#✧.*『matt hours』 !bartender matt | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

chiacanwritesometimes · 1 month ago

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everybody adores you, at least i do.

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based on “everybody adores you (quiet)” by matt maltese :)

ship: bucky barnes x reader

word count: 3.9k

authors note: i wrote this after listening to ^^^ on repeat, god i love matt maltese. there are scenes of alcohol intake, a panic attack and brief self harm. please dni if these topics bother, trigger, or make you uncomfortable. this was a pretty long drabble, hope you enjoy :D

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you can act all shy, but you know that i want you.

you aren’t one for flattery, that much was obvious. every time bucky took the time to compliment you, he knew what your next words would be. like clockwork, you would turn red, look away, and sheepishly mutter, “thanks”. you fiddled with your hands, and quickly changed the subject. how desperately he wanted to hold your hands, and kiss them. for years, he pined over you, and you’ve always been almost at his grasp. these past couple of weeks though, it seemed to hit you, that he wanted you.

in the dead of night, i want to live with you.

it all started three years ago, after everyone came back from the blip. people were everywhere, and it seemed that all the noise that lacked from the world came back in an instant. after realizing what happened to you, your environment and your home, you couldn’t help but laugh. how comical, that it seemed like nothing changed. your family hadn’t contacted you, well, the distant family that you still had. you walked to a bar in the hazy hours of the night, and met him. some guys were bothering him about his glove, but he seemed unaffected. he just stared ahead, and drank his whiskey. you devised a plan, to distract the assholes and to maybe introduce yourself. you didn’t want to seem like you were trying to pick him up, but you were trying to make friends in this new world. you asked the bartender quietly to escort the two loud drunks out, and sat down next to him. you didn’t think you’d get this far, so you were at a loss on what to say. did people still talked the same five years later? of course they did, but how do you navigate yourself into talking? your thoughts piled up, and they kept piling up, until his gruff voice interrupted them.

“thanks.” he grumbled quietly.

“hm?” you didn’t catch what he said, as you were too distracted. he cleared his throat.

“i said thanks. for the, yeah.” he pointed to the two men outside. he wasn’t much for words, you realized. you sighed in relief and nodded.

“yeah, dont sweat it.”

he offered to walk you home, as a sign of gratitude. it amused you both that you lived in the same building. small world. you invited him inside, but he hesitated.

“we can take a rain check, if you’d like. ill write you my number.” you assured him, and walked inside to grab a post it. what were you doing? giving a stranger your number? you put those thoughts to rest as you wrote your number.

he awkwardly waited at the half open door. he was glad to have made a…friend? he didn’t know what to call you yet, but he was sure to catalogue you at the back of his mind to let his witch of a therapist know. over the next couple of weeks, you had began to know him better. he had a cat, alpine. he had a past that he wasn’t open to sharing. his apartment was empty, almost ready to be left without a tenant at any moment. he froze at your touch, so you made a mental note to not do that. what a strange person. you knew he disappeared during the blip as well, but you felt as if he had lost more than five years.

so terrified of the road that takes you, me too.

a year had passed for your friendship. you came to his apartment, unexpected, and brought two little cupcakes with candles on them.

“what’s this?” he asked, a little embarrassed to be touched by such a small little gesture.

“its our friendship anniversary, goofy.”

“do we sing happy birthday, or what?” you paused. you weren’t sure, you didn’t really think of singing.

“um, we can have toasts if you’d prefer that. yes, toasts! ill get the glasses.” you sprung to your feet and gracefully navigated yourself in his small kitchen. you had spruced up his place a little, buying him hand towels, candles, and little trinkets that make a house a home, or rather, an apartment into a cozier place to live. you brought the two flutes, and filled them with champagne. he frowned.

“that is definitely not mine.”

“i brought it to celebrate, we need something fancy.” he rolled his eyes, but went along to your little celebration. he sat on his couch and observed you placing the cupcakes on the coffee table, and as you passed him his glass.

“ill go first. um…” you didn’t want to admit that you had started liking him, so you decided to say general statements.

“i hadn’t had a friend since, high school? maybe…so thank you for letting me be yours. err, friend, that is. to many more.” you clinked your glass with his, and motioned for him to go next.

“my last friend died a year ago. you haven’t died yet, so cheers to that.” he said dryly, with a little smile on his face. he thought he was so funny. he clinked his glass with yours, and drank the liquid. you rolled your eyes and mirrored him.

you started watching a movie with him, but you weren’t really paying attention. he started to accept your touch more and more, and you watched the movie with your head leaning on his shoulder. he leaned his head on yours, and tried his best to not move, so as to not bother you. the second act of the movie was commencing, and he had something on his mind. he had to fess up eventually about who he is- who he was, that is. someone he no longer was, someone he despised so vehemently.

“doll?” he tested the waters. he started calling you that, a reminder of how much of a casanova he was when he was in high school. you protested but eventually let him continue calling you that, as it was more effort telling him to stop than you cared to give.

“mm?” you hummed softly, half asleep.

“i wasn’t joking about my toast.”

“i didn’t think you were. you don’t have to talk about it if you don-“

“i want to talk about it.”

you paused. this was rare. you didn’t know what to think, so you gave him the space to talk.

“there’s a reason i’m always wearing this glove, you know.”

“yeah, circulation problems.” you joked, but he didn’t laugh.

“doll, i was born in 1917.”

“…” you sat up. “what? james, you’re not being funny right now.”

he continued tentatively.

“my name is james buchanan barnes and i was born in march 10, 1917.” he recited as if giving a memorized speech, his monotone words hitting you, syllable by syllable.

“i was forced to be the winter soldier, and i was framed for the U.N bombing.” your facial expression must’ve hinted that you put the pieces together, and he stopped.

“and, yeah. i have a metal arm.” he added almost rushed, he wanted to explain that part as well. he gave you space to fully digest everything.

“so…your friend that died was…” he nodded.

“steve rogers.” he finished for you.

“wow.” you didn’t know what to say, you just sat there. everything made so much sense now, why he always wore a glove, why he never had any pictures of friends or family, nothing. suddenly, you smiled.

“doll?” he looked confused. your best friend admitted to lying about his identity to your face for a year, and you’re…smiling?

“the first friend i made in ten years is someone who’s older than me by eighty years.” you giggled.

“i don’t- you’re not mad?” his brain short circuited. you’re not responding the way he thought you would’ve. you shook your head.

“i mean, what kind of friend am i for you not to be able to trust me with that? yeah, im a little blindsided, but i understand. i still see you as my friend.”

he didn’t know what to do. tears threatened to fall.

“pay attention to this part, its my favorite.” you leaned back to your original position, as if nothing happened. you offered your hand, and he took it.

don't modify, every one adores you, at least i do.

“dont look at me like that.” you said, a little tipsy. you had been friends with him for two years now, and you had invited him over to your apartment, for new year’s. you both didn’t really have any plans, or friends, for that matter. of course, he had sam, but sam was with his sister for the new year. he had barged into your apartment with a six case of beer on him, and two little paper hats saying, “happy new year!”. how adorable. you weren’t dressed up, gracing yourself with an oversized shirt and a pair of shorts. you sat on the couch with your legs on his lap, his flesh hand holding his beer and his metal hand holding you. he traced small circles on your calves, which felt really intimate. you’re grateful he used his metal hand, because you weren’t sure what you would’ve done if he used his skin to tease you so.

“like what?” he asked. his tone was quiet, his eyes searching for permission in yours. permission for what?

“like you want to kiss me.”

“and what if i do?” there it was. you didn’t want to ruin any friendship you still had left after he threw that bombshell. you paused and looked away. you took another sip of your beer.

“i’m afraid i’ll have to decline your advances.” you quietly said. its not that you didn’t love him, but it all felt so wrong. the only reason he wanted to kiss you was because it was the new year, and that stupid fucking tradition.

“you know i could get lost in those eyes. i’d trip over my words trying to find my way back.” he admitted. he really did love you. god, he loved you.

“if you keep looking at me like that, i might think that you have a crush on me.” you teased, face red. from the intimacy or from the alcohol? you weren’t sure, maybe it was both.

“and what if i did?”

“bucky…” you sighed. you sat up and moved your legs away from him.

“i mean it. would that be such a crime?” he leaned his body towards you. you noticed that his cheeks had their own hue of red, and his eyes felt unsure.

“bucky.” you cut him off. you didn’t know what to say. its not like you could say, “i dont want you to kiss me for new year’s, because i want you to kiss me for real.” you didn’t know what to say, so you just shook your head slightly. he nodded, stood up, and gave you a kiss on the cheek.

“i understand.” he whispered into your ear. you bit your lip, this was the friendliest he had ever been towards you, and you only wished for more. he smiled softly and said,

“happy new year, y/n.”

right where the black wood sighs, i look at you, through and through.

your birthday was coming up, and he decided to surprise you. he researched thoroughly about forests located next to you, and found the one. things had been a little rough post new year’s eve, but your connection through knowing who he was kept the friendship close. you soon were back to your old self, but remained a bit guarded.

your birthday was today. you hadn’t received any messages from him, so you felt a bit let down. you sighed throughout the day as you kept checking. suddenly, around 2 in the afternoon, he knocked on your door with a basket in hand, and flowers in the other.

“happy birthday, doll.”

it’s safe to say that you spent the rest of your day very content, and impressed at the picnic he had organized.

right where your father died I'll hold on to your hand.

you don’t remember much from your father, other than the fact that he died early in your youth. you detested seeing children with both their parents with them, even as an adult. you felt jealous, angry at your father for dying. you knew it wasn’t your fault, but still. you occasionally visited his grave, and the place where he passed on. it was a rainy day, the day he went with you. you asked him to go, as you weren’t feeling so well. he obliged.

the downpour matched the dreary mood, and as you stood near the bench he died on, a bench he felt was familiar. he started to panic, thinking that somehow he was the one responsible for the death of your father, wondering if you taking him here was some sort of ploy to avenge your father.

“he got caught in the crossfire of a crime.” you admitted. “police were chasing this guy, and he meant to shoot the…” you trailed off. he knew what you were trying to say and he nodded. he sighed, partly from the mood and partly from relief that he wasn’t the one that took him from you. you took his hand and held it. he squeezed your hand, and rubbed circles on your knuckles.

“thank you.” what an odd thing for him to say to you, but you knew that he meant for taking him to a place so sacred to you.

“now we’re even.” you smiled at him. no more secrets about the past.

so terrified of the road that takes you, me too.

panic attacks didn’t hit him often. it was around two weeks since his last one, and it wasn’t something he wasn’t thinking of at the time, until now.

he spent so much time at your place, so much in fact, that some of his mail correspondence was sent to your place by the mailman. how silly. he was over for some random dinner, and conversed with you as you cooked. you were making spicy chicken alfredo, or something along those lines. he didn’t really pay attention, he only focused on you. he noticed how fluid you were in the kitchen, as if you were dancing. when he thought you were going to run into a cabinet, you moved away just in time. wether that be for your reflexes or by chance, he wasn’t sure. he had shared with you a couple vinyls, a way of sharing his past with you. he hummed along to the smooth voice of ella fitzgerald, until you interrupted the noise with a yelp of pain. he turned to you, and noticed you had cut your finger with the knife, which confirmed to him that in fact, the reason you didn’t run into cabinets was by chance, maybe some guardian angel working overtime. he kissed your finger, and walked to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit. everything was going so well, too. its just a small setback. until, he came back.

you looked to be covered in blood everywhere, with a heavy concentration on your torso. there was a gunshot in your stomach area, and you hunched over the cabinet for support. at least, that is what he saw. in reality, you leaned on the cabinet, waiting for him. his heart dropped and his eyes scanned you so worriedly. he ran to you, inspected your arms, your eyes, your neck, your stomach. your confused expression felt almost like daggers at him, and he started hyperventilating. he felt hands all around him, suffocating him. he knelt to the ground, gasping for air. his hair started clinging to his forehead, his clothes suddenly felt too tight, the air felt too hot, his metal arm too familiar. did he do this? he kept thinking. he heard a voice, his voice, but different. it was him.

“of course you did this.” he said, full of poison. tears fell down his eyes, and they kept falling, even when he shut them so tightly. he clawed at his metal arm, at his reminder of who he was.

you tried your best to make him realize that you were there, and in fact, not dead. no matter your volume, he couldn’t hear you. he was rocking back and forth, and you kneeled to his eyeline.

“bucky?” you kept saying. you kept repeating, kept trying to open his eyes, move his hand from hurting his shoulder. soon, your hands were stained with the blood drawn from where metal met skin. you sat with him, and listened to his cries. you didn’t know what to do, he hadn’t discussed panic attacks with you, so you weren’t sure if you could hold him or not. you decided to take a risk and rub his back, and lean your head on top of his. a few minutes were spent like that, his quiet sobs filling the apartment. eventually, he calmed down enough to the point of hugging you, and whispered “i’m sorry”. that’s all he said, and he kept saying it. his face was nuzzled into your neck, and he kept saying that. your hands held him tightly, your own tears falling as well. he stopped hurting himself, but seeing him in this state broke your heart. you knew why seeing you bleeding affected him so badly. he didn’t often tell you of all the people he killed, but when he did, he was always filled with immense grief. you’d always remind him that it wasn’t really him, and that he didn’t have body autonomy. those words, although comforting, felt like a lie. he was scared you believed differently, thought of him differently. your words and your touch remained the same, though. after his panic subsided, you led him to the sink, and washed his hands. you cleaned his wounds, and wrapped them with gauze. you asked him to stay at your place, and he accepted. you set his bed, and gave him some spare clothing you had. he sat down next to you, and watched you lay down, before looking at you. his blue eyes looked into yours, asking for permission. you held your arms up, and he instantly moved. he laid on top of you, almost tentatively. you ran your fingers through his hair, and he adjusted himself on top of you, holding your waist. no words were exchanged.

you two never spoke of that moment.

don’t modify, every one adores you, at least i do.

three years had passed since you first crossed paths, and he wanted to be the one to initiate the celebration. he didn’t know how surprise you, you two had already done a lot of things. picnics, dinners, sleepovers. he realized he needed to buy a gift. what should he get you? you already had enough jewelry, you always went thrift shopping with him, and you seemed pretty content with everything you had. it clicked in his mind. he got you a photo album for your pictures, and a star projector, showing how the stars looked like on the day you first met. he felt nervous, he hadn’t felt this close to someone in a while, and he was scared to ruin it.

you spent the anniversary gushing over your gift, and kept complimenting him throughout that night. his fears for being a bad friend were eased.

everybody has you up on their wall sometimes.

he wasn’t one for photography. his walls were bare, aside from the decorations you bought for him. you, however, loved your polaroid camera. you took pictures of anything you deemed important, like meeting someone with a similar outfit to yours, a cat you saw on the street, and him. you deemed him important, and he had to pretend like that wasn’t the biggest compliment ever. he had to pretend that every time you snapped a picture of him, he wasn’t blushing so hard, and how he loved being your muse. he started putting more effort into his appearance, so you would take more pictures. you noticed, of course you noticed. you had to keep a solid stream of film. one day, he held your camera. he often wondered how you saw the world, and seeing the little window in the polaroid camera made him smile. you were comically posing in the couch, giggling with every new pose. he clicked away, happily. he then sheepishly asked for a serious picture, for his new collection. well, your picture would be the first in the collection. how fitting, that you would be the one to star in the little joy you shared with him. your face flushed a bit as you sat up and smiled softly at him. he swallowed his nervousness, and took the picture. as he let it develop, he walked away, leaning on the wall. he didn’t want to let you see how red he was. you didn’t know if you were friends or not. of course, you were friends, but you weren’t sure if you were more. you walked to where he was, took the picture from him and placed it on a side table. you grabbed the camera from his hand, and tossed it lightly to your couch. you looked at his lips, his eyes, his scars. you lifted your hand and traced his eyebrows, his nose, his chin, his jawline. his eyes fluttered shut, as he grabbed your hand and kissed it. he pulled you closer, as if you were the air he so desperately needed to breathe, as if you were the water in the middle of the desert. he held you so gently, leaning you against the wall. he leaned his lips towards yours, but didn’t press forward. he just breathed deeply, breathing you in. you looked up at him.

