I Love You, Mat Barzal

Part 5

My eyes fluttered open as I began to realize where I was. I lifted my head from Mat's shoulder and he gave me such a genuine, soft smile.

"Well, good morning sleepyhead." Mat chuckled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep. Your shoulder was just the comfiest pillow I've ever had." I explained to him, taking a sip from my soda bottle.

"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for; you are really cute when you sleep." Mat responded shyly. His eyes flickered between mine and the floor.

"I'd disagree but I'm glad you think so..." I placed my hand on his upper arm. His eyes began to brighten up.

Mat began to shift his body and looked at me with the sweetest look and asked, "Would you wanna move this party to the diner in town?" It was about 4:45 and even though me and Mat had the pizza rolls and taquitos, I was starting to get hungry for dinner.

"I would absolutely love to." I smiled. He grabbed his things and I slipped on my Vans. When we walked out to his car, he opened the passenger side door for me.

"M'Lady..." Mat gestured for me to get in and he closed the door behind me too.

We sat down in a small booth, the waiter dropped two waters in front of us and handed us menus.

As we read the menus, I could see Mat's hands fiddling with his keys. His hands were tanned and big. They had those veins protruding slightly on the back of his hands that trailed all the way up to his inside forearm. I didn't realize I was staring at the size and shape of his hands until my thoughts were interrupted by the waiter.

"Are you folks ready to order?" My eyes flicked toward Mat who had a wide grin on his face.

"Um, not quite yet. She was a little bit distracted, we only need another minute." He gave the waiter a smile and shot me a wink. "Did you like what you were looking at?" He questioned me with the cheekiest grin I have ever seen. I shook my head confused as I acted like I had no idea what he was talking about. "Completely adorable..." Mat said under his breath and smiled.

The waiter came back and we both ordered. Mat ordered a cheeseburger with french fries and I ordered a waffle.

Mat cleared his throat and began to speak, "Um, Juliette...We have our home opener on Monday night. Would you want to go?"

I gave him a smile and nodded my head, "Of course, I would. I mean, to be honest, I was probably gonna go anyway to watch Noah. But, I would love to cheer you on, too." His hand rested open on the table, waiting for mine to join his. I placed my hand in his.

"Well, maybe you could be a special one for me? Like you could..." He gave a small nervous swallow. "...maybe you could wear my jersey?"

I squeezed his hand a little bit, "I would love to Mat."

The biggest smile spread across his face that he just couldn't wipe off. Just then, the waiter came out with our food. "Alright love birds, here we go." He playfully stated with a laugh.

Mat gave me a wink and we began devouring our delicious food.