[WAITLISTED] you were never mine // matthew boldy

9

All throughout the hockey game, all that was on my mind was what Matt had mentioned in his text before getting ready for the game. What could he mean "jeopardizing our relationship"?

I sighed and opened the little opening to allow my camera through and take some shots of Seth Jarvis shooting the puck towards Marc-André Fleury, who was tonight's goaltender. The third line was out, which included Matt. He stood at the left wing side of the ice covering a Carolina skater.

Matt followed the skater he was defending to where I was sitting, and I had to close the hole to avoid any potential damages done to my camera. And it wouldn't be Matt paying for it this time.

For a quick second as Matt slammed the skater into the boards near my section, we looked at each other. He frowned, then skated off to begin the third line rush for the Minnesota Wild in the offensive zone.

The end of the game neared, and Carolina was up 3-2 with a goal by Andrei Svechnikov to give the Hurricanes a late third period lead.

Unfortunately the Wild suffered another loss, extending their losing streak to three games.

I sighed and got my stuff ready for some more editing before going home for the night.

"I told y'all that Carolina was gonna win!" Ryan boasted, throwing his hands in the air.

I rolled my eyes. "Ryan, it is almost eleven at night. People want to go home, and you're standing here being a jackass. Be supportive of the team you work for, you fucking clown." I spat, which I probably shouldn't have said. Being sleep deprived really can get to you, especially if you don't even know if you have a boyfriend anymore.

He scoffed, crossing his arms. "I know I shouldn't be the one talking, Stanton. You're the one who's been hooking up with Matthew Boldy," he responded, which made my heart stop.

He had zero evidence that I've been with Matt for the past few weeks. Probably other than the game against the Maple Leafs when he fell on me, he had no other evidence that we were in a relationship, let alone hooking up.

"Just because Matt accidentally falls on me doesn't mean we're fucking each other," I retaliated. "If I was dating Matt, you'd have absolutely zero evidence,"

"Sure, sure. Look, I just wanna get my shit done and go home. I'm sure everyone here in this department can say the same," Ryan responded, uncrossing his arms and setting himself into the comfortable, leather chair.

I sighed and stared blankly at my laptop screen. Was Ryan being serious? Did he find out that Matt and I were in a relationship?

Is that what Matt was hinting at? People are finding out about the relationship and he needed to talk to me about it?

I haven't felt as confused and somewhat betrayed in my entire life. Now I was on the brink of losing my dream job because I decided to break one rule.

—

Matt came over to my apartment after I had finished my late night shower when I got home. I was in a pair of black Nike sweatpants and Matt's sweatshirt that he left here with my hair in a loose braid.

I opened the door after Matt knocked and let him inside.

"So, what is this about?" I asked him.

Matt sat himself on my couch and turned the volume down on the TV. "I want to talk to you about something important. Something I have been wanting to talk about since the entire Minnesota Wild team found out that we are in a relationship," he says.

My eyes widened as I could feel my heart drop. I gasped, and I swear all of the air was sucked out of me.

Matt frowned. "I'm not sure how this happened. I swear I didn't tell anyone about you. Kirill Kaprizov was the first person to bring it up, and I had to tell his own girlfriend about some issues going on in their own relationship," he continued, which made me even more confused. Why would he be talking to Kirill's girlfriend about their issues? Shouldn't Kirill be the one doing that?

I looked at him in a dazed state of confusion, still trying to process what he's been saying.

"How in the world did Kirill find out? Have you asked him about that?" I asked, and it came out sounding like I was getting pissed, which I rightfully was.

Matt shrugged. "I asked him, but he never said anything. Then Marcus Foligno said something while we were doing our workouts," he continued, answering my question. "Then eventually the whole team is chirping about it in my ear,"

I groaned, almost starting to cry. "Matthew, do you not realize what you have done? I am now on the edge of losing my dream job because one person found out about our relationship. It started out as a snowball, then it quickly progressed to becoming an avalanche," I said, my heart starting to race as Matt continued to look at me in guilt. He knew where this was probably going, and I didn't want to go that far, but I would if I felt the need to.

"I'm sorry, Peyton. I really am. If we need to—"

I felt a fuse snap in my body. Maybe because I was running on five hours of sleep and little food in my system, but I wasn't dealing with the fact that now the entire Minnesota Wild hockey team and coaches knew that one of their players and one of the workers were together. They probably relayed that to the front office responsible for hiring employees, and I should be expecting a phone call or email about my termination from my job.

"No, Matthew. I think I need to cut ties with you so I can have an attempt to keep my job," I told him, nearly yelling at him, feeling the tears stream down my face. I was broken. I felt betrayed.

His eyes widened and his face became white as a ghost. There was a faint sparkle in his eyes, and I could tell he was going to start crying as well.

"So you're breaking up with me even though you wanted this fucking relationship," Matt snapped, standing up from the couch. He walked over to me, his height of being 6'2 towering over me. I wasn't scared of him. I wasn't intimidated by him. Who the hell does he think he is?

I took his sweatshirt off and threw it into his chest. "That's exactly what I'm doing. I've lost your trust, Matthew," I said. Typically I never said his full first name unless I was feeling some arousing or angered emotion. This was one of those times.

He caught his sweatshirt, leaving me in just my bra.

"You were never mine, Matthew. If you were mine, then you wouldn't betray me like you did." I said, pushing him out of my door and I slammed the door shut, not letting him plead his case.

After I slammed the door, I leaned my back against the door and slouched myself down to where I was sitting on the floor. I sat there in my bra, wondering what I had just done, and wailed for the rest of the night.

—

Unfortunately things don't just go away right at the moment.

I've blocked Matthew's phone number, and I deleted everything off of my phone associating with him, other than the pictures where he's just doing his job with his team. However, I was still working with a piece of Matt that I wasn't able to get rid of, that being my camera I'm using for work.

Ryan mentioned to me, being nicer than what he has been for the last few days, that Matt's stats have dropped since the Carolina game.

"That's nice," I muttered.

He looked at me in confusion. "What? No it's not," he responded. "You were the one sticking up for Matt earlier, now you're against him?"

I sighed. "Maybe because someone was spreading rumors about him and I hooking up," I said, hinting at what Ryan had said after the Carolina game.

He frowned guiltily.

"Whatever. Just leave me alone. I've got work to do," I told him, shooing him away from my desk. He nodded his head and went back to where his desk was.

I blankly stared at the picture of the 2003 Minnesota Wild celebrating their win against the Colorado Avalanche to advance to the Western Conference Final that was posted on my small cork board along with a small Wild banner.

I wonder how Matt is feeling. I thought, clicking my pen on the desk.