"Alright, I guess that's believable enough," you answered and took his hand, allowing him to help you up from your seat.
"What do you think about ice cream?" he asked as you slipped out of the ballroom and made your way through the hotel lobby towards the valet.
"I could go for some ice cream," you agreed, holding tight to your clutch as if it was your only life preserver in the middle of the ocean.
"Ice cream on me, then," Connor shot you a lopsided grin before passing the parking slip to the valet. You watched as he made conversation with the people at the valet stand, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. You had always found Connor attractive, but there was something about tonight that amplified it. For now you were going to blame it on his suit until you figured out what it was.
The valet pulled up with Connor's car and passed him the keys. Connor opened the passenger side door for you and held out a hand to help you into the low to the ground Jaguar. Of course he drove a Jag. You expected nothing less.
"Thank you," you smiled to him, adjusting the long skirt of your formal dress as he closed the door softly behind you. You watched as he jogged around to the driver side and climbed in.
"I know this really great ice cream place a couple minutes away," he said as he drove away from the hotel. "Believe me, the amount of times I've gone there over the summer is testament to how good it is."
"I believe you," you answered. He tossed you a quick grin before turning his attention back to the road.
Connor had been right. The ice cream place was amazing. It was themed like a 1950s diner, complete with the glass cups. You sat next to him at the counter, feeling only a little bit out of place in your formal dress and heels with your hair and makeup done to make you look as though you were attending a royal wedding. You were thankful for the late hour and the lack of people out getting ice cream.
"You were right," you hummed after your first bite of the frozen treat. "This is amazing."
"I'm always right," he teased, nudging you. "Hey, you got a little something on your lip."
"Ah, dang it," you put your spoon down and tried to wipe away whatever it was Connor had seen. "Did I get it?"
"No," he shook his head. "Here, let me."
Your night had been full of things you weren't expecting. And Connor McDavid leaning it and kissing you was one of them. The tip of his tongue gathering the chocolate that your ice cream had left on your lip was another. Even though they were a part of the same thing, they deserved their own spots on the List of Unexpected Things.