“bucky?” you asked softly, as to not shatter the moment.

“please. you’re all i have ever wanted these three years. i’ve been…you’re…” he couldn’t find the words. he grew a little frustrated at his lack of ways to express himself.

“i love you. from the minute i knew you, from new year’s, every birthday, every anniversary. please, y/n. i need you, like i need air, like i need water, like i need…you.” his eyes looked into yours, waiting for a response in the almost deafening silence.

you leaned forward, kissed him, and were made his that night.

everybody thinks of you when they sleep at night.

he liked waking up next to you. he liked the way your hair ruffled up because of the pillow. he loved the way your eyelashes fluttered when you opened your eyes, and your sleepy smile greeted him.

“good morning, bucky.” you would say.

“dreams?” he’d reply. if you had any dreams, you’d go on in detail about them, and if not, you’d shrug and say,

“my subconscious took the night off.”

he’d tuck your hair behind your ear, and kiss you. how wonderful, that he was able to kiss you, show you how much you meant to him, make you his. how serendipitous, that the first words he ever said to you were “thank you.” fate knew. you knew.

when I say, "everybody", i'm actually referring to mе.

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snowysosturn · 6 days ago

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Fire & Desire - Matt Sturniolo Part 15

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

Pairing: Y/n x Matt Sturniolo

Summary: Y/n has always clashed with Matt. Despite working for Chris’s clothing brand and being close with Nick, her relationship with Matt has always been tense at best. While being forced to be around each other more, their animosity turns into something deeper. Can they overcome their differences, or will their fiery emotions tear them apart?

Warnings: angst, tension

Matt finishes up his shots, handing the jacket off to Chris before running a hand through his hair.

I take that as my cue, slipping my own jacket on. Just as I’m adjusting the sleeves, Matt starts walking toward me. My pulse skips slightly, but I force myself to act normal.

"Nice jacket" I say, my voice light, playful. I tug at the sleeve for emphasis. "We’re twinning."

He follows my motion, then looks back at his own. For a moment, there’s a flicker of something in his expression, something almost unreadable, before he smirks. "Yeah, guess so."

I tilt my head, raising a brow. "Trying to be me now?"

Matt huffs a short laugh, shaking his head. "Nah, this was all Chris. Maybe he wanted to show it was unisex or something, I don’t know." His tone is easygoing, dismissive, like the whole thing didn’t really matter.

Something in me sinks slightly. I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe some kind of confirmation that there was a meaning behind it. That it wasn’t just a coincidence. That he had chosen it intentionally. But I nod, forcing myself to brush it off, not wanting to read too much into it.

Before I can say anything else, Nick, who had clearly been listening, steps in. "Okay, well, since you two are basically in matching outfits, you should get some pictures together."

I blink, glancing at Matt, who looks just as thrown off by the suggestion. He hesitates for a split second, then shrugs. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Chris, already looking back at photos, gives an approving nod. "Yeah, that could be cool. Matt stand behind Y/n."

I swallow, suddenly more aware of the way my jacket feels against my skin, the way Matt's standing just close enough for our sleeves to almost touch. I nod, stepping forward, trying to ignore the way my heart is beating.

We start taking photos, the fading sun casting a golden hour glow over everything. We take turns, everyone gets their solo shots, duo shots in turns between the boys then some of just Chris, Matt and Nick together. There’s small moments, genuine laughter caught between shots.

At one point, Chris calls me over, gesturing for me to stand beside him. "Let’s get some together" he says, adjusting his hoodie. It would be nice for both of us to have photos together, considering how hard we've worked on this.

By the time we’re done, the sky is a deep navy blue. We huddle around, flicking through the photos. The excitement is evident, everyone’s happy with how they turned out.

Chris straightens up, stretching his arms over his head. "Alright" he announces, a grin stretching across his face. "I say we celebrate."

Nick smirks. "You just want an excuse to go drinking."

Chris shrugs. "Yeah, and?"

We all laugh, the energy still buzzing in the air as we gather our things. The beach is still calm and quiet with the sounds of distant music playing from the bars lining the shore. We make our way up to the strip and walk into a lively sports bar.

Chris makes his way over to the bar and orders a round of drinks, effortlessly charming the bartender as he waits. Meanwhile, the rest of us find a table near the open air area, where there's a light breeze.

I decide to make my way to the bar, stepping up beside Chris. “I’ll help you carry them” I offer, reaching for a couple of glasses.

He flashes me a grateful smile. “Thanks” he says, passing two drinks to me. “Man, I’m so happy with how everything turned out. The photos, the jackets, everything.”

I smirk, nudging him playfully. “Even Matt’s jacket?”

Chris raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

I roll my eyes. “Come on, don’t act clueless. His is basically identical to mine, my initial, my favorite number. You trying to make us twins or something?” I tease, though there’s an edge of curiosity in my tone.

Chris looks at me for a moment, confused. Then, with a slow shake of his head, he says, “I didn’t do that.”

My head snaps towards Chris. “What?”

“I didn’t pick Matt’s design” Chris explains, grabbing the last drink. “He sat with me when I was placing the order back in Vegas. I had already filled in everyone else’s details, but he got to choose his own.”

The words hit me like a slow motion realization, the pieces falling into place one by one.

Matt chose it himself.

The same initial. The same number. On purpose. And he played it off.

I swallow, my fingers tightening slightly around the glasses in my hand. My heart thumping in my chest. Chris is still talking, but his voice fades into the background as my mind races. I don’t even know how to feel, shocked? Conflicted? Something deeper?

Chris finally glances over at me, noticing the shift in my expression. “You good?”

I snap back to reality, forcing a small smile. “Yeah,” I lie. “Just.. taking the whole night in.”

Chris doesn’t question it, just shrugs before nodding toward the table. “Come on, let’s bring these over.”

I follow, but my mind is elsewhere.

Matt did it on purpose.

And I have no idea what that means.

As we set the drinks down on our table, I sneak a glance across at Matt. He’s leaned back in his chair, talking to Nate about something. My His jacket rests against the chair beside him, the initial and number staring back at me like some kind of silent confession.

I try my best to brush it off and we fall into easy conversation within the group. Chris and Nate get another round of drinks, sliding them across the table. The energy between us is nice, everyone is buzzing after a successful shoot and the anticipation of whatever the night might bring.

Chris grins as he leans back in his chair. “I mean, tell me that wasn’t one of the cleanest shoots we’ve ever done. No arguments, no disasters.. kinda feels wrong.”

Nate laughs. “It’s because I was there. Everything runs smoother when I’m around.”

Matt snorts, taking a sip of his drink. “Yeah, okay, let’s not rewrite history. Weren’t you the one who knocked over a whole light stand last time and blamed it on the wind?”

Nate places a hand on his chest, replying in defense. “It was the wind. A strong gust. Nature conspired against me.”

Chris shakes his head. “The only thing working against you is your own coordination.”

I laugh, settling back in my chair as the teasing continues. It’s easy like this, the kind of comfort that only comes from knowing each other for so long.

Nick pulled up some of the photos on his phone. He slides it across the table, and everyone leans in to look.

“Oh, this one’s sick” Matt says, tapping the screen. “But I feel like Y/n should’ve gotten the solo shot standing on the rocks instead of me.”

I raise an eyebrow. “So you’re admitting I would’ve done it better?”

He tilts his head, pretending to think. “Mmm, not exactly. Just saying your balance is probably better, considering I nearly fell to my death up there.”

“You tripped once.”

“And it was a near death experience.”

Nick laughs. “Guy swayed a little and saw his life flash before his eyes.”

“I felt myself falling, kid” Matt insists, shaking his head. “Wouldn’t expect you guys to understand.”

I roll my eyes, reaching over to take the phone from him. “Anyway, let’s look at other pictures before this turns into the Matt Survival Story.”

The night continues like that, joking and teasing. The drinks kept coming, round after round, and at some point, I stopped keeping track. The buzz in my head was fun, my limbs loose, and the laughter around the table made me feel nice.

Chris, clearly feeling it too, leaned forward suddenly, eyes wide with a drunken revelation. “You know what sounds unreal right now?”

Nate raised an eyebrow. “Enlighten us.”

“Churro’s.” Chris declared, as if he’d just discovered the meaning of life. “Like, really good, proper churros. There’s gotta be a spot somewhere on this strip.”

Nick laughed, swirling the last bit of his drink in his glass before setting it down with a clink. “That actually doesn’t sound like the worst idea. Wanna walk and see what’s around?”

Chris nodded enthusiastically. “Hell yeah.”

Nate stretched, already pushing himself up from his chair. “Might as well. I could go for something sweet.”

I expected Matt to get up too, but he stayed seated, nursing his drink with an unreadable expression.

Nick glanced between us before shrugging. “You guys staying?”

Matt barely looked up. “Yeah, we’re good here.”

Chris wiggled his eyebrows at us like he knew something we didn’t before nudging Nate to move. “Alright, suit yourselves. Don’t get too bored without us.”

With that, the three of them wandered off, their voices carrying over the music and street noise before fading into the night.

I leaned back in my chair, exhaling as I swirled my straw in my drink. The silence between Matt and I stretched, but for once, it wasn’t awkward. It was.. easy.

“You’re holding up well” he commented, nodding toward my glass. “Thought you’d be slurring by now.”

I smirked, tilting my head. “So you underestimated me?”

“Never” he said smoothly, a small grin forming on his lips. “I just figured you’d be the responsible one tonight.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “I’m on vacation. Responsibility is not in my vocabulary right now.”

Matt raised his glass slightly, as if to toast to that. “Fair enough.”

We both took a sip, the air between us charged with this weird tension, a different tension to normal, something neither of us seemed in a rush to address.

Matt set his drink down, leaning forward slightly, his elbow resting on the table. His eyes, a little lazy from the alcohol, flickered with something unreadable.

“So, if responsibility isn’t in your vocabulary right now” he smirked, “what is?”

I smirked, continuing to swirl my straw in my glass. “Recklessness, maybe. Spontaneity.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Spontaneity, huh? That’s a dangerous game.”

I tilted my head, meeting his gaze. “Maybe I like a little danger.”

A slow grin spread across his face. “Yeah?” He leaned in slightly. “You’re full of surprises, you know that?”

I took a sip of my drink, letting the ice clink together. “And here I was, thinking I was predictable.”

He shook his head, studying me like he was trying to figure me out. “Not even close.”

Before I could respond, Nick’s voice cut through the moment, his energy a stark contrast to our quiet exchange.

“Guys!” he said, slightly breathless, plopping down into a chair, “we just found something way better than this place.”

Chris and Nate sat down beside him, both grinning.

“Oh?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Better how?”

Nick leaned forward, excitement clear in his face. “There’s a bar at the end of the street with a full on drag show happening. It looks insane.”

Chris nodded enthusiastically. “We’re talking full performances, outfits, the whole thing. You guys down?”

I glanced at Matt, whose lips twitched into an amused smirk.

“Well” he said, looking at me, “since you’re in your spontaneity era…”

I laughed, shaking my head. “You don’t even like using the term era”

Nick grinned, slapping the table. “That’s the spirit. Let’s get out of here.”

Matt lingered at my side, as we stumbled down the strip and into bar. The place is alive, bright neon lights, a shimmering backdrop behind the stage, and a drag queen in a sequined bodysuit commanding the crowd. She’s scanning the room, mic in hand, looking for her next victims to drag onstage.

Before I even have a chance to process what’s happening, Nick’s hand clasps around mine.

“Oh no” I start, shaking my head, but it’s too late.

“You know we have to do this.” he grins, practically dragging me toward the stage.

Chris, Nate, and Matt cheer from the table, egging us on like we have a choice in the matter. I laugh, half in protest, but I already know what’s about to happen.

Nick’s been dying to perform Alter Ego ever since we watched Crystal Envy and Lexi Love lip sync to it on Drag Race. And now, here we are, center stage, spotlights on us.

The beat drops, and suddenly, Nick transforms. He throws himself into the performance, rapping along flawlessly, hyping up the crowd, while I do my best to keep up, dancing and laughing through the whole thing. The drag queen is eating it up, hyping us both as if we were seasoned performers.

By the time the song ends, we’re completely breathless, and for once I’m not embarrassed by all of the attention. The drag queen dramatically bows to us, then gestures to the bartender.

“Now that is how you commit to the bit” she says into the mic. “Drinks are on the house for these two.”

We walk back to our table, joining back with the others when a tray of free shots is handed to us.

Chris whistles from the table. “I mean, if free drinks are involved, I might have to hit the stage next.”

Matt shakes his head, chuckling as I sit down.

“You really went for it” he says, impressed.

I grab a shot from the tray, still catching my breath. “What can I say? Spontaneity, remember?”

He raises his glass, smirking. “Guess you weren’t lying.”

I clink my glass against his before throwing back the shot, the burn of alcohol mixing with the rush of the night so far.

The warmth of the alcohol spreads through my body all at once, a delayed hit that makes my head spin slightly. The mix of adrenaline from the performance and the lingering buzz leaves me feeling lightheaded. My skin is still damp with sweat, a mix from dancing under the lights and the Hawaiian heat.

I set my empty shot glass down and push back from the table. “I need some air” I mumble, mostly to myself, but Matt’s eyes flick toward me for a second before I turn away.

Stepping outside, the slight breeze feels cool against my overheated skin. I exhale, running a hand through my hair, trying to steady the rush in my head. So much has happened in just the past 24 hours. Getting my locket back, the jacket, the way he looked at me earlier, the teasing, the tension.

It was a very different side of Matt that I wasn’t used to.

I lean against the side of the building, staring down at my heels, my thoughts spinning faster than they should. Maybe I’ve been looking at this all wrong. Maybe Matt isn’t just Matt, the frustrating, teasing, sometimes unbearable guy in our group.

Maybe he’s the guy who went out of his way to do something meaningful for me. The guy who gets jealous when I give someone else my attention. The guy who’s been watching me just as much as I’ve been watching him.

And maybe he likes me. And maybe I like him too.

I heard the sound of the side door to the bar swinging open behind me, catching my attention. I turn to see Matt walking toward me.

“You good?” His voice is softer than usual, lacking its usual teasing edge.

I glance at him standing there with his hands in his pockets, watching me. The concern in his eyes is subtle, but it’s there.

“Yeah” I say, offering a small smile. “Just a bit warm. And very drunk.”

He chuckles, stepping closer. “Yeah, no shit. You and Nick just put on a whole damn concert in there.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “He’s been waiting for that moment.”

Matt smirks but then tilts his head slightly, considering me. “You wanna go for a walk on the beach or something? Might make you feel better.”

I hesitate for a second, but something about the way he’s looking at me makes it impossible to say no.

“Yeah” I say. “That sounds nice.”

We head down toward the sand, the noise from the strip fading as the waves take over and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

Matt walks beside me, hands tucked into his pockets, but there’s an ease to his posture. “So” he starts, a teasing lilt creeping back into his voice, “you gonna add karaoke connoisseur to your resume after that performance?”

I roll my eyes but laugh. “Oh, absolutely. Gonna start touring next week.”

He grins. “I’d buy tickets.”

I nudge him playfully. “You’d probably take the piss out of me the whole time.”

“Maybe.” He shrugs, biting back a smirk. “Or maybe I’d just sit front row and admire the view.”

