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Matt
It had been a fun few weeks with Maddy in town. Since she’d arrived at the beginning of January, they’d been to the movies every Friday, on the team’s days off Matt still went into the arena to take her to lunch, and breakfast dates had also become a thing as soon as he realized her love for omelets.
Maddy enjoyed dragging him to the museum and theatre and had him hiking every weekend—things he thought he’d never do. He hadn’t realized how lonely he’d been before Maddy got here. She really was a blessing in disguise.
Matt knocked on Maddy’s front door, ready for another movie night. It was Valentine’s Day, and they were having an anti-Valentine’s Day movie date. In one hand, he had the largest bag of popped cheese popcorn he could find, and in the other, a cardboard carrier containing two extra-large vanilla milkshakes from the local fast food place.
Even through the closed door, he could hear music blaring from her living room. Curious, since she wasn’t answering as quickly as usual, he looked into her living room window. He didn’t want to try the handle in the hope that the door was unlocked; he was afraid of scaring her, and the girl threw a mean left hook.
He would know. Over the last month, they’d been going to the gym together a few times a week.
There was Maddy, dancing around her living room, doing a poor, and albeit hysterical, imitation of Beyoncé, and belting out “Single Ladies.” Matt did everything he could to hold in his laughter, because her moves were about as far from the actual choreography as one could get. But the comedy wasn’t why he couldn’t look away. Dancing was not her forte, but her singing voice was decent, and the girl was athletic. He couldn’t help but watch the way her body moved, his gaze transfixed on the swing of her hips, and the sensual curve of her spine as she arched and swayed to the music.
Even though Matt loved watching her dance, his body started to respond in ways he knew he shouldn’t. Dragging himself from the window, he went back to the door and knocked again. This time, she turned the music off and answered.
“Hi! Come on in, make yourself at home like usual. Mr. Whiskers has been sleeping on your spot on the couch, waiting for you.” The orange cat stretched out and yawned. “You’re just in time, the pizza was just delivered. Ooh, milkshakes!” Maddy took the milkshakes from him and stuck a straw in one of them, before taking a long drink.
“Geez, save some for the movie!” Matt tried to pull the cup out of her hand, but she slapped his hand away as she kept trying to sip the frozen drink. “Maddy, don’t drink that too fast, you’re going to get—”
“Oh shit!” She slammed the Styrofoam cup onto the coffee table and dropped into a squat, covering her face with her hands. “Owwwwww.”
“As I was saying, brain freeze,” Matt said, with a chuckle.
After a few minutes of her groaning, which for some reason he found really hot, she shook her head and crawled onto the couch beside him.
“It wasn’t that funny.” Maddy tried to scold him, but she kept cracking up in the process.
“Your poker face sucks, know that?”
“Whatever.” She snickered at him. Letting out a large sigh, as if she was finally recovered from her brain freeze incident, she grabbed the remote and flipped to Netflix.
Matt patted the oversized plastic bag. “Cheese popcorn sounded like the perfect movie snack.”
Maddy tilted her head and looked between him and the popcorn. “Orange fingers and kernel skins stuck in our teeth? Yep, sounds like a perfect anti-Valentine’s Day treat!”
He knew she was making sure they were on the same page, that this was not a date or a romantic setup in any way, despite it being Valentine’s Day. And he was fine with that, so that niggle he felt couldn’t be disappointment. The way his body had reacted so quickly to seeing her earlier had temporarily confused him, but he had to stop that train of thought. It was normal for any guy to respond, seeing a beautiful woman making sexy dance moves. He could push that aside.
“What movie is on tap tonight?” Matt plated a slice of pizza for each of them. As he sat back on the couch to eat his, he was accompanied by his buddy, Mr. Whiskers. The orange cat sat on the arm of the couch, purring and hoping Matt would send some pizza his way.
“Say Anything.”
“Really? The late eighties romantic comedy?”
“Problem?” She tilted her head and batted her eyes at him.
“Nope, no problem. I just never saw it.”
Maddy gasped. “You never saw it? How is that even possible? Were you living under a rock?”
“Nope. But then again, I wasn’t much for television. I played hockey, don’t forget. Pretty much every second that I wasn’t eating or sleeping, I was on the ice or in the street with a stick in my hand.”
“Huh.” She twisted the side of her mouth and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “No television? I don’t think we would’ve been friends.”
“Why? What were you busy doing when you were a kid? Besides watching classic rom-com movies? Were you dreaming of being a massage therapist?” he teased.
Maddy shoved him and laughed. “No. No one dreams of being a massage therapist. I was probably playing dolls and dreaming of being something fabulous, like a princess or something.”
“A princess, huh?” He studied her and could see that. “So, princess, did you figure you’d be married by now?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I never really had an age in mind, just once I found my Prince Charming. Then I grew up and found out he doesn’t really exist. What about you?”
He knew all about adulting and shattered expectations. “I thought I’d be a hockey star, check. And I guess I assumed I’d be married, and I’d make enough that she didn’t have to work. She could travel with me or stay home with the kids... But as you can see, that didn’t work out the way I had planned.”
She turned sideways to face him and leaned her elbow against the back of the couch. “What exactly happened with you two?”
“We got together young, maybe too young. She’d follow me to whatever town I ended up playing for. Once we settled in Pittsburgh, she and Kat Torella were like peas in a pod. I thought we had found our niche in life, and that it would be smooth sailing from there on out, as cliché as all that sounds.”
He stopped to consider his words. Lindsay walking out on him hadn’t come as a surprise, but he’d never really gotten answers from her, either. “And I’m not really sure what happened. I guess she got bored, and maybe annoyed when I started being plagued with injuries and I wasn’t playing so consistently anymore. Maybe I wasn’t that trophy athlete husband anymore? And maybe that was important to her. At some point, I became more of an ATM than a husband, and no one deserves to be treated like that. At that point, the end for us was near, and I was just waiting to see what was going to come to an end first, my marriage or my career.”
“Ouch.” Maddy grimaced.
“Yeah, well, it is what it is. And here I am, still playing, albeit in Wilkes-Barre for the minor league. But hockey is hockey, and I’m grateful the Falcons will have me.” He finished his third piece of pizza, and swiped his mouth with his napkin. “I think we need to put that movie on now. I’m dying to see it.” Matt made sure to add the dramatic sarcasm to his voice after all the seriousness.
“I bet you’ll love it.”
Matt tilted his head, interested. “Oh, we’re betting? What’s on the line?”
“How about if I win, and you love the movie, then you take me out to a nice dinner? Suit and tie, all that jazz.”
“And if I’m not impressed, and I win?” He had no intention of winning if losing meant taking her out to dinner without her insisting on paying for half the bill. It would be kind of like a date. The sudden idea surprised him, but he didn’t stop to think too much about it.
“Trust me, that won’t be an option,” she said, with a wave and a smug smile.
“We’ll see about that. Grab that popcorn and let’s get this anti-Valentine’s Day movie started.”
“I hope you’re ready for an all-nighter, because I have two more movies lined up after this one.”
Matt droned sarcastically, “Seriously?”
“As a heart attack. So, get comfortable. Speaking of comfortable...” Maddy grabbed her milkshake and moved close to him, settling in under his arm so he had no choice but to put his arm around her. “This is much better.”
“Popcorn?” He offered her the open end of the oversized bag.
It really didn’t matter if he liked the movie or not. This beautiful girl was curled up in his arm, and they were sharing pizza and a huge bag of cheese popcorn, while sipping on vanilla milkshakes. This was the best anti-Valentine’s Day he ever had.