As You Please || Auston Matthews

013

Brett and I had met about a block out from the center of our apartment buildings. When I noticed the familiar blonde wave his hand through the crowd, I jogged over to him and wrapped him into a tight hug. As he wrapped his arms around me, he rocked us back and forth, letting out a loud yell into the busy Sunday streets of Toronto.

The last week had obliterated the mental stability of the tight friend group Brett and I were a part of. With nearly impossible deadlines and three huge pitches, we were all pushed to the very brink of a breakdown. Most days, the four of us camped out at my house, our laptops all plugged in while we sat at my dining room table and ran through everything us and our team needed to do.

Despite the high levels of stress, we had fun. We worked until one in the morning, slept until six, then got up and did it again. They had cleaned out my fridge and depleted my supply of coffee. All of my dishes were dirty, and I was running low on toilet paper and laundry detergent.

In the end, when we walked in on Friday to Robyn congratulating us on three super successful business pitches, it was worth it. We spent most of Friday catching up and filling out paperwork. For lunch, we ordered in and ate in my office. When it finally hit five o'clock, Robyn handed us each an envelope, thanked us, and told us to have a nice weekend.

As we all exited the building, we made plans to meet for Brunch on sunday. It was a ritual we had started when we all started working there, but as of late, wasn't able to keep up with. Between huge projects, travel, and significant others, it was nearly impossible.

Luckily, today Auston was away, Lilly's girlfriend was busy with college friends, and Trevor and Brett were single and ready to embarass themselves in front of ladies once they were drunk off mimosas.

"Auston still texting you non-stop?" Brett asked once we broke apart and started heading into the main section of the city.

A blush appeared on my cheeks as I thought back to the last week. Auston was busy practicing and traveling. They had five games packed into nine days all across the western united states. I knew he was exhausted. I knew he needed to keep his head in the game. I told him. I begged him.

But every night, he called.

When they had a night off, he stayed in his hotel room and skyped me instead of going out with the team. He thought it was a win because the guys weren't around, but little did he know I had the three most obnoxious friends surrounding me when his face came through on the screen.

The brunette was hesitant at first, but once everyone got their jokes in and let us do most of the talking, he quickly warmed up to them.

I really like your friends.

Thanks, we like you a lot too!

"Yeah, his plane lands tomorrow night. I told him to head home and rest but-" I looked at Brett and watched him dramatically roll his eyes.

"But, the key." Brett lightly pushed his elbow into my ribs as he wiggled his eyebrows. Rolling my eyes, I turned to him and flicked the tip of his nose.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, B."

"I called it, I said he was in love with you." The blonde teased as he poked my shoulder a few times. "Talk about a good-looking power couple."

"Do you ever hear yourself?"

"Yes, I talk to myself all the time," Brett snickered as I rolled my eyes and reached into my pocket. Pulling out my phone, I looked down and felt my cheeks heat up again as his name appeared on the screen. "Really though," Brett started, his eyes locking onto mine as I looked up, "you deserve this."