I feel my stomach flip at his words, and suddenly the air between us feels differen again. Even more intense. My steps slow just slightly, and he matches my pace.

“You’re such a flirt” I say, narrowing my eyes at him.

Matt smirks. “And yet, you’re still walking with me.”

I shake my head, trying not to smile, but I know he sees right through me. The alcohol has made me bold, but maybe it’s not just the drinks. Maybe it’s him.

We keep walking, the conversation flowing like we never hated each other. Playful. Teasing.

I laugh at something he says, shaking my head. “You’re ridiculous.”

He grins, nudging me lightly with his shoulder. “And yet, you love it.”

I roll my eyes but don’t deny it. Before I can think of a comeback, my heel suddenly sinks too deep into the sand, throwing me off balance. I stumble to the side, my hands instinctively reaching out.

Matt reacts fast, catching me before I fall to the ground. One arm wraps firmly around my waist, steadying me, while the other grips my hand. The warmth of his touch against me sends a jolt through me, and I realize just how close we are, his face only inches from mine, his breath grazing over my cheek.

“Damn” he laughs, holding me upright. “You good?”

I grip his forearm, steadying myself. “Yeah, just, heels and sand? Not a great mix" I say, trying to play it cool. "And to think you were suggesting that I should’ve been up on the rocks earlier.”

Matt smirks, but instead of saying anything witty back, he suddenly crouches down in front of me.

I blink. “What are you-”

“Relax” he murmurs, fingers already working at the straps of my heels. “You’re gonna break an ankle trying to walk in these out here We don't need any more ankle problems.”

I open my mouth to argue, but the way he carefully unbuckles each strap, sliding the shoes off my feet like it’s the most natural thing in the world, has my brain rewiring itself.

Once he’s done, he stands, holding my heels in one hand. “There. Now you won’t have an excuse to fall into my arms again.”

I cross my arms, scoffing at him. “I didn’t mean to fall into your arms.”

Matt tilts his head, that signature smirk tugging at his lips. “Yeah? Could’ve fooled me.”

I narrow my eyes. “You’re so full of yourself.”

He grins. “And yet, you’re still walking with me.”

I bite my lip to keep from smiling too much, but I know he sees it. He always does. I bump my shoulder against his playfully. “You know, you don’t have to carry my shoes. I am capable of holding things.”

He smirks. “Yeah, but then what excuse would I have to be a gentleman?”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Oh, so you’re a gentleman now?”

Matt raises an eyebrow, stopping in his tracks.

“I mean” he says, looking down at me, “I did just save you from eating sand. That’s got to count for something.”

I glance up at him, my heart racing, but I play it cool. “Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe I let myself fall on purpose.” I say sarcastically.

His lips curve into a slow, knowing smirk. “Oh yeah? You wanted me to catch you?”

I roll my eyes dramatically. “Don’t flatter yourself, Sturniolo.”

“Oh, so we’re using last names now?” He steps closer to me. “Careful, that’s dangerously close to flirting.”

“Please, if I was flirting, you’d know it.”

“Would I?”

I exhale, feeling my stomach flip. He’s so damn cocky, but I can’t even pretend I don’t love it.

I tilt my chin up defiantly, a slow grin spreading across my lips. “Mhm.”

My heart is racing. I can feel the alcohol in my veins, but this, this moment, is all me. No liquid courage, no overthinking. Just me and him.

I step closer, tilting my head slightly, my body moving on instinct. My mind is made up. I want to close the distance. I want him.

I lean in.

But just as my lips are about to brush his, Matt turns his head.

“We should head back.” His voice is quiet, almost strained.

I freeze.

The rejection slaps me across the face. I pull back quickly, my face heating in a way that has nothing to do with the alcohol.

I swallow hard, forcing a nod. “Yeah.. yeah, okay.”

Matt shifts awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. His usual cocky demeanor is gone, replaced by something I can’t quite read. Guilt? Hesitation?

I don’t wait to figure it out. I turn on my heel and start walking back toward the bar, my arms crossed tightly over my chest.

My stomach twists uncomfortably. How did I get it so wrong? The way he looked at me, the way he held my waist, the way he played into everything, was it just in my head?

I don’t know.

But what I do know is that I just made a move.. and Matt Sturniolo didn’t want me back.

a/n : i would run into the ocean and never return if i got rejected like that

taglist : @mattybearnard @sturn-33 @ncm9696 @yourfavsturniologirl @crazy4jewel @sodakid1234 @stupendoustreewinner @lovealwayssturniolos @matthewsturniolosss @m4ttsmunch @loveexxx @ilusa @starkeyszn @wonnieeluvvr @dylnblue @valxrieq @maggot3647 @cigarettecemetary @ribread03 @chrisstvrns @bandasaruswrx @noplaceissafeanymore @amexiass @witchofthehour @mattssgf @jetaimevous @v33angel @ivysturnss @urmom69lol @ashlishes @watercolorskyy @sturnioloshottiekay @amelia-sturniolo3 @imjusthereforthesturniolosmut @pvssychicken @alizestvrnss @chrisstxrnsaxe @sophand4n4 @vickytaa @marrykisskilled @bxtchboy69 @yourfavsturniologirl @julisturn @sydneyylainn @sophia-77n @trevorsgodmother @sturnslutz @yourmother29 @girl24cherry @astronea @pinkdyit

#snowy speaks #fire & desire #snowys sturniolo series #snowys series #matt sturniolo #matt sturniolo x reader #matthew sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #chris sturniolo #the sturniolo triplets #nicolas sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #nick sturniolo #enemies to lovers #matt sturniolo fanfic

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patscorner · 11 months ago

Text

ARE YOU OKAY?

Summary: Y/n has too much drink at a party

Tw: drinking, vomit, swearing, partying, suggestive jokes, kissing

______________________________

It started with one shot, which turned into two, which turned into three, and then you starting losing count.

You were at your coworkers' birthday party, and after this past week, you thought you deserved a break.

Monday was the start to all of your problems. Your dog threw up blood, and you rushed him to the vet. After waiting in the lobby for 4 hours, hoping that he's okay, the vets told you they couldn't find anything wrong.

So they gave him medicine and sent him back home. By then, you were late to work and was dealt a huge amount of overtime.

The rest of the week wasn't any better. You had got into an agruement with both Matt and your father, and then had to take your dog back to the vet when the medicine didn't work.

So, to say you were stressed would be an understatement.

That's why you went to the party in the first place. You ignored Matt, who told you that you shouldn't drink in your state of mind, and you knew he was right. You just didn't care. You didn't want to feel the stress anymore, and what better way to do that than to get blackout drunk.

So there you were, on your 7th shot of tequila, dancing as you let the alcohol take over. Your hips moved to the music and you danced on the floor shoulder to shoulder to strangers you've never seen before.

"Y/n!" You turned to see your coworker waving you over, and you drunkenly stumbled towards him, pushing past the other bodies on the floor.

"Hey, what's up?" You slurred over the music.

He rolled his eyes. "I called your boyfriend. He's on his way to get you." He yelled over the loud chatter.

You smiled drunkenly. "Yayyyy! Wheeere's he at?" You said, clearly incoherent.

Your coworker sighed. "Jesus, Y/n, how much have you drank?" All you did was shake your head.

"I dunno." You said, stumbling backward a little.

"Woah, woah, okay, how about we sit you down?" Your coworker speaks, dragging you outside and sitting you down on the curb.

"We'll wait here for Matt." He said as he sat next to you. Your eyes were closed, and your body swayed as the refreshing wind blew through your hair.

"Matt's coming?" You asked, not moving an inch. Your coworker chuckled. "Yeah, that's him right there." He pointed out.

Your eyes opened wide, and tears filling them as you saw the van pull up and Matt hop out, keys in hand.

Matt runs over to you and immediately holds your hands. "Love, are you okay? Why are you crying?" He said, voice laced with concern.

All you do is hum as you bring him into a warm embrace. The alcohol stings his nose as he looks at your coworker for help. Her coworker looks at him amusedly.

"She's so drunk, I'm surprised she's able to talk."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Thanks for calling me. How much has she had to drink?" He asked, still clinging onto you.

You pull away before your coworker can say anything. "I- I am not drunk. I've only have had 4 shots. That'sss what the bartender said when I asked." You slurred, blinking slowly.

Matt looked at your coworker. "That was 2 hours ago. She's had double that." He shrugged.

"Jesus fuc- Why didn't you stop her?" Matt said wide-eyed as he put his hand in the small of your back to keep you up, as you swayyed in his arms.

Your coworker shrugged again. "She's grown, I thought she could handle herself." Matt sighed. "She is, and she should." He glanced at you, who was staring at the fire hydrant next to you, entranced.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to let her get plastered." Your coworker apologizes, feeling guilty for not preventing you from getting here.

Matt sighed again. "It's okay, it's not your fault. I should get her back, though. Thanks again for calling me." He said, standing up.

Your coworker nods. "No problem, drive safe." He said before walking inside.

"Come on, my love, let's go." He said, picking you up, holding you steady as you stand.

"Wheeere are we goin'?" You slurred, stumbling on your feet.

"Home."

"But, whyyyyyy?" You whined, reluctantly letting Matt drag you to the car. "We just got here."

He shook his head as he helped you into the car. "It's 4am, sweetheart. You did not just get here." He laughs before closing the door and walking to the other side.

You look at him as he climbs in, buckles up, and backs out. "You okay, baby? Do you need anything?" Matt speaks, glancing at you as he drives, his hand resting on your thigh.

You hum, unable to speak anymore. The alcohol somehow diminished your love for speaking, and even though you were plastered, you couldn't bring yourself to talk.

"Are you with me, baby?" Matt speaks again, rubbing your leg gently.

You look at him, pupils dilated. "'M gonna throw up..." You say softly.

Matt's eyes shoot to yours, watching your face pale. "Wha- okay, okay. Let me pull over, hold on."

Matt swiftly and kind of illegally pulls over onto the shoulder, but it's okay. There was nobody on the road. It's 4am, who would be out?

You fight with the door but eventually stumble onto the grass, falling to your knees as vomit spews out of your mouth.

You feel a hand on your back, and your hair gets pulled out of your face. Matt whispers quiet, comforting words as sobs fall out of your mouth. Not because you're sad or in pain, you're just drunk and overworked.

"Shhh, I know, I know. It's okay." Matt spoke softly as you breathed heavily. You wipe your mouth with the back of your hand before collapsing unexpectedly into Matt's arms.

"Fuck, baby, are you okay?" Matt said, his voice laced with concern. You nod against his body, ignoring the wet grass on your legs.

Matt rubbed circles onto your back. "Let's go home, love." He whispered. You hum, but don't move.

Matt sighed before lifting you up and carrying you back to the car. You're not sleeping, but you're not awake either. You're just drunk.

Matt puts you back in the car, buckling up as your eyes struggle to stay open. You whine as Matt places a kiss on your cheek, wanting more.

Matt chuckles. "Sorry, love. I want to get us home." He said, closing your door and walking to get in the driver seat.

The rest of the car ride went by smoothly and uninterrupted. You didn't throw up again, and you didn't really speak either.

Matt kept glancing at you nervously the whole time, silently wishing you'd speak. That way, he knew you were okay. For his own sake, he kept his hand on your thigh the whole time.

You open your eyes when you feel the car be put in park. You look around, but your so drunk, you have no idea where you are.

You whine in your seat, wiggling uncomfortably. "Matttttt... Wanna lay down." You slurred out.

Matt sighed as he got you both out of car, holding your waist as he guided you to the door. You stumble over your feet, but Matt's determined to get you inside as quick as possible.

You feel butterflies in your stomach as you become aware of Matt's hand on your waist. You look down at his hand, then at him, then his hand, then back to him again.

"Youuuu want to fuck me, don you?" You say, voice shaking. Matt freezes as you reach the front door.

His eyes widened as he looked at you. "Wha-, no, honey. I don't. I just want to get you to bed." He said, shaking his head aa he unlocked the front door.

"You don't love me?!" You say, louder than you mean too, but right now, you're very emotional. Tears fall down your face as Matt shushes you.

"Shhh! Honey, of course I love you. I just don't think now is the right time for... that. You gotta be quiet. We don't want to wake Nick and Chris." He said, quickly helping you up the stairs.

Speeding up was a mistake as you stumbled up the stairs and leaned on Matt and grip the banister for dear life.

"Oh dear god." Matt muttered as he lifted you up. You were getting frustrated as well, angry that you couldn't even walk by yourself. "Fuck." You whisper as tears fall.

After the fight to get to Matt's room, you finally make it.

Matt sits you on the bed, sighing deeply as your eyes stay closed. "You wanna take off your clothes, baby, or do you not care?" His back is to you, setting his keys on his desk. He doesn't even notice your tears.

You sniffle, wiping your face quickly. "I-i don't care." You say your voice comes out smaller than you intend, making Matt turn around urgently.

"What's the matter, sweetheart? Why are you crying?" He says, crouching down, cupping your face as he wipes your tears.

"I'm just so stressed. My dog is sick, and you're mad at me and my dad hates me, and, and people at work keep getting on my nerves, and I'm so done and and I'm so fucking drunk and I don't even want to be." You ramble out in one breath.

"Hey, hey, breathe. It's okay. I'm not upset with you. I was earlier, but I'm not anymore." Matt says, looking in your eyes. "And your dad doesn't hate you. He was just upset, and I'm certain he's not anymore. As for your dog and work, I can only help by being there for you. You don't have to be drunk to cope, honey." He said, sealing his words with a kiss.

"Thank you, Matt." You say as he pulls you into another kiss.

You kiss him back, but he reluctantly stops it before it goes farther. "You're drunk. Let's get you to sleep, yeah?" He said, patting your thighs.

You nod as you crawl into the bed, pulling the blanket over your shoulders. "I love you, Matt."

"I love you, too." Matt says as he crawled next you, pulling you onto his now shirtless chest.

You knew the hangover was gonna be a bitch in the morning.

______________________________

#nick sturniolo #chris sturniolo #matt sturniolo #sturniolo triplets x reader #nick sturniolo fanfic #nick sturniolo x reader #nicolas sturniolo #chris sturniolo fanfic #matt #matt sturniolo fluff #matt sturniolo x reader #matt sturniolo imagine #matt sturniolo fanfic

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mattitties · 1 year ago

Note

Can you do one when you talked to a guy and he was flirting (at a party btw). So matt becomes rlly angry and the whole ride home u guys were fighting. When u arrived home you went upstairs changed into smth like rlly showy (as pj's) and it turned on matt. Then y'all took it to the bed. (I wrote you as in y/n)

based on this request ^^

possessive - matt sturniolo

SMUTTY AF!!! dom!matt and sub!reader. choking, tying up, degrading, the whole nine.

“Come onnnn, we’re gonna be late!” Matt groans from the kitchen.

“Sorry, coming!” I call back as I spray some perfume on before walking to meet him. “Ready!”

“Great, let’s go,” he huffs, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

We’re going to one of the fancy LA influencer events that the triplets get invited to, which I also get invited to by association. Chris and Nick had been hanging out with friends all day so we’re meeting them there, and I may have made us leave a little later than we planned on.

“You know how long it takes you to get ready, so you should start getting ready with enough time so we can actually leave on time,” he tells me after a few minutes of silence in the car.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” I apologize. “But we’re not thattttt late, and it’s a party! Nobody shows up on time.”

He waves a hand at me as if to say forget about it. “It’s fine,” he says. “You look beautiful anyway, so being late is worth it if I get to stare at you looking like this all night.”

I roll my eyes and smile. “You look pretty good too. Maybe we should just turn around and skip the whole thing and have a party by ourselves.”

“Oh don’t tempt me,” he smirks. “I don’t even wanna go to this thing anyway.”

