Angels of Long Island | Mathew Barzal

~16~

The next morning, I wake up to have two arms around me. I hear soft snores coming from behind me and I carefully roll over to come face to face with the sleeping man beside me. His hair is all messy and his breathing is mixed between soft breaths and the occasional soft snore. Not like a grizzly bear but it was really cute. What am I doing? We're not even together. I can't. Just then, Mat rolls over on his back and the sheets move to uncover his stomach and chest. I place a hand on his chest and feel his breathing. After a few minutes, his eyes flutter open and he looks over at me. "Well I could get used to this." He says, smiling. He reaches up to tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "Do you have practice today?" I ask him, plopping on my back and reaching for my phone. "Yeah in about an hour. I wont have time to take you home before but I can come back and get you and then we can leave after I'm done practice." He explains. "I don't have to rush back. There's no reason to; I don't have class until Monday. Unless you're ready to get rid of me." I chuckle. "No never, I just didn't know if you were excited to get back." He says. "On the contrary actually. I had a lot of fun." I say. "You coming to the game on Friday night?" Mat asks, not looking away from his own phone. He said it as if it was a routine question. "If you want me to." I say. "I want you to." He says. "Am I gonna have to sit with the WAGS?" I ask. " Not if you don't want to, they're nice though." He says. "They are, but I'm not a WAG." I say, wondering what kind of reaction he would have. "I guess that's fair. But they really liked you last night." He defends. "Maybe sometime." I mumble, curling up next to him. After a while, he decides to get up and get ready for practice. He gets dressed and comes out to his living room, where I've been sitting and watching tv. "Already taken my tv, eh?" He laughs. "Well if I'm gonna be here for a while I might as well find something to do." I say, turning my attention back to the Friends episode that was on. "Or you could come with me." He suggests. I snap my head to look at him. "You want me to go to practice?" I ask. "If you want to come. Can't guarantee that there will be much to do." He says, gathering his wallet and Audi keys. "I'll come." I say, clicking off the tv and hopping up. "Well if you're coming, I cant be seen with you wearing just a tshirt." He says. "Do you have a better idea?" I ask. "I have a couple." He smirks. "Nice try." I say. I flaunt past him back to his room and grab the denim shorts I was wearing yesterday and the black shirt. Just as I'm finishing, Mat comes into the room and says "If you're coming, you may want something warmer." He goes to open his double closet doors and pull out an Islanders hoodie. I can already tell it's going to be huge on me but I accept it from him anyway. Then we head out.