[WAITLISTED] you were never mine // matthew boldy

7

I drowsily opened my crusty eyes to find a partially melted ice pack on my forehead.

I was in Matt's sweatshirt that he left here before going down to Iowa, plus a pair of black Nike shorts. I felt like I was on the surface of the sun, and the ice pack was not helping.

"Oh! You're awake," Matt said as he brought me a bowl of chicken noodle soup. "How are you feeling?"

I slowly blink as he placed the bowl into my almost numb hands. "I honestly don't know," I raspily said. "I feel like I'm being cooked inside an oven right now,"

He nodded his head. "Maybe it doesn't help that you're in a sweatshirt. Your friend immediately left after you collapsed onto me," he told me as he sat on the edge of my bed.

I sighed, blowing on the steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup in my hands. "Parker is gonna come after my ass," I groaned.

"Now, why do you say that?" asked Matt.

I looked into his calm, blue-gray eyes as I took the first bite out of my soup. "I was trying so hard to keep you a secret from her. She was blabbing about her own boyfriend and how I was alone and single, so I told her that I did have a boyfriend and then she asked me who you were whichIcouldnttellherbecauaseshewouldbeinupinmyassaboutit—"

"Peyton!" Matt yelled, which definitely caught me off guard. I've never heard Matt scream except when we were hooking up the other night.

I blinked.

He sighed. "Look, I know you're upset and scared about her finding out about us. But I think it might be for the better if we choose to carry this relationship on. If it makes you feel any better, Kirill Kaprizov knows. He's known about it since he told me about his own girl issues," he assured, but I wasn't sure how to take this information. I don't know Kirill personally, so how would I know if he spreads the word about our relationship? I knew Parker personally, so therefore I knew what she thought and will probably do now she knows that Minnesota Wild forward Matthew Boldy and her friend are in a relationship together.

"Kirill has a girlfriend?" Was all I could get out of my dry mouth.

Matt chuckled. "Yeah. Her name's Kenzie, I think. You two should meet up sometime. She seems like a nice girl," he said.

"When I'm not sick," I responded.

He chuckled again. "Right. Anyways, I brought you a little something, hopefully you'll appreciate it. And I guess you can say it's a sympathy present," he said before he set a gray package on my nightstand, next to my alarm clock.

I set the soup down behind my lamp on my nightstand so it wouldn't accidentally knock it over when I grabbed Matt's mystery package.

I ripped the package open and pulled out a clear bag that had some sort of jersey in it. I took the jersey out and unraveled it, rolling the sleeves in my fingers. It was a forest green Minnesota Wild jersey with its bold primary logo on the front, and I turned around to see what was on the back.

On the back read "Boldy" in bold letters at the top, then a large number twelve right underneath it.

All I could do was smile to show my gratefulness to Matt for this wonderful gift. I lowered my arms, jersey still in my hands, and gave Matt the happiest smile I could while I was battling some sort of sickness. "Thank you so much," I said.

He smiled. "Of course. Now you can wear that to whenever it's my bobblehead night or some important night for me," he responded as he started to rub his hand up and down my calf.

I started to blush, though my face probably couldn't get any redder from the abnormal heat my body had at the current moment. "I mean, I have a Kaprizov jersey, and I wore that the other night, so I won't see why not," I chuckled.