“I know you don’t,” I pat his thigh for some comfort. “Let’s just spend like, an hour there, and if we wanna leave I can say I don’t feel good or something.”

When we arrive, he immediately grabs my hand without a word and makes a beeline towards Chris and Nick.

“Fucking finally!” Chris says, throwing his hands up. “We were placing bets on if you guys were gonna show face at all.”

“I made us late, but we’re here now!” I try to take the attention off of our lack of punctuality. “I’m gonna get a drink, you guys want anything?”

“Nick and I are good,” Chris holds his Pepsi can up.

“Matt?”

“I’m okay baby, thank you,” he smiles and gives me a quick peck before I head to the bar.

“Vodka cran, please,” I tell the bartender, then open Instagram to pass the time as he gets my drink.

“Vodka cran is your drink of choice, huh?” a voice next to me says. I look up and see a brunette with green eyes leaning next to me. He looks familiar and has an incredibly friendly smile. Probably an influencer, but I just can’t place him.

“Oh, yeah,” I smile. “Always has been. It disguises the vodka taste pretty well.”

“Yeah, I always just stick with beers. I can’t stand hard liquor, it’s awful.”

“Me too. I’m such a pussy when it comes to alcohol. If it’s too strong I just won’t drink it,” I tell him. The bartender puts my drink in front of me and I pull out my card to pay as I thank him, but am stopped by this man (whose name I do not know) as he pulls his own card out.

“Let me buy you this one,” he smiles and winks. He’s clearly flirting, and I obviously have no intention of doing anything, but why would I turn down a free drink?

“Wow, thank you!” I say. “That’s very nice, I appreciate it.”

“No worries. Do you wanna–”

“No, she doesn’t wanna. Thanks man,” he’s cut off by Matt, who had put his hand on my waist before I even realized he was behind me. I look up at his face. He looks pissed.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you had a boyfriend,” the guy says. “Um… I already paid so… don’t worry about it… but…” he walks away awkwardly without finishing his sentence.

“Free drink! Score!” I smile at Matt and hold up my cup.

He doesn’t smile back. “Mhm.”

My face drops. Okay, clearly he doesn’t find the situation very amusing. “Matt, come on, I wasn’t gonna do anything. We had barely made any conversation before he offered to buy it for me.”

“He was clearly flirting with you. Why were you even entertaining him?” he asks.

“I wasn’t entertaining him! I said two sentences to him, got my drink, and he pulled out his card before I said anything else. What was I supposed to say, ‘no, don’t buy me a drink, I have a boyfriend’?”

“Yes!!!” he shouts before walking back to the booth Chris and Nick were sitting in.

I follow him, not sure if I should give up or try to prove myself more. I choose the latter.

“Okay, first of all don’t yell at me. Second, all he did was buy me a drink. It’s not like he tried to kiss me or anything, he was just being nice!” I retort.

“He was not just being nice,” he says as he sits back down. “Guys never buy girls drinks just to be nice. He was trying to get in your pants.”

“Okay, well so what? If he started doing anything weird or outwardly flirtatious I would have left the situation immediately. I don’t think it’s a crime to accept a free drink,” I tell him, sitting next to him.

He closes his eyes and inhales deeply, like he’s trying to calm himself down. “It’s not about the drink. It’s just about respect. You don’t accept a drink from a guy when you have a fucking boyfriend.”

I sit for a moment, thinking about my next words. I still don’t think I did anything wrong, but I don’t want to keep fighting, so I back down. “Okay,” I say softly. “I’m sorry.”

He looks at me blankly. “Do you know what you’re sorry for? Or are you just saying that?”

Damn, he knows me too well.

I don’t say anything.

“Yeah, exactly,” he scoffs. We both sit in awkward silence for a couple minutes, neither of us being in any mood to talk to people, until I bite the bullet and speak.

“Do you wanna go home?”

He rolls his eyes and gets up. I look at him, unsure of what he’s doing, until he says, “Are you just gonna sit there or are we gonna go?”

I follow him to the car, and we sit in even more awkward silence. I don’t want to piss him off even more, so I say nothing.

“You know, it’s not even about the drink anymore,” he starts. “It’s about the fact that you don’t even know what you did was wrong.”

“Because I don’t think it was wrong,” I say calmly. “I was never going to reciprocate any flirting or do anything to show I was interested. All I did was accept the drink.”

He grips the wheel in frustration as we pull into the garage. “Whatever. I’m done arguing about this. It’s just ridiculous that you can’t see where I’m coming from.”

“I can see where you’re coming from,” I tell him. “I just think you’re being a little too jealous and possessive for this situation.”

He looks at me as he turns the car off. “You wanna see possessive? Go inside and get on the bed.”

“What?” I ask. His whole demeanor just changed. He was pissed before, but now he’s like… primal. Talking through gritted teeth. His neck veins bulging. It’s kinda hot…

“Do you need me to repeat myself? Go inside. And get. On. The. Bed.”

Oh shit. He’s got some crazy animalistic thing going on. And I don’t know why, but I’m incredibly turned on. So I listen.

I get out of the car, go inside, and sit on his bed. He comes in shortly after, taking off his belt without breaking eye contact with me.

My heart is racing, but I keep staring at him.

“You have no idea how possessive I can be,” he tells me, leaning onto the bed with both hands on either side of me. Our faces are inches apart. “You may not know what you’re supposed to be sorry for, but you’re gonna apologize to me in the way I want. Got it?”

I nod, and he grabs my jaw. “Words.”

“Yes. Got it.”

He stands up and removes his shirt from the back of his collar with his tattooed arm, then leans back over me and slowly pushes me back onto the bed with his hand around my neck. “What do you have to say to me?” he says deeply.

“I’m sorry…” I whisper, debating on whether or not I should continue my sentence with the word I know will drive him crazy. I go for it anyway. “Daddy.”

His eyes darken and he kisses me harshly, not giving me any warning before his tongue slips into my mouth. I’m completely at his disposal, and I need more.

“You’re gonna show me how sorry you are, yeah?” he speaks into my mouth as he reaches into his now unzipped pants and his black briefs and pulls out his dick. I look down for just long enough to see how hard he is, as red as ever and making his hand wet as he rubs his tip. I know what he wants from me, and who am I to deny him of that? I usually would be a brat, but I guess I’ve been a brat enough for him tonight.

I sit up and softly take him in my hand, running my thumb over his slit and looking up at him through my eyelashes. He groans under his breath. “Come on baby, don’t tease.”

At that, I wrap my lips around him and begin to bob my head, swirling my tongue and licking up and down. He responds by taking my hair into a ponytail in his hand, looking down at me with furrowed brows and his mouth slightly open. “That’s it,” he moans. “Take daddy’s cock just like that.”

I push myself deeper and grip his thigh for support. His hips are bucking and he’s hitting the back of my throat. I’m fully expecting for him to cum in my mouth until he pulls out and flips me over onto my stomach without warning.

“Hands behind your back,” he says, and I immediately oblige, laying my wrists on top of each other near my lower back. He uses the belt that he was wearing earlier in the night to tie my hands together, then he lifts my hips up to meet his own and lets my dress fall forward so that my bottom half is accessible for him.

I whine as I feel his tip run over my soaked thong, and then wince as he gives me a harsh slap. “You were a bad girl tonight, you know that?” he says as he pulls my underwear off and tosses them.

“I know, I’m sorry,” I apologize. “Please fuck me.”

“Shut up,” he says, but he’s clearly just as eager – he pushes into me quickly, giving me a few seconds to adjust before he begins thrusting hard.

“FUCK,” I shout as the mix of pain and pleasure washes over me.

“Mmmm, yeah baby?” he grips my hips and pounds into me, the sound of our skin slapping overtaking the whole room. “You like being punished?”

“Uh huh,” I’m incapable of saying anything else. My orgasm is already approaching and I push my head into the bed for some sense of control as I feel my body start to fall apart.

“That’s it princess, keep clenching around my cock like that,” he says, his thrusts getting deeper and deeper. He reaches his hand around my neck and lifts me up so my back is pressed against his chest; his mouth is right next to my ear, and it’s heavenly.

“Daddy, I’m gonna cum,” I whimper.

He groans in response and chokes me tighter as I clench around him. “Fuckkkkk, that’s so good.” He repeats a string of curses, his dick twitching inside me before I feel him releasing and his thrusts get slower and softer.

We stay there for a moment regaining ourselves, then he undoes the belt on my wrists and pulls out of me. I collapse on the bed, too out of it to even notice him coming back with a wet towel to clean me up.

He lays next to me and kisses my temple.

“Are you mad at me?” I ask, turning my head to look at him. “I really am sorry.”

He shakes his head. “I was over it halfway through the drive home. Just fun to fuck the anger out, right?”

I smirk and nod my head. “So if I get another free drink from a guy, it’s fine?” I tease.

His face drops. “Don’t push it.”

#matt sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #chris sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #nick sturniolo #matt sturniolo smut #matt sturniolo x reader #sturniolo smut #chris sturniolo smut #sturniolo fanfic #matthew sturniolo #sturniolo #sturniolo x reader #nicolas sturniolo #matt sturniolo fluff #chris sturniolo x reader

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babygirlnicohischier · 28 days ago

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It's the Cup - Matthew Tkachuk x gender neutral reader

Warnings: 18+ smut, oral (F and M receiving), fingering (F receiving)

Summary: Maybe serving the Stanley Cup champs wouldn't be so bad after all, thanks to Matt somethingorother.

Word count: 2.8k

Note: I wrote this right after the playoffs wrapped and just found it again, so don't be shocked if the proofreading is 100%

God, you thought as you slipped past your coworker slid the 1000th aperol spritz of the night to the group of 22-year-old girls in front of you,it’s 2024, why are we still playing Drake at the bar?

Things have been different lately, mainly that your bar has never been this busy. After the Cats won the Stanley Cup, even the most hidden gems in the city were packed with people who hoped and prayed that the team would be make an appearance, free bottles and fanfare galore.

Everyone except you. A bartender on their third double shift and eigth sugar-free red bull of the weekend. You were hoping that a few days out from the Stanley Cup Parade things would have started settling down but there had been no such luck.

Now, you have to crank out ten vodka sodas at a time and feel your hands go numb from constantly reaching into the cooler for beer bottles and seltzer cans to keep up with the rush. You didn’t think it was possible to get cramps in your hands from bud lights, but the universe wanted to prove you wrong. As if it wasn’t bad enough to be stiffed by the jerks here trying to hit on the puck bunnies. A few feet from you at the corner of the bar, you briefly make eye contact with one of the Panthers players, his golden curls somehow still perfectly touseled even after hours of partying. You hear him introduce himself, Matt something, to the girl in front of him. You almost felt bad for her with how uninterested he seemed in her, and how his eyes glazed over as she leaned in close to ask him something.

“It’s the Cup,” a sarcastic voice barked out,”it’s the Cup, girl.”

With how shitty the past few days have been, you allowed yourself to laugh at the snark. You looked over in the direction of it just in time to see the 1000th aperol spritz of the weekend slink away from Matthew Something. A few more rounds of green tea shots and dozens of High Noons later you could finally catch your breath as the crowd in front of you began to die down. Even the rush of the celebration could only alst so long into the night, and you checked your phone to see it was nearly 1:30 at this point. ‘Only a few hours left and I can crash. I got this.’

The sight of wet crumpled bills falling into your tip jar instantly made you perk up and lower your phone. It was one of those Florida Panther players, Matthew Something, dropping hundred dollar bills by the handfuls into the bucket with a smile.

“Been watching you all night, he yelled over the music,”you’ve been working so hard that I haven’t had a chance to come over. I’m Matt, by the way, Matt Tkachuk.”

Ah, you thought, that’s it.

You gave him your name and shook his outstretched hand, not-so-subtly noting how much bigger it was than yours. It was also gentler and warmer than you expected for someone with such a rough job and tough guy reputation. After a few moments, you realized you still hadn’t let go of said gentle, warm, and very big hand, and he hadn’t pulled away either. You would have been embarrassed if in that same moment one of his drunk teammates hadn’t come over yelling something neither one of you could make out and holding the Stanley Cup triumphantly above his head.

Matt finally dropped your hand and asked for some beers. “Oh yeah, he’s being nice to me since I’m at work. He was talking about getting drinks not about talking to me.” Thankful for a reason to turn away from his blue-green eyes and golden curls, you welcomed the order and opened up the row of beers. Dropping a few more of those crumbled wet bills into the bucket, Matt winked and turned back to his friends.

This happened a few more times throughout the night as the players took over your side of the bar. You watched them enviously as they got to drink, party, and dance while you were stuck making mixed drinks for girls trying to slip into the players’ section and the guys without a Stnaley Cup victory chasing right after them.

The only one without someone, girl or guy, hanging on to or circling around him was Matt. Matt who you caught looking in your direction more than once. Your eyes looking in his direction more than once. As much as you tried to ignore him, something about his gaze brought a flush to your cheeks.

Around 3am, when the remaining crowd seemed to settle down again, you told your coworkers you needed your break and slipped out the back door into the sticky Florida night to finally take in some fresh air, even if it was just as hot as the inside of the bar. As you sat there, trying to rally for the next few hours of your shift, the door opened behind you. You were surprised when you opened the door and heard the sound of someone scrolling through tiktoks, some pop song blasting out into the humid night air. “Shit, you scared me,” you said with a gasp, turning to see none other than Matt.

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled, “No, I’m the one who should be sorry about that. I would never want to scare you,” he replied. “I have been looking for you though.”

“Oh really? What for?”

“You’re the hottest person here. My friends bet me $20 I couldn’t get your number tonight. They upped it to $100 when they saw me empty my wallet into your tip jar and you didn’t even blink my way. I almost thought you weren’t interested until we kept locking eyes.”

“Oh please,” you teased, “it’s a but hard to look away from the loudest guys in the bar.”

Matt scoffed, “Somehow I don’t think that’s it. So what do you say? You wanna help me make back some of that tip money? Wanna help me win this bet?”

As he went through each sentence he inched a little closer until he was leaning over you, leaving just enough room for you to dip around him and escape if you needed to. Even inebrieated with a few of those beers you served him, Matt was aware of himself and how big he was, and how maybe you weren’t into him after all. The spicy smell of his cologne mixed with the beer you knew must be coming out from his pores at this point and the faint hint of cigar smoke and chewing gum. Before you could talk yourself out of it, you were leaning in towards him, noticing how pink his lips looked. Before you could talk yourself out of it you were kissing him, hands running through his mullet.

He was taken aback at first and froze before you felt one of his large hands reach up and cup you cheek as he pulled you in even closer. As the kiss deepened, Matt pressed his body flush against yours. Through his jeans,through his hold, you felt him start to harden as you pushed your hips into his.

You pulled gently on his curly locks, eliciting a low moan from his throat. Taking advantage of his groan, you slipped your tongue into his mouth and his eagerly followed suit, pushing into your open mouth. His hands moved from your face to snake around your waist, somehow pressing you even tighter and removing any remaining space that was left between you. His lips were swollen as he pulled away from you briefly. You leaned into his collarbone, exposed with his shirt only half buttoned, and sucked it hard enough to leave your mark on him.

“Fuck,” he whispered as he threw his head back. Working up his neck, you continued to leave bites and wet kisses.

“Babe do you know what you’re doing to me?” he asked, taking your hand and placing it over the growing bulge in his jeans.

It was thick, and you were surprised at how much of a grower he was. As your hand traveled up to his zipper you heard him softly whimper at your touch and the anticipation of more.

“Why don’t we go back inside?” you asked, continuing to stroke him through his pants,“Staff bathroom is a little more…private.”

You already knew he wouldn’t say no to you no matter what you said, his fingers interlocking with yours letting you lead him wherever you wanted. Once back inside, you slipped into the tiny bathroom between the shelves of extra bottles and backup cups.

Inside the small space, there was barely enough room for the two of you to stand together; nevermind with your back pressed into the sink and his calves touching the toilet behind him. Despite this, Matt continued making out with you the second the lock on the door clicked into place.

“Need you,” he whined, grabbing for any piece of your hips or waist that he could get to. When he managed to get his hands on you, he lifted you up and sat you on the edge of the sink. Lifting up your hips, you helped him pull down your shorts and undies. They were barely around your ankles before you felt Matt’s hands reach between your legs.

“Look at you, so wet for me,” he said mystified as he dipped one finger between your legs and put it into his mouth, “taste so sweet too.”

“Matt, come on,” you said, grasping at him and pushing him towards the floor, ”be a good boy and eat me out.

Matt was eye-level with your core now, puppy-like and eager, and spread your legs with care. Instantly, he dove betwen your legs and lapped at your wetness, circling your clit with his tongue.

“Oh god,” you managed to choke out as he licked at your core, “Matt, you look so pretty with my pussy on your face. You love this don’t you, baby?”

He moaned into you as an answer, driving deeper with his tongue and tightening his hold on your thighs.

“Just like that babe, you’re doing such a good job, baby boy.” Matt practically growled at the pet name.

“You love being on your knees, huh? Like a slut.” As he pulled away from your center, Matt sank his teeth in your thigh, leaving his own mark on you as his stubble moved across your skin. “Of course I do,” he grinned, licking his lips, ”especially when you taste so good.”

He stuck two fingers in his mouth and pulled them out with a pop. Before you could answer, his fingers were deep inside you, curling to hit your most sensitive spot. Soon his mouth joined in, sucking and biting your clit as you got closer and closer to release. Praises rained from your lips, urging him on until finally you felt yourself clench around his fingers. Matt let you ride out your high on his fingers before pulling them from you and licking them clean. A string of your cum still connected his lips to you, and it was the prettiest thing you had ever seen.

“Your pussy is addicting,” he said with a dazed smile. You finally untangled your hand from his locks, disappointed your grip on him had ruined his perfect curls.

You took a moment to regain yourself before sliding down off the edge of the sink and pulling your shorts back up. “You did so good, baby. You deserve a reward for making me cum so quickly.”

Matt nodded eagerly, waiting for whatever you would give him.

“Do you want me to go down on you too? Do you want me to show you how much I appreciate how good you were?”

“Fuck yes,” he gasped out as he watched you slide slowly down his body to settle in on your knees. With nimble fingers he undid his belt and pants and pulled out his cock, pumping it slowly in his hand as he waited for you to be ready.

“Did I say you could touch yourself?” you asked him, tone suddenly serious.

Matt froze instantly. “Well,” you said, feigning disappointment,”if you want to take care of yourself then I guess I don’t need to help.”

“No, please—” he said, letting go quickly. He looked down at you with his big blue eyes, but you were more focused on the bead of precum on his pink tip. You needed to know how it tasted but you couldn’t let him have it so easily.

“Please what?” you prompted, giving tiny kisses and sucks along his thighs. You felt him shudder underneath each kiss.

“Please suck my cock,” he begged, eyes pleading with you,”please I need to cum. I've been so good.”

“Well,” you considered, drawing out the word, “you do sound so sweet begging for me.” You peppered kisses along his lower stomach, loving the way he squirmed for you.

“Please,” he breathed out, just as you kissed right where his abs ended and his happy trail began, ”please, I need you.”

Rather than answer him, you readied yourself before taking most of his length into your mouth. His surprised moan only fueled your fire as you swallowed around him. You pump him near the base, making sure to make a show of slipping your other hand into your shorts.

“Oh fuck,” he moaned out, repeating the phrase like a prayer. “Oh fuck, baby, please don’t stop.”

You pulled back to trace his head with the tip of your tongue, looking up at him so you could see how much he was enjoying it. He was biting his lip, using every muscle in his body to hold in how loudly he truly wanted to moan. Bobbing back down to swallow more of his length, you kept your eye contact going as long as you could. When his tip hit the back of your throat he couldn’t help but close his eyes and let his head hang back in ecstasy.

You felt him twitch in your mouth, a sure sign he was going to cum soon. Pulling your mouth off of him, you asked him sweetly, “Now baby, do you want to cum on my face or in my mouth?”

“Your mouth, please,” he panted out. You nodded and gave him kisses down his perfectly pink cock before putting him back between your lips. Not long after, you tasted the salty sweet release and felt him shake under you as you sucked his head gently, coaxing as much from him as he could give.

“Shit,” he gasped,“That was… that was amazing.” You pulled his boxers back up over him as you carefully stood up. Checking yourself in the mirror, your eyeliner was running slightly and your lips were perfectly plumped from the encounter.

A pounding at the door and a call for your name has the two of you nearly jumping out of your skin. “Hey, I need to pee,” one of your coworkers shouted from the other side,”Are you two almost done in there?”

Matt burst out laughing as he looked at you wide-eyed, face burning like a high school kid getting caught by his parents with his first hickey.

“Give us a sec!” you shouted as Matt finished up his belt buckle. He pulled you in close once more, kissing you deeply for a moment.

“No matter how many times we do this,” he admitted, pressing his lips gently to your forehead,”it’s still fun.”

“Maybe next time we can try role playing at your job though,” you suggested with a laugh, “I can pretend to be a sexy goalie or a naughty linesman.”

“Matthew Tkachuk, 2 minute minor for not enough roughing,” you teased.

“Ha ha very funny, now we better get out of here before Marla gets upset with me,” Matt said worriedly,”I think we took a little too long this time.”

He opened the door cautiously, afraid to slam it into your best friend and coworker, Marla, as she waited for you two to clear out. She rolled her eyes as you walked out, fingers laced together and very content.

“God,” she groaned,” can’t you guys fuck somewhere else? I love you both but this is the third time this month that I’ve been stuck out here waiting for you to finish up your little sex games.”

“Listen, if you were dating someone this hot you’d want to fuck them everywhere too,” Matt replied and Marla rolled her eyes. He led you back out to the sounds of shouts and celebration, still holding your hand in his.

“I’m serious about the linesman thing,” you piped up again,“I think it could be a sexy little scene.”

“Ehhh, we’ll talk about it at home. Now come on, the guys wanted to say hi before you went back to work.”

#matthew tkachuk #matthew tkachuk imagine #matthew tkachuk fic #matthew tkachuk smut #matthew tkachuk x reader #nhl imagine #nhl smut #nhl fic #matthew tkachuk fanfiction #nhl fanfiction #matthew tkachuk blurb #nhl blurb #nhl x reader #nhl x y/n #matthew tkachuk x y/n #writing tag

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mattsobvimyfav · 1 month ago

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neighbors (Matthew Sturniolo)

pt. 6

The bar was stunning—built on small wooden platforms connected by narrow walkways, all surrounded by glistening water under the moonlight. The soft hum of music and the chatter of people filled the air as we made our way toward the main area.

As we walked, I felt Matt’s hand on the small of my back. It was subtle, just enough to guide me forward as the crowd got a little tighter near the entrance.

I stiffened for a split second, fully aware of his touch, but I didn’t argue or pull away. It felt… natural, in a way I wasn’t sure how to process.

“You good?” Matt asked, leaning down slightly so I could hear him over the noise.

“Yeah,” I replied, glancing up at him briefly. “I’m fine.”

We made it to the bar, and Matt finally let his hand drop as we found an open spot. Charlie and Chris were a few steps behind us, laughing about something, while Nick was already waving down the bartender.

“What are we drinking tonight?” Charlie asked as she slid up beside me.

“Something strong,” I said with a grin, trying to push any lingering thoughts about Matt aside.

Matt smirked. “I’ll get the first round,” he offered, already signaling the bartender.

As he started ordering, I leaned against the counter, letting the cool night air brush over my skin. This trip was supposed to be fun, and I was determined to make sure it stayed that way—no matter how complicated things might get.

An hour and a half in, the bar was buzzing, and so was I. The drinks were flowing, the music was loud, and I was well past tipsy—solidly in drunk territory. Everything felt light, like I was floating. I couldn’t stop laughing at something Charlie said before she disappeared with Chris to dance.

Somehow, Matt had become my unofficial babysitter.

“Alright, easy there,” Matt said, steadying me as I swayed in my spot. His hands gripped my hips firmly, keeping me upright as I stumbled toward him.

“I’m fine!” I said, giggling as I leaned into him. “Totally fine.”

“You’re hammered,” he countered, a half-smile on his face. “Let’s just get some water.”

I pouted, but I didn’t argue. Matt was close, his hands still on me, and I couldn’t help but notice how good he smelled—like his cologne mixed with the salty sea air.

“Matt,” I said, looking up at him with a sly smile.

“What?” he asked, his tone cautious but amused.

I leaned in closer, lowering my voice, even though my filter was long gone. “How about we fuck on this trip?”

Matt froze, his hands tightening slightly on my hips. His jaw clenched as he processed what I’d just said.

I grinned, feeling bold. “The whole trip. But when we’re back home? Back to reality. It’s over.”

“Y/N,” he started, his voice low and laced with disbelief, “you’re drunk. You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” I insisted, poking his chest. “I’m dead serious.”

He let out a dry laugh, shaking his head as if trying to shake off what I’d just proposed. “You don’t know what you’re saying right now.”

I stood on my tiptoes, bringing my face closer to his. “Oh, I know exactly what I’m saying.”

Matt looked at me, his expression unreadable, before gently guiding me toward a nearby chair. “Sit down, Y/N,” he said softly. “We’ll talk about this when you’re sober.”

I huffed but didn’t fight him, letting him settle me into the seat. He crouched in front of me, his eyes searching mine with a mix of frustration and something else I couldn’t quite name.

“Drink this,” he said, handing me a bottle of water. “And stop talking like that.”

I took the water, still grinning at him. He looked rattled, and for some reason, that made me feel triumphant.

“Whatever you say, Matt,” I said with a teasing lilt, taking a sip.

But the truth was, even in my drunken haze, I knew I was gonna get exactly what I wanted—and I had a feeling he did too.

The drive back to the Airbnb after the bar was quiet, the night air cooling my flushed face as I leaned my head against the window. Matt sat beside me in the backseat, his arm steadying me whenever we hit a bump in the road. His touch was gentle but firm, like he was afraid I might shatter.

Once we got to the house, everyone scattered—Nick and Chris laughing about something as they headed to their rooms, and Charlie muttering about needing water before stumbling off to meet Chris in hers. I walked toward my door, but I didn’t go in. Instead, I turned around and found Matt lingering in the hallway.

“Hey,” I whispered, leaning against the doorframe.

“Hey,” he said softly, his hands in his pockets, watching me carefully.

I didn’t say anything else, just stepped forward, closing the space between us. Slowly, I reached out and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him down until our lips met. He hesitated for a split second before kissing me back, his hands finding my waist, pulling me closer.

It was desperate, a mix of anger, longing, and years of unresolved feelings. His lips were soft, but there was nothing gentle about the way he kissed me. It felt like we were both trying to make up for lost time and fight against it at the same time.

I pulled him toward my room, our lips never breaking apart. Once inside, the door clicked shut behind us, and I pushed him down onto the edge of the bed. I stood in front of him, catching my breath as I looked at him, my heart racing in my chest.

“Matt,” I said, my voice shaky.

He reached for my hand, holding it tightly. “Y/N, wait.”

I frowned, confused. “Bitch what?”

He shook his head, his jaw tight as he avoided my eyes. “Not like this. Not tonight.”

“Why not?” I asked, my voice rising slightly. “I want this. You want this. Why not just—”

“Because I don’t trust this,” Matt cut me off, his voice firm but not unkind. “You’ve been drinking, and I—Y/N, I can’t do this just to have you pretend it never happened in the morning. I can’t be heartbroken again.”

His words hit me like a punch to the stomach. I wobbled slightly, crossing my arms over my chest in a weak attempt to shield myself from the sting of his rejection.

“I’m not asking for a relationship,” I whispered, my words slurring slightly. “I’m just tryna bust one.”

Matt stared at me for a moment, his lips twitching in what looked like an attempt not to laugh. “Yeah, I know,” he said, finally letting out a small, exasperated chuckle as he stood up. “But I’m not doing this just so you can use me to get off. You’re drunk, Y/N.”

“TSA took my rose toy,” I said, my voice breaking into a dramatic whine. “C’mooonnn, Matt. I need to cum, and I know you can make it happen!”

He ran a hand down his face, clearly trying to hold it together. “You’re impossible,” he muttered, stepping closer to me. His expression softened as he leaned down, brushing a gentle kiss to my forehead. “Goodnight, Y/N,” he said quietly, turning toward the door.

“Matt,” I called after him weakly, but he didn’t turn around. The door clicked shut behind him, leaving me alone in the room.

For a moment, I just stood there, staring at the empty space he left behind. Then, the emotions hit me like a tidal wave. Tears welled up in my eyes, and before I knew it, I was full-on sobbing. Feeling desperate and in need of comfort, I stumbled out of the room, my feet carrying me to Charlie and Chris’s door.

As I got closer, I heard… noises. Moaning. A lot of it.

I paused for a moment, my drunken brain trying to process what was happening on the other side of the door. My face flushed as I realized what I was hearing—Charlie and Chris were definitely in the middle of something.

I should have turned around. Anyone with half a brain would have. But I was too drunk, too emotional, and way too sad to care.

Without knocking, I opened the door and walked in.

“Y/N, what the—” Chris yelled, scrambling to pull the sheets up over him and Charlie. They were both very clearly naked, flushed, and—judging by Chris’s exasperated groan—not thrilled about the interruption.

But I didn’t care. Tears streaming down my face, I stumbled into the room and flopped dramatically onto the bed in between charlie and chris. “Matt wouldn’t touch me!” I wailed, burying my face in the pillow.

There was a moment of stunned silence. Then, Charlie burst out laughing.

“Are you serious right now?” she choked out, her laughter bubbling uncontrollably. “You barged in here while we were literally fucking—oh my God, Y/N, I can’t.”

Chris groaned loudly, running a hand down his face. “Y/N, you couldn’t wait, like, ten minutes?”

“No!” I sobbed into the pillow, my voice muffled. “He kissed me on the forehead and said goodnight like I was a child! He wouldn’t even—ugh, it’s so embarrassing!”

Charlie, still laughing, reached out to rub my head. “Okay, okay,” she said between giggles, her tone shifting into an exaggeratedly soothing one. “It’s fine, sweetie. You’re just drunk and sad and—oh my God, this is the funniest thing that’s ever happened.”

Chris groaned again. “Why do you always encourage her?”

“Because it’s hilarious,” Charlie said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. “Scoot over, babe. She’s sleeping with us tonight.”

“Charlie—” Chris started, his voice filled with disbelief.

“Move,” she ordered, still laughing. “Our girl is heartbroken and hasn’t been touched in months. She needs us.”

Grumbling, Chris slid over as Charlie tugged me under the covers. “There, there,” she said in a mockingly motherly tone. “Matt’s a jerk. But we still love you, even if you’re a hot mess.”

Chris sighed dramatically. “If this turns into a slumber party, I’m moving out.”

Charlie snorted. “You’ll survive, babe. Now hush. Y/N, we’ll figure out your Matt drama tomorrow, okay?”

I sniffled, finally letting out a small laugh despite myself. “Thanks, guys.”

“Anytime, babe,” Charlie said, grinning. “Now get some sleep. And maybe next time, knock before entering. I had him almost whimpering man.”

“Charlie!” Chris yelled and turned over in bed, his back facing Charlie.

