The Hockey Player (Matt Sturniolo)

Lost

Aurora's POV

Oh my God...Matt could kiss. His lips were soft, even when I grabbed his face and pulled him to me. I never wanted it to end or lose the feeling of his hands on my hips.

My heart sighed when I felt his touch for the second time. I challenged him to prove how much I meant to him, but I pulled him back to me. Compared to the bad kisses I had today, his were feathery.

I pulled him closer to me, deepening the kiss. With less space between us, I cupped the back of his neck and ran my fingers through his hair. I wanted to trust him.

Matt's breath was warm against my skin as our lips parted before he kissed me again. Every skin warmed my skin, and we exchanged gentle pulls and presses.

I pulled back and sighed at our surroundings. I tried to be happy, but my voice strained in the back of my throat. "Great" we could've eaten this in the truck. To his amusement, I nearly needed a stool to climb into the passenger seat.

He opened the bag and let out a low laugh. "Not a fan of the beach?"

"Which part?" I scoffed and took my burger. "Skin cancer or sand in every crack of my body?"

"It's early evening" he scanned the beach. "No skin cancer. The sand? Yeah, you're right. Sorry I didn't plan this. It isn't where I wanted to take you originally"

"You had a date planned?" How cute was that? My heart melted when he nodded.

His smile was adorable. "Guess you'll have to go out with me again to find out"

Today, Matt's boldness was upfront, but it shifted away from irritating and more...endearing. I couldn't put myself out like that, but I could still tease him. "Depends on you fixing that shit with your team. And don't tell me we're going skinny dipping"

Some part of me, which I hadn't wrapped my head around Matt's team's description, in order it was 'hot, a virgin, Dan's hard to get sister' I wasn't ashamed to be a virgin, especially with how my first experience ended. No one should feel worthless.

The only reason I was still here, was the tortured look in Matt's eyes and the way he squirmed when he explained what happened to him. Did I trust him? He deserved the chance to prove himself, and it did sound like a stupid misunderstanding. How he dealt with the misunderstanding was more important. One of us would take the hit.

"If that's what you want" Matt's eyes sparkled, and he gave me a small smile. My heart raced at his hand behind me, and his chest close to my shoulder.

"Stop picturing me naked" I narrowed my eyes into a glare.

"Guys can dream" My lips parted at his confession, and he looked away from me to the ocean. "It's probably too cold. And I don't trust you not to steal my clothes"

"What would I do with them?" I looked down at the sweater I was wearing. Two sizes too big, it was warm and snuggly.

"No idea. I didn't get past your motive for not getting me naked yet"

I laughed. He said the weirdest things.

A beautiful sunset glowed beyond the water. The beach was deserted, no signs of activity near the bonfire. "It's pretty tonight" I pointed. The sand was cool and slightly damp as we ate in silence.

The relaxed version of Matt, became my favourite version of him. The sunset painted his skin, and shadows etched the definition of his biceps and shoulders from the simple action of lifting a burger to his mouth.

I avoided checking out his physique, but I took my chance when he leaned forward and eyed the contoured muscles in his nearest shoulder and arm.

"I saw that, Aurora" Matt's eyes stayed forward, but he smirked. "I have good peripheral vision, you know?"