Alaska || Auston Matthews

three

ALASKA

Carly and I nod in response to Grant as he pushes the door open for us. I feel my hands start to sweat profusely and I feel my cheeks heat up. Why am I all of a sudden nervous about meeting the Leafs? They're just normal guys. Or at least that's what I'm gonna tell myself. 

I look at Carly to see her nervously twirling her hair. Phew. At least I'm not the only one. I turn my attention back to Grant who leads us into the main part of the locker room where a bunch of laughing guys come stand. I feel a pit at the bottom of my stomach and pray that I don't say anything completely stupid.

A couple of the guys notice us as Grant leans over to an older man and whispers something in his ear. The man smiles and looks at Carly and me. I glance to my side at Carly who gives me a nervous smile.

"Gentlemen," the older man says, getting the Leafs' attention, "these are our two guests. Please make them feel welcome. And ladies, make yourselves comfortable." He smiles at us then goes back to talking with Grant, leaving Carly and I alone with the handful of guys. One of the shorter guys steps forward with a huge, toothy grin.

"Hi I'm Mitch Marner," he says, extending his hand to Carly, then me. Probably because of my damn jersey. I definitely should have thought that through before we came in. 

"Nice to meet you, Mitch. I'm Carly and this is Alaska," Carly says warmly. 

"Did you enjoy the game?" Mitch asks, directing the question towards Carly while a guy with blond hair approaches me.

"Hey, I'm William Nylander," he says with a big smile. He was pretty cute. I return the smile.

"I'm Alaska," I say, shifting my weight to my left foot. Two more guys join him, both looking genuinely happy to have us here.

"Alaska, this is Morgan Reilly and Nazem Kadri," William says, motioning to the pair. I smile to both of them and introduce myself. Surprisingly, no one has commented on my jersey. I thought for sure I'd be the butt of everyone's jokes.

"Geez Alaska, stop hogging everyone," Carly jokes, taking my spot by William and the other two. I try my best not to be awkward so I turn to who Carly was talking to: Mitch and a guy who I hadn't met yet. Luckily, Mitch comes to my rescue.

"So, Alaska this is Auston. Auston this is Alaska," Mitch says, motioning between Auston and me. I look up at Auston considering his monumental height to see that he was already looking at me. However, instead of smiling, he just offers his hand. I shake it hesitantly, unsure of what else to do. Auston and I continue our unofficial staring contest, but I break it when I realize Mitch has left to join the group crowded around Carly. 

"What brings a Pens fan to the Leafs locker room?" Auston asks, breaking the slightly uncomfortable silence. I snap my head up to meet his gaze before answering.

"My stepdad got me tickets to the game, plus these passes in order to try and convert me into a Leafs fan," I reply, with a light laugh. His lips twitch upwards into a small, yet captivating smile.

"Did it work?" he asks, his smirk growing. I smile at the question while absentmindedly playing with the hem of my jersey.

"Nope," I say confidently with a proud smile. This causes his smirk to grow and a deep chuckle to erupt from his mouth. I find myself taking in his whole appearance from his deep brown eyes to his broad shoulders. Carly was right; he was attractive.

"Well, I have no doubt you'll be a Leafs fan soon," he says with a confident smile. I roll my eyes and look beyond Austin to see that Carly was exchanging phones with the guys. I too roll my eyes, causing Auston to scrunch his eyebrows.

"What?" he asks, following my gaze to the group. He laughs and motions for me to follow him. We walk over to group where Carly was laughing loudly about something Mitch did. I smile at the sight of Carly getting along with all of them. 

"What now, Carly," I say, chuckling.

"Oh I was just showing Mitch that picture I took of you when you fell passed out drunk with your head in a tub of ice cream," she says before doubling over in laughter. My eyes widen and my mouth drops open.

"Carly! I told you to delete that," I say, my cheeks probably red with embarrassment. All of the guys start laughing as well, Auston included. I can't help but join in as I think back to that night. It was the first party I went to with Carly in Toronto. We both got really drunk and went back to her house to sleep because her parents weren't home. We concluded that we needed ice cream to curb our cravings, so we brought two tubs up to her room. Unfortunately, I didn't get very far into mine when I passed out and my face went right into the tub.

Mitch begins telling a story about a time when William got drunk, but I couldn't focus with Auston staring at me from a couple feet away. Eventually, I brush it off and join in the conversation. However, after ten more minutes of talking, I notice it's already 11:50. I pull Carly away from the group.

"What?" she asks, a little annoyed that I pulled her aside.

"Carly, it's almost twelve," I say, flashing her the clock on my phone. She frowns but reluctantly nods.

"Yeah, I guess we should get going," she says, "we should tell the guys, though." I nod in agreement as we wander back to the group.

"It was great to meet all of you, but we have to get going," Carly announces, catching everyone's attention. The guys start to say their goodbyes one by one, starting with William and ending with Mitch. Auston comes up to me last with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'll see you around, I guess," he says, looking down at me. I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear and nod, even though I highly doubt I'll ever see him again.

"I guess so," I reply, holding his gaze until Carly tugs on my arm. We start walking towards the exit to the parking lot when I hear him speak again.

"See you later, Laska." I look over my shoulder to see him smirking. I smile before replying with newfound confidence.

"We'll see, Matthews."