I let out another choked sob. “Guys stop! I miss when Matt would whimper under me.”

Chris shot up in bed like a rocket. “God, ew! I don’t need to know about that—you know what, that’s it,” he said, swinging his legs off the bed. He grabbed his boxers off the floor and quickly pulled them on before marching toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Charlie called after him, still half-laughing.

“To fix this mess before it gets worse!” Chris barked, slamming the door behind him.

Charlie shook her head, stifling another laugh as she looked down at me. “See what you’ve done? You’ve traumatized my man.”

I sniffled dramatically. “Good. He deserves it.”

Charlie rolled her eyes, lying back down. “You’re a menace. And if Matt doesn’t fix this tonight, I will. But for now, shut up and sleep.”

Meanwhile, Chris found Matt sitting in the living room, scrolling on his phone with an unreadable expression.

“Hey,” Chris said, walking over to him.

Matt looked up, his jaw tightening slightly. “What do you want?”

Chris crossed his arms. “I want you to go get Y/N.”

Matt raised an eyebrow. “Pretty sure she’s in your bed right now, interrupting whatever you were doing.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Chris muttered dryly. “Look, she’s drunk, sad, and crying because you wouldn’t touch her—”

“Chris—” Matt started, a defensive edge in his voice.

“—and honestly? She needs you. Just take her to bed and lie with her or something. I don’t care. Just do something before she sobs herself into dehydration in my room.”

Matt hesitated, his jaw tightening further, but finally sighed and stood up. “Fine.”

Chris smirked. “Good. Now hurry up. I’ve got important things to do.”

Matt rolled his eyes as Chris walked off, muttering under his breath about “cock blocking” and “getting back to business"

Back in the room, Charlie was gently stroking my hair, whispering, “It’s okay, babe. You’re still hot even if Matt’s being a dumbass.”

The door creaked open, and I froze as Matt stepped in. Charlie and I both turned toward him, though her smirk immediately grew mischievous.

“Well, well, well,” she said. “Look who decided to grow a pair.”

“Charlie, don’t start,” Matt said, his voice low and calm. He walked over to the bed and, without saying another word, scooped me up into his arms.

“Matt, what are you—” I started, but he didn’t answer. He just carried me toward the door.

“Goodnight, Charlie,” he said pointedly before walking out.

“Good luck, Matt!” Charlie called after us, her laughter echoing down the hall.

As we left the room, I glanced back over Matt’s shoulder just in time to see Chris taking off his boxers and pouncing back on top of Charlie. “Seriously?” I mumbled, but Matt didn’t react.

When we got to my room, Matt carefully laid me down on the bed, pulling the blanket over me. He moved to leave, but I grabbed his wrist, holding him there.

“Matt,” I whispered, my voice thick with desperation. “Don’t go. Stay with me.”

He hesitated for a moment, then sighed softly and climbed into bed beside me. He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close until we were spooning. His warmth and the steady rhythm of his breathing were comforting, but it wasn’t enough.

“Matt,” I whispered again, my voice trembling. “Please. Touch me.”

His grip tightened around me slightly, but he shook his head. “Not tonight, Y/N. You’ve had too much to drink, and I’m not doing this like this.”

“Please,” I begged, turning slightly to look at him. “I need you.”

“You need sleep,” he said softly, his voice firm but kind. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. But this? It has to wait.”

Tears pricked at my eyes again, but I didn’t argue. Instead, I buried my face in his chest, feeling the steady rise and fall as he held me.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to the top of my head. And despite the ache in between my legs, his presence was enough to lull me into a peaceful sleep.

tag-

@tbfaptbfae @ch0llies @2muchofaslvt @rockstarchr1s @simply-a-simper @mattscore @watercolorskyy @urfungi @sturnsvelocity @mattsturnii @christmastreecake @izzylovesmatt @larnieboox88 @christophersstar @realuvrrr @namelesssav @matts-girlfriend

#matt sturniolo x reader #matt sturniolo x you #chris sturniolo x reader #nicolas sturniolo #chris sturniolo x you #christopher sturniolo #nick sturniolo #matt sturniolo #chris sturniolo #sturniolo #matt stuniolo fanfic #matthew sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #neighbor

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hellsburners · 2 years ago

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test drive nothing

summary: Your date is a fucking asshole so you find two lovely men who are willing to make it up to you. pairing: matt murdock x male reader x peter parker word count: 3.2k warnings: 18+ warning, alcohol use, some rude guy at a club, threesomes, top!matt, top!peter, bottom!reader, gay sex, semi-public stuff a bit, eiffel towered reader iykwim a/n: sorry for the delay didnt feel good for the past few days, anyway i hope yall like this idk what i was doing with this but if you liked it interractions are very much welcome and appreciated.

masterlist | more matt | more peter

gif credit for peter & matt

Heat rose up from your toes to your head. Music blasting from speakers left and right, neon streams of strobing light lit the dark room. People dancing around and drinking. It’ll be fine, you thought. It was your first time in this club, a Grindr match invited you here so you could hang. You were scanning the room for him, his pic showed a lean man with blonde hair and blue eyes on a beach in California.

You here? You messaged him. Well, you’ve been messaging him the same question for the past hour, no response. Your cheeks turned red from the anxiety. You nape, turning stiff and sore.

“Hey,” an arm caresses yours. It was him, he was wearing a black tank top tucked into cargo pants. “So, you ordered a drink?” You shook your head, he called on the bartender and gave you a drink suggestion. Since you weren’t much of a drinker you went with his choice, vodka martini.

The two of you talked for a few minutes, catching up on typical first date things. You found out that he was a doctor for MetroGen, he liked hockey, and he has a pet dog. He was now a few inches from you, his breath reeking of alcohol, his light blue eyes piercing yours. He tried to inch closer to you, to kiss you. Feeling like he was being too fast you pulled back.

“Maybe we should go dance?” you asked, standing up from the bar stool. He reluctantly agrees. You gesture to the dance floor. The two of you walk towards the building crowd. You were bumping onto bodies left and right. You were holding your drink, trying not to spill it. A man with brown hair bumps into you, you almost spilled the drinks from the tight space. He told you he was fine and left smiling. You thought of his face, it felt familiar.

“Hey you coming?” your date says, starting to dance. You joined him, slowly feeling into the fast beat of the music. He places an arm at your lower back. Your hands to his shoulders. Your hips moving left and right. He stares at different men passing you by, his gaze on them rather than you.

You see a guy wink at him and he winks back. You thought he was just friendly, he seemed to be the type. He knew people in the club and he’d greet them left and right. You felt isolated. You look around, people dancing and laughing, it suffocates you. Your hands started to jitter around the glass, you almost felt it slip.

“I think I’m gonna go—” you gestured for the restroom. He grabs your wrist and pulls you back. His arm wrapped tightly across your back. His grip was firm, he reeked so bad of alcohol you hadn't noticed he was actually so drunk from earlier. “Please, let me go. You’re making me uncomfortable.”

He starts to initiate a kiss. You push him away, he doesn’t budge.

“Come on now babe, we haven’t had much fun yet,” he whispers to your ear, you cringe from his disgusting tone. A hand pulls his arm away. The weight lifted off of you.

“He said let go, man,” someone says, it was the brunette from earlier. Your date shrieks from the man’s grip. You see his fingers almost crush his wrist. His brown eyes were stern, his brows furrowed.

“Piss off! That’s my date,” he tries to reach for you. The brunette pushes you aside gently, blocking you away from him. Your date pushes the brunette, taunting him. He tries to take a punch toward the man protecting you, he blocks it. The guy tried to lunge further, to take the brunette by the collar and slam him. You see the brunette clutch his fists, his nails burying in his palms. Too bad for your date the bouncer came in and ushered him out. He went out screaming and cursing.

“You okay?” the brunette said. He gestured for you to go back to the bar and grab some water.

“Yeah, fucking prick,” you said soothing your wrist before taking a sip of ice cold water. The shock releases your skin of all the tension. “Knew that app was a hell hole.”

“Met him from Grindr, huh?” he asked, you nodded reluctantly. Now that you were far from the strobe lights and all the different colors you could see his face clearly. You had seen his face before, not from earlier, but from somewhere years ago. Your face contorted to a confused look.

“Have we met before?” you asked,he smiles.

“Must be the glasses, ditched them years ago.” He points two fingers to his eyes.

“Oh my god from high school! I know your name I swear,” you tried to search your brain for a name, or the first letter at least.

“I bet you a million dollars you won’t remember my name, not really a popular guy in high school,” he chuckles. He takes a sip of coke, his arm resting on the bar counter. You close your eyes trying to search for the name.

“Peter Parker!” you shouted. “Venmo me a million dollars right now."

“Well give me your number so I can send it,” he takes out his phone. You smiled, you took his phone and typed the ten digits. “I’ll send it to ‘ya when I win the lottery.” The two of you laugh.

“Wanna dance?” you asked.

“You sure?” he said, looking confused.

“Yeah, can’t let one man ruin my night right?” you started backing up towards the dance floor. He was hesitant at frist, following you he takes your shoulder to guide him.

The two of you started to dance. The lights flood your eyes with different colors. You asked if you could put your hands on him, he nodded. You rest your hands on his shoulders. He asked the same question, you nodded as well. You guided his arms around your waist. He was gentle about it. The pressure was so light it felt like nothing.

You placed a hand on his handsome face, pushing his hair aside. “Do you want to kiss me? I think you wanna kiss me?” he whispered.

“You want to bet another million dollars on that?” you laughed.

Your lips meet, his soft lips warm on yours. He was everything the man earlier was not. Each step he asked for your consent. His hands were light on your body. His kiss was slow and gentle. He was simply a nice guy.

He told you that he forgot to mention he was actually meeting with a friend. You got shy thinking he was on a date and you now ruined it but he assured you it was just a friend. A few minutes of chatting led to the two of you laughing at each other’s jokes. It was around midnight already.

Peter called for someone behind you, you turned to see who it was and it was a man a bit older than him. He wore a black suit and a white shirt and he wore these ruby colored glasses. He was an attractive man, his mouth smirked as he waved at Peter.

“Hey, this is my friend Matt,” Peter says to your ear, the music almost making it inaudible. Matt smiles as Peter introduces you to him.

“Sorry for being late, work stuff,” you noticed his eyes behind the glasses focused above your head, never going your way. He’s blind, Peter mouths at you. Oh. Peter told you two to get to know each other as he gets more drinks.

“You from Midtown?” you asked.

“Hell’s Kitchen actually, I’m a lawyer,” he says. You told him about how you met Peter in high school.

“Oh, hence the corporate get-up, I dig it” you said, he laughs, his cheeks showing off his dimples.

Peter came back with three shot glasses. He hands you and Matt one. He offers a toast and the three of you bring your glasses to a clink. You down the shot, the liquid burning your throats. And the three of you took another shot, and another, and another.

You tap Matt’s shoulder gently. “Let’s dance some,” you say to him.

“Oh no, I don’t dance,” he puts the shot glass down. Waving his hands with hesitation.

“That’s not true, I saw you once!” Peter said, Matt pressed his palm on his mouth and made a shushing sound. The three of you were laughing hysterically.

“Oh come on do it for me,” you dragged the words. He loosens his tie and joins two of you.

Peter’s arm was around your shoulder as the two of you danced to the beat, your hips swaying. You held onto the hem of Matt’s sleeve pulling him in. He awkwardly tries to dance with the two of you. It was cute, you thought. Peter was now behind you, your back pressed to his chest. Matt playfully guided your hands to his shoulders, moving his body left and right. It was out of beat but it was the thought that counts.

Maybe it was alcohol, or the moment, or the fact that there were two very attractive men dancing with you, but you started to feel something. Like heat rising to your cheeks in a good way, your knees feeling weak. Peter placed a kiss on your nape. You ushered yourselves closer to Matt. Peter’s hand went to Matt’s waist pulling him into you.

Matt placed his arms in your waist, light but stern. You wrapped your arms around his neck. You could smell him, like sandalwood and musk. “You could ask him if you want to. I won’t mind,” Peter said, as if being able to read your mind.

“Can I kiss you?” you asked Matt. Your mind completely focused on the two men with you. Matt giggles and places a kiss on your lips. Peter’s kiss was soft, Matt’s was more heated, like his thick lips were sucking you in.

“So you two do this a lot?” You pointed at Matt and Peter.

“Only if the guy is cute.” Peter said.

“But the two of you?” you chuckled. Peter placed his hands on Matt’s cheek, whispering something in his ears. Matt nods and Peter places a kiss on Matt’s lips.

“That wasn’t too bad. Can’t believe we haven’t done that before Matt," he pats his back.

“Maybe we can take this party to my place?” Matt said. You looked at Peter, who was also looking at you. You both tell Matt yes. “Let me go get a cab.”

Now outside, Matt was hailing for a cab. The streets were cold. Peter wraps his arms around you. Body heat, he says. You go on your tiptoes to kiss him again. More feverish this time. You could feel his hardness press on your waist. “Sorry, I couldn't wait, this is so hot.”

Matt arrives, his brows raised in disbelief. A cab waiting for the three of you. Matt tugs on Peter’s collar and shoves him to the front seat. “You sit there and watch.”

You and Matt continue to make out in the back seat. His shirt was now untucked from his waist. His tie was long gone and his shirt opened a bit. He places soft wet kisses to your neck making you moan. The two of you could care less about what the cab driver thought.

Peter looks at the two of you from the rearview mirror, the erection in his pants stirring. He palms the damn thing. He really could not wait.

Matt’s hands came to your thigh, your hands peeking through the hem of his shirt, you could feel his bare skin, all warm and hard. The car slowed, you’ve arrived at Matt’s apartment. Peter pays, you and Matt hurrying to the front door. “Hey wait up!” Peter yelled.

While Matt was fumbling to get his keys Peter pulled you to him. “I’m starting to get jealous here,” he whispers.

“I want you both, so fucking bad.”

“Then you’ll have us,” he cups your face and kisses you again, his tongue meeting yours. His hand comes to your lower back, playing with the hem of your pants. His fingers slowly going underneath the fabric.

The door unlocks. “Door’s open, you two,” he takes his suit jacket off.

The three of you were undressing in Matt’s living room, stumbling from getting rid of tight shirts and long pants. You stare at their bodies both scarred, Peter was lean but still muscular, while Matt was more bulky. Their erections form tents in their boxers.

Peter sat down on the sofa, gesturing for you to sit on him. Matt sits next to him. God they were a sight. You ride Peter’s thigh. Your hands palming his torso. Peter touches your sex, you were also so hard. You whisper to Peter that you’d like to suck him off. He curses and nods.

You go down on your knees, pulling his boxers with you. His long cock springs up, the head a bright red. He points the tip to your lips, you give it kitten licks, the sensitive head throbbed from the motion.

Matt started to palm his boxers as you sucked Peter off. Your hand wanders to his hairy thighs. Matt releases his cock, it was shorter than Peter’s but still pretty big, what Peter lacked in girth Matt showed off more. You started to stroke his cock, your mouth still on Peter’s. The two men moaned, their eyes closed and their heads held back.

“Fuck you’re so good,” Peter coos. He takes you to sit on the couch, he goes down on his knees to pleasure you. With his mouth to your cock, Matt went on to leave kisses to your neck, his hand on Peter’s head, pushing him deeper. You moaned so much from it. Your hands go to Matt’s cock, now leaking with precum.

“I want to fuck you,” Peter said. You asked where the bedroom was and Matt led the two of you to his queen sized bed. Matt sat on the bed, his back to the headboard, you crawled to him and took him in your mouth, the girth filling your warm mouth. Peter massages your ass from the back. Matt jerked his hips making you choke a little, you moaned, your throat vibrating on Matt’s cock. “Moan louder pretty, Matt likes it a lot.”

Peter takes your underwear off. He parted your ass and began to lick in your hole. You moaned on Matt’s cock, he shuddered from the sudden wave of pleasure; he brushed his hand through your hair. “My god sweetheart you’re too good at this.”

You felt Peter’s shaft tapping against your whole. “Condoms?” he asked. Matt gestured for the bedside table. Peter went on to get them. You released Matt’s cock to look for him but he pulled you into a kiss.

“Peter’s gonna go first, is that okay?” Matt asked in between kisses. You nodded. Peter returned with condoms and a small bottle of lube. He places the condom on his cock, stroking it after with lube.

“‘You ready?” you nod. Peter slowly presses the tip to your whole, the tight muscle contracts around the head making it tighter.

“Relax for me baby,” Peter coos, rubbing his hands on your back. He fully sheathed himself in you. You felt so full and so good. Peter fucking you while your mouth was on Matt’s cock, it drove you crazy. Peter pulled you to his chest, one hand to your cock while the other teasing your nipples. Matt went to your cock and placed small licks to your shaft, precum dripping from your tip. Matt took you in, your cock hitting the back of his throat as Peter pounded you. Matt choked but kept going.

“You sound so good taking Peter,” Matt said, his lips swollen red. Your hands brushed through his hair. Peter fucked you so sensually any trace of stinging alleviated from your body. There was fluidity to the way he moved, like a dancer or a gymnast, all steady movement but still so graceful.

“Fuck, I’m so close,” Peter groaned.

You felt so close too. Your rhythm became erratic, more lazy and inert. He let out a few more thrusts, emptying inside you. You came on Matt’s lips. Your chest heaving, Peter gave you a kiss on your temple, whispering praises.

Matt wiped his lips, licking your cum and sucking on his fingers. “My turn,” Matt guided your back to the bed. He took your legs and placed them on both sides of his hips. His cock leaking with pre, he takes the condom packet and places a rubber on him as well, lubing it after.

You still felt weak from Peter, who was now cradling you in between his legs, your back to his. He is laying down with his back to the headboard resting for a bit. Matt slowly pressed himself into your hole, you groaned. Peter whispered words of comfort to your ears, brushing his hands through your hair as Matt moaned to the feeling of your hole around his cock.

Matt peppered you with kisses. His hands snaked around your body feeling every bit of skin, his fingertips tracing every crevice and every groove, every bit of fat and muscle. He looked so good, hips thrusting while his dark hair stuck to his forehead drenched in sweat. His mouth agape as he cursed, calling for God's name.

Peter’s hand went to your cock, now soft and a bit sore. He traced his fingertips on the wet slit, the sensitive tip made you writhe from the sensation. A few moments later you began to harden again. Peter spat on his palm and stroked your cock after. Your eyes closed from all the pleasure.

You felt your spirit lift from your body. These two men were bringing pleasures to your body you hadn’t known existed. You felt as if your body were ascending to heaven for a second there.

Matt bent down to give you a fevered kiss. Peter squeezed himself to the kiss. The three of you sharing your tongues and lips. Matt’s stubble pricked your cheeks but it didn’t matter. You felt yourself near another orgasm. You were now a sobbing mess between these two. Matt fucked you harder, you felt his orgasm nearing as well.

“I’m gonna cum,” you cried. Matt said he was close too, whining your name. Peter pumped your cock until your eyes closed from the pleasure, your hands gripping onto the sheets, your toes curled. Matt’s erratic rhythm came to a stop as he emptied his cum in the condom. Leaving you both a moaning mess.

The three of you shared one last kiss before crashing onto the bed. Matt went to the bathroom to get you a wet towel. Peter peppered your temples with kisses, whispering praises. Matt came back with the towel and helped you and Peter clean up, he took extra good care with cleaning your behind.

After that, the three of you laid naked on Matt’s bed, drenched in sweat. You felt yourself drift off to the night. Your head to Matt’s chest and Peter’s arms wrapped around you.

You wake up to the sound of frying and the smell of cooked bacon. You found yourself tucked in Matt’s blanket, with your boxers on and Matt’s shirt on you. You stood up, your back aching, and went to Matt’s small kitchen. You found the two boys cooking breakfast. It was Matt who noticed you first.

“Hungry?” he asked, finishing off frying eggs. Peter noticed who Matt was talking to and smiled. He walked towards you to give you a kiss on the forehead, his hands on a plate of bacon and some toast.

You smirked, very.

interactions are greatly appreciated btw if u liked this fic and want more send me a prompt and i'd gladly make something from it :>

#matt murdock smut #matt murdock x reader #daredevil smut #daredevil x reader #matt murdock x male reader #daredevil x male reader #matt murdock x male reader smut #daredevil x male reader smut #peter parker smut #peter parker x reader smut #peter parker x male reader smut #the amazing spiderman #tasm!peter parker x reader #tasm!peter parker x male reader #tasm!peter parker x male reader smut #matt murdock x reader x peter parker #matt murdock x reader x peter parker smut

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mintsturniolo · 4 months ago

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alcohol and heartbreak (c.s)

bsf!chris sturniolo x f!reader

a/n: this one been sitting in the drafts lmao for months. edited kind of? reacquainting myself with angst cause i haven't written something like this since my last fandom

summary: when chris's girlfriend cheats on him he finds himself drunk at his best friend's doorstep

warnings: angst, crying, alcohol... idk. no happy ending ig

Hurt didn’t begin to describe how Chris felt at this moment. He felt broken. Betrayed. He never knew his heart could physically hurt the way it did. His whole body hurt. Currently he was wandering through the streets of Boston. Matt and Nick had tried to stop him from leaving. They wanted to know what was wrong. Chris just didn’t have the energy to tell anyone what had happened. When Sierra had said forever he’d believed it. The last thing he’d expected was to be sent proof that his girlfriend was cheating on him. As if things could get worse, when confronted, Sierra didn’t even deny it.

How could Chris go from loving someone so much to hating them? How could he miss the red flags? What did he do to deserve this? It felt like it was always him. Matt and Nick had gotten their significant others, yet when it was turn, everything went wrong.

Tears streamed down Chris’s face as he found himself in the parking lot of a bar. He wasn’t one to drink. He’d always been against it. Tonight he needed a drink. He knew he would regret it later, but he didn’t care.

Almost two hours passed, and Chris didn’t know how but he found himself sitting at the bar with a third bottle of some drink he didn’t know in his hands. Everything felt like it was spinning and blurry. Everyone’s voices sounded like they were under water. His cheeks felt warm and wet, but he couldn’t figure out. “Sir. Excuse me sir?”

Chris looked up to see the bartender looking at him with a concerned look on his face. “Hmmmm,” he hummed tracing the rim of the bottle with his finger.

“Are you okay? Why are you crying? Do you need me to call someone to take you home?” the bartender asked.

Chris shook his head as he got to his feet. “M’fine,” he slurred. “Thanks.”

He tried to stand up, but almost collapsed. “Woah,” the bartender said, coming around to help Chris. “Is there anyone you want me to call?”

Chris shook his head as he steadied himself. “I can make it where I need to go,” he mumbled placing some money on the bar. “Thanks.”

The bartender nodded and went back to what he was doing as Chris stumbled out the door.

***your pov ***

You were in the kitchen of your small apartment, cleaning up when you heard a knock at your door. “Hello?” you asked, looking up.

When you got no response you made your way to the door and opened it. You gasped at the sight in front of you. Your best friend Chris was leaning heavily against the doorframe, his eyes were red, and tears streaked down his face. “What happened hun?” you asked worriedly, as you led him inside and closed the door.

“She cheated…” was all he managed to say as more tears started to run down his face.

You were stunned as you watched Chris stumble across the room and opened the fridge. He turned to you with a half empty bottle of tequila in his hand that he had just found. “Chris…” you sighed. “Join me on the couch?” you offered.

Chris shrugged and took the offer. He was silent for a couple minutes, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. You placed a hand on his knee, causing him to glance at you briefly. “You want to talk about it? Do you just want to go to bed? You can have the guest room.”

“What’s there to talk about?” Chris muttered, and you could hear the anger starting to build in his voice.

You shrugged as you watched Chris take a sip of the tequila. “We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” you replied. “Whatever you want.”

Chris didn’t reply as he stood up, and you assumed he was about to take your offer of the guest bedroom. He turned towards you, looking defeated. “I was scared. You know that?”

You looked up at him. “Scared?”

“My biggest fear has always been the vulnerability that comes with relationships,” Chris replied. “I told her that. I fucking told her that.”

You didn’t know how to respond, so you chose to sit quietly and let Chris rant. Chris took another sip of tequila as he started pacing. “You know how she responded when I asked about what I’d heard?”

You shook your head. You could see a look in Chris's eyes that you'd never seen before. “She didn’t even react. She just said she was interested in the other guy now. Could she not just have the guts to break up with me?” Chris ranted, raising his voice with every sentence.

“I’m sorry,” was all you managed to say as you watched Chris get more restless by the second.

“I did everything for her. I was there for her and she turns around and throws it in my face,” Chris snapped at no one in particular.

You nodded quietly. You knew what he’d gone through with that girl. You had witnessed him constantly do everything for her and put her over so many different opportunities he could’ve had.

Chris was shaking as tears started to roll down his flushed cheeks again. Your heart hurt for your friend as you watched him try to calm himself down. The amount of alcohol Chris had consumed tonight seemed to be having an effect as his rage changed to sadness. His blue eyes swam in tears as he let the glass bottle he was still holding slip from his hands and shatter on the floor. “What am I doing wrong?” he slurred, starting to sway slightly.

You stood up and hurried to his side, avoiding the broken glass the best you could. “Nothing. It’s not your fault,” you tried to assure him.

That was all it took for the dam to break. “I know. It’s okay,” was all you could think to say as you listened to Chris’s heartbreaking sobs.

It was several minutes before Chris’s sobs quieted. You brushed his hair out of his eyes and sighed. “I know it hurts.”

“She didn’t even care,” Chris said tearfully.

You wiped a stray tear from his cheek. “Come back to the couch with me?”

The two of you settled back on the couch and you pulled Chris in for a hug. “She didn’t deserve you. I’m so sorry,” you whispered, running your fingers through Chris’s hair.

Chris was quiet as he stayed in your arms and you knew he was exhausted from the combination of alcohol and emotions. His breathing started to slow and you glanced down to see his eyes starting to close. You started to offer the guest bedroom to him again, but you didn’t think he would be able to stay standing and you certainly couldn’t take his full weight. You reached for the blanket next to you and gently covered Chris with it “M’sorry,” he slurred. “Bout the glass. I’ll clean it up.”

You shook your head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll clean it up later.”

“Hmmm,” Chris hummed.

You absentmindedly scratched Chris’s back as you closed your eyes. It would be a long day tomorrow, and you know Chris wouldn’t remember anything from tonight.

Taglist

@adirtylittleheart @sturniolo04 @yourenogoodforme @flouvela @mattyblover07 @sturnioloveniamh @slutforsturniolos

#elle's writing 🤍✨#sturniolo x reader #sturniolo fanfic #chris sturniolo x reader #imagine #angst #chris sturniolo imagine #chris sturniolo

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hanbinics · 6 months ago

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ღ matthew sturniolo ღ

ღ ONE SHOTS

ღ bloom ⟶ it is spring, and the lilacs are in full bloom. [wc: 3.8k]

ღ at dawn ⟶ firsts and lasts with you. [wc: 2.5k]

ღ tis the damn season ⟶ and the heart i know i'm breaking is my own... to leave the warmest bed i've ever known. [wc: 4.3k]

ღ DRABBLES

ღ good girls ⟶ “gonna keep talking or you gonna let me suck your cock?” [wc: 1k]

ღ pillow princess ⟶ in which you wake up needy for your boyfriend, so matt takes care of you. [wc: 650]

ღ if you don’t know ⟶ in which matt lets you go. [wc: 814]

ღ peep show | part two ⟶ you catch !neighbor matt with your panties. [wc: 987]

ღ till death do us part ⟶ your husband reminds you who you belong to. [wc: 2.1k]

ღ safe haven ⟶ after a long night of filming, all matt wants to do is hold you. [wc: 500]

ღ a perfect match ⟶ in which you find the peter pan to your tinker bell, only it was never a coincidence. [wc: 1.1k]

ღ rockstar ⟶ matt looks a little too good in eyeliner.. [wc: 1.1k]

ღ AU'S

!smart reader ⟶ all things written for !smart reader can be found here. [mostly !smart reader x !fratboy matt]

!crybaby reader ⟶ !crybaby reader x various matt au's can be found here.

!bartender matt ⟶ all things written for !bartender matt can be found here.

!fratboy matt ⟶ all things written for !fratboy matt can be found here.

!vampire matt ⟶ all things written for !vampire matt can be found here. [halloween special]

!boxer matt ⟶ all things written for !boxer matt can be found here.

!tattoo artist matt ⟶ all things written for !tattoo artist matt can be found here.

ღ HEADCANONS

ღ breeding kink ⟶ in which matt never had a breeding kink.. until he met you.

ღ MISCELLANEOUS

ღ matt hours ⟶ a collection of short matt pieces written from asks and more.

©hanbinics

#©hanbinics #hanbinics|masterlist #dividers by chachachannah #dividers by pommecita

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shilohgreywrites · 4 months ago

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Kinktober Post 2 - Waiting to Praise

Matt Rife x Fem Reader

TW: nsfw, smut, praise, size kink

Word Count: 2487

edited: Oct. 9

Synopsis: You are a PR Agent for Matt Rife but booking mixups leaves you two sharing a room.

You have been is agent for two years now, but this tour is really stressing you out. This press tour has been highly anticipated, and lots of people are responding well to Matt’s upcoming show. You have had your hands full and needed to unwind from all the stress today and the past few weeks of meetings.

You and the rest of the team are staying in a rather nice hotel that has all the bells and whistles. You guys check in at the front desk and pick up your room keys. Everyone is there except for Matt, so he is still waiting for him when he does arrive. You head to the spa and decide to get a massage to help you relax. You know after this a long island would go a long way.

———

You finally make your way upstairs to quickly change after your much-needed massage. You are going to the room to find your luggage already there, thanks to the concierge. You change into something more suitable for the hotel's bar and lounge before heading downstairs. You notice some extra luggage but make no fuss because you are completely famished and in dire need of that drink. You message a few coworkers to see if anyone else is willing to meet up. You find that everyone has prior engagements and leave it at that. A night of dining alone isn’t the worst thing. You’ve done it before and found nothing uncomfortable about it.

———

The lounge is nice, and there are plenty of people there. This particular lounge is open to the public with an entrance that leads directly outside. You notice that there is a long line through the glass windows, but that might be usual for a place like this. You make your way to the bar and have a seat. The bartender approaches you.

“What are you having tonight, beautiful?” His eyes sparkle under the dimmly light chandelier and his smile almost makes your heart melt.

“A long island, please. And—a menu as well.” You say through a coy smile.

You watch as he places a menu in front of you and few moments later your drink. You point out what you want to eat and turn to face the rest of the lounge.

You notice some of your coworkers walking in and there he is. The man of the hour, the man of every hour, Matt Rife. He was literally every woman's fantasy and he fucking knew it. You had the pleasure of spending your days working for him and you got to know him more than most. It wasn’t ideal finding your client or boss to be sexy but it made the hard days that much harder. You watched as they walked over to a table you are sure they probably reserved. It was just the guys so you knew that you weren’t technically invited but it would have been nice.

Your attention goes back to the bartender who is placing your food on the table.

“He seems to have your attention.” He smiles coyly nodding his head towards the group of men and Matt. I look over at the group of men and notice Matt looking in our direction.

“Yeah, I work for him and wasn’t expecting to see my coworkers tonight.” The bartender rubs a glass between a towel and he looks at you with a raised brow.

“You work for the famous Matt Rife, must be a treat?” You chuckle as you scoop some of the food into your mouth. “Yeah, the only treat I get is this long island and a spa day.” You notice his eyes travel to someone who has just walked up beside you. Before you can turn your head to see who it is you hear that familiar voice.

“It can’t be that bad can it, y/n?” Matt stands there with a playful look of shock on his face. You halfway spit out the food you just put in your mouth and reach for your drink to keep you from choking.

“No—of course not. I mean—it could be better.” Your eyes meet the bartender as he walks away to help another customer dick.

“Why are you here alone? You don’t want to join us?” You look passed Matt to see a bunch of the fellas over at the booth laughing and carrying on.

“I’m not sure that’s my scene.”

Matt looks back at the table full of knuckle-headed dudes and then back to you.

“Fair enough. Look, get what you want, drink however much you need, it’s on me tonight.” You lock eyes with him and feel your heart start to race. Has his eyes always been so fucking blue?

“Hello?—”

“Yeah, thanks, Matt. I appreciate it.” A smirk appears on his face before he licks his lips.

“Good girl. Enjoy yourself, yea?” He turns and walks away without another word. Glancing back a few times before he reaches the table.

Good girl? You thought as you watched him. It caused your heart to beat a little faster. You down your drink before taking it to the floor.

——

The night was young and the lounge was getting heated. Thanks to Matt you are on your third shot and have found some fine-ass guy to dance with. You look over at the table where Matt is every now and then and see that he is watching you. You try not to make a big deal about it, but it feels as if he is trying to look through you. You dance a little longer before deciding it’s enough, returning to the bar where you have made friends with the bartender.

“Another round beautiful?” the bartender initiates but you wave him away.

“No thanks, I think I’m done.” You glance over at the table one last time to find that the guys are all gone. They probably went bar-hopping like usual. You grab your bag and head upstairs to your room. On the elevator ride you see how flush your cheeks are. You may have had a little too much to drink but your tolerance has doubled since working for Matt. The elevator arrives and you make your way to the room fumbling with the room key before finally opening the door. You stumble in and kick off your shoes at the door dropping your bag on the ground and stumble to the bathroom. You go in and wash off the sweat and then make your way towards the bedroom. The hotel room is a suite-style so it’s pretty spacious and you barely notice him when you walk into the living area.

———

“You don’t make it a habit to check your room before getting comfortable, do you kitten?” That familiar voice startles you again sending shivers down your spine. You are practically naked and there Matt is sitting in a chair glass in hand looking good as hell. You move to cover yourself with your hands to no avail.

“I— what are you doing in here?” You exclaim looking around to make sure you see your bags are there—and they are.

“Looks like they made a mistake on the booking and gave you the wrong room key or the right one—being that there aren’t any other rooms available...” His mouth twists into a wicked smirk as he moves the edge of his chair.

“I’m sure this is a mistake. I’ll go downstairs…” You turn around scrambling for any piece of material you can find to cover yourself but before you make it too far you feel Matt’s hand wrap around your waist.

“No point, I already tried. This is our for the stay—well— at least for tonight. That won’t be a problem will it kitten?” You feel his rock-hard abs against your back and the heat emitting from him and it is enough to melt you where you are. You try to gather your thoughts but the alcohol is making it difficult to take your mind off your moistening center.

“What’s with the pet name? And I am an adult so it shouldn’t be.” You move away only to feel him tighten his grip and spin you around.

“What—you don’t like being called kitten? Because I get the feeling you like far more than that.” You feel his fingers graze your back. You look into his eyes as he stares at you with wanting.

“I— don’t know what you are talking about Matt. I don’t mind pet names when it’s someone that isn’t my boss.” You move to get away from him again because you know if you were to allow yourself this pleasure, you’d probably regret it. You loved your job too much to fuck it up.

Matt catches your wrist this time.

“I saw the way you looked at me at the bar. Be my kitten, y/n.”

You walk towards him, “And how was I looking that makes you think I want to be your kitten?” Matt smiles looking towards the ground before looking at you.

“Those fuck me eyes are telling. I get the feeling you’d let me worship that beautiful body of yours, given the chance.” You feel a pool of heat radiate off your skin and your cheeks go flush. You have wanted this man inside you from the day you laid eyes on him but pushed the thought away.

“Was it that obvious?”

“Very obvious, kitten. I see you were a good girl, your tab shows you more than enjoyed yourself.” Matt strokes you hair moving it from your face. “You deserve a reward for being such a good kitten. Let me take care of you tonight.” His thumb traces your bottom lip as you feel him slightly open your mouth.

“I--shouldn’t…” You start but before you can finish Matt presses his lips against yours taking the words right out of your mouth.

“Just say the word kitten and I’m all yours.” You debate in your head for a moment.

“Use your words like a good kitten.” Matt encourages you.

A rush takes over you as you feel his presence take you into overdrive.

“I want you to fuck me, Matt.”

“I love it when you tell me what you want, kitten. Let me see that sexy body of yours.” He takes you a twirls you around before leading you to the couch. You watch as he takes off his pants and stalks over to you getting on his knees.

“Do you know how often I have dreamt of you? How often have I wished for a chance to lay next to you and embrace your beauty? God— you are so fucking perfect, y/n.” He places his hands on your knees slowly moving them up your inner thigh planting small kisses as he goes.

“Oh Kitten, you smell so fucking good. I bet you taste just as good. May I?” You look at him biting your lip. You shake your head up and down agreeing but Matt only stares.

“Use your words kitten. I want you hear you.”

You take a deep breath trying to keep yourself composed as you feel yourself melting at this every word.

“Taste me, Matt.” Matt lets out a guttural growl before pushing his head between your thighs. As soon as his tongue makes contact with your wet center, a moan slips from your mouth as your lips part. He devours you in every way possible sending you into ecstasy.

“You taste so good kitten.” He makes out between licks.

“You sound even better, kitten. Don’t be shy baby. Let it out.” His words rattle your soul and you feel him edging you towards no return.

“I’m about to cum—” You finally make out. Matt slows his movements and you look down to see his piercing blue eyes watching you.

“You go ahead and cum kitten. Show me how good of a girl you are.” He buries his face again licking and sucking on your tender nub. Your body starts to shutter and you feel Matt reposition.

“Oh yes, that’s daddy’s good girl. Cum for me kitten. I want it all over my fucking hand.”

Your body convulses uncontrollably as he talks you to your peak and beyond.

“Fuck— you are so fucking sexy when you cum.”

Matt picks you up taking you to the bed where he lays you down on your back. This time he removes his underwear revealing his hard and throbbing length.

“May I?” He asks as he crawls atop you positioning himself between your legs.

You begin to shake your head but remember to use your words.

“Yes.” Matt’s eyes darken. “That’s yes, sir to you.” You smile as he kisses up your tummy and places kisses on your neck before taking your mouth in his.

“Yes, sir.” You finally say between kisses.

“You are so hot, you drive me crazy.” He takes parts of your warm center with his shaft before pushing himself inside your warmth. His breath hitches and his body shutters as he adjusts to this new sensation.

“You’re so wet for me aren’t you kitten? Fuck— you’re so tight.” He moves slowly at first taking it all in before picking up speed. He fucks you at a decent pace holding your hands above your head. He teases your lips with his tongue as he strokes you deeply. You feel his pace slow.

“Fuck baby, I’m going to cum.”

You push him before he cums, taking his hard cock in your mouth. He loses his mind watching you in action. His eyes close and his mouth hangs open as he watches you take every inch of him in your mouth.

“Ohhh baby, you're so fucking incredible. You’re so fucking good baby.”

He moves in and out of your mouth and you feel his knees buckle under him.

“Kitten, I want to fill that pretty little mouth of yours.” His breathing gets heavy as he fucks your face. His legs quiver as you watch him nearing his ecstasy.

“I’m cuming kitten. Oh—fuck, suck my it like a good girl.” You feel him shudder as he releases a thick load into your mouth but you continue to suck until he can barely use his legs.

“Such a good boy.”

“Am I?” Matt eyes you letting out a small chuckle. He reaches for your face kissing you softly before lifting you and taking you to the bathroom.

“I’m so glad you decided to let me reward you. Now let me take care of you.”

He takes you into the shower, washing and worshipping your body. He plants kisses all over getting you riled up but never crossing the line even when you try.

“Aftercare is my specialty kitten. Let me take care of you.”

——

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sturn777 · 3 months ago

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need a au where matt is like a sexy, dilf looking bartender and young minx reader meet at the bar. like she's flirty and visibly into him whiles he's cold, but also flirty. tell me I'm not insane. an age gap trope type of thing like hello?

bartender!matt x confident!reader . | ( female!reader ) wc : 1.1k ( masterlist ) + ( request )

lana's note : hoolyy . you're actually a genius anon i can't describe how much i love this au idea .

the bar is dark, the kind of dim lighting that feels like it’s designed for secrets and whispered confessions. the hum of low conversation is drowned out by the clinking of glass and the shuffle of feet on the sticky floor. it’s late—past midnight—just the kind of hour where the night feels like it’s full of possibility and trouble.

you slide into a seat at the bar, legs crossed, eyes scanning the room for something to catch your attention. that’s when you see him.

matt.

he’s leaning against the counter, polishing a glass, his sleeves rolled up to show off forearms that have seen their fair share of work. the kind of forearms you want to touch, just to see if they feel as good as they look. his hair is messy in the way that’s intentional, a bit of stubble on his jaw, and those eyes—those eyes that don’t miss a thing, even though he’s barely looking at anyone. you know the type.

you can already feel the heat between you two, even from across the room. it’s not the first time you’ve noticed him, but tonight? tonight feels different.

you raise an eyebrow, letting your eyes linger on him for a second longer than necessary. his gaze flickers to you for a split second—cold, assessing—but it’s enough to know he’s noticed.

you can feel the tension simmering in the air, thick and palpable, as you move towards the bar. the noise of the room seems to fade away. all you hear now is your heartbeat.

you sit down, your legs crossing smoothly. his eyes flick to you again, just long enough for you to catch a glimpse of that smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

“what can i get you?” he asks, voice low, with an edge to it, like he’s seen this kind of thing a hundred times before.

you lean forward just enough to make sure he notices the way your shirt dips low, a flirtatious smile on your lips. “i think i’ll have whatever you’re having,” you say, your voice teasing, soft but direct.

his eyes narrow, just a fraction, like he’s trying to decide if you’re worth playing with. “is that so?”

“mm-hmm.” you let your gaze drift over him again, taking in the way his muscles flex as he moves, the way the dim light catches the sharp lines of his face. he’s older, probably by a decade or so, but it’s the kind of age gap you can get into. you can feel the heat between you both now, thick like smoke, and it’s only a matter of time before one of you takes the first step.

he smirks, then leans in just a little closer, voice dropping lower. “you sure you can handle it?”

you meet his gaze, not backing down. “oh, i can handle anything you’ve got.”

the challenge is there, unspoken but clear, and you can feel his walls slipping just a little, even if he won’t admit it. he places a glass in front of you with a slow, deliberate motion, his fingers brushing yours just barely.

“one whiskey, neat,” he says, his voice rougher now, like the calm before the storm.

you take the glass, fingers grazing against his once more, holding his gaze for a second longer. “thanks,” you murmur, the words practically dripping with something between a compliment and a dare.

he leans back, crossing his arms, watching you closely, the flicker of curiosity hidden behind that cool exterior. you take a sip of the whiskey, your lips curling at the burn, but you never break eye contact.

he chuckles, low and dangerous. “you’re bold.”

“yeah,” you say, leaning in a little, letting the words linger in the air between you. “i like to keep things interesting.”

there’s a shift in the air now. you can feel it. like the whole bar just disappeared, and it’s just the two of you, caught in this web of tension. the crowd’s still laughing, talking, dancing, but it’s all background noise now.

“interesting, huh?” he says, his voice like velvet, his smirk never leaving. “you’re not scared of me?”

“scared?” you let out a laugh, a little playful, a little challenging. “why would i be scared of you? you don’t look so intimidating.”

he raises an eyebrow, leaning closer to you again, his presence towering, demanding attention. “you might want to rethink that.”

you’re not backing down. not now. you tilt your head, big eyes never leaving his. “i’ve got a thing for bad boys,” you mutter teasingly, so close now you can feel the heat radiating off his body.

he exhales a slow breath, lips curling into a grin. “lucky you, then.”

you feel the sudden urge to close the space between you two, but he’s already leaning in, his lips brushing lightly against your ear.

“come with me,” he murmurs, voice low and commanding.

you’re halfway to the bathroom before you’ve even realized what’s happening. the world seems to fade away, the only thing in focus being his presence. his hand is on the small of your back, guiding you with a subtle pressure, and your pulse races in time with your steps.

as soon as you step inside the cramped bathroom stall, the door locks behind you with a soft click. the second it’s just the two of you, he pushes you against the wall, his lips capturing yours with an urgency that makes your head spin.

he’s all heat and muscle, his hands roaming your body, free hand pulling your top over your head, as he palmed the growing ache between your thighs, and you can feel the tension between you snap as he pulls you closer, pressing his body to yours. every kiss is a claim, every touch a promise. you can’t get enough of him, and the feeling’s mutual, no doubt.

his breath is ragged against your skin as he pulls away for a second, eyes dark with desire. “you sure about this?”

you smirk, your lips brushing his as you nod. “do it.”

without hesitation, he’s on you again, a heat building between you both that leaves no space for anything but the moment. it’s messy and desperate, the kind of thing you know you won’t forget the second you walk out of that stall . . .

taglist : ( @emely9274 ; @bluestriips ; @loveparqdise ; @flouqissss ; @st4rcs ; @starwebber9 ; @conspiracy-ash ; @sweetrelieef ; @chris-hallelujah ; @leoslaboratory ; @matttsangel ; @awnmaneez ; @heartss4clauu )

divider : @issysh3ll

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laurenairay · 7 months ago

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I can't help it if I like it - M. Martin

Summary: Dhara Nicholls is just trying to make ends meet while working on her Masters degree. Enter Matt Martin.

This is my entry for @wyattjohnston’s summer fic exchange 2k24! My giftee is @comphy-and-cozy and I hope I incorporated everything we discussed. This is the second longest fic I’ve ever written on here and I had genuinely so much fun writing it! Definitely written with a lot of creative license, not only because Matt and Sydney are couple goals, but also because I completely fudged the season dates. I also modelled Dhara’s degree and work after one of my best friends, and her Sikh faith after another friend, so it is as accurate as I could make it without experiencing it all myself.

I hope you enjoy it C! And thank you to Demi for reading through the first half of this monster!

Words: 13.7k

Warnings: age gap, flirting, pining, extremely slow burn, implied intimate moment, some bad language, changed names of Matt’s irl wife and children

Title from Shotput by Still Woozy Lyrics used from Middle of the Night by Elley Duhé

Waiter/Waitress…

Bartender…

Tutor…

Barista…

Cashier…

Of all the things to leave to the last minute. Dhara usually prided herself on her organisational skills, but with her summer internship taking up most of the past couple of months, finding a part-time job to give her disposable income (and food, for that matter) for the final year of her postgraduate degree had slipped her mind. Rents had gone up quite significantly in the past few months, so anything extra she had last year was pouring directly into paying for her tiny apartment, and she needed to eat, damn it.

Unfortunately, now that it was already August, there was nothing truly suitable. She needed flexible hours, that was for sure – some of her data modelling work couldn’t just be stopped in the middle of a good coding flow to pick up a shift at a bar. And some of her classes were online this final year, so she wouldn’t find it as easy to travel back and forth to a job on campus. Tutoring could potentially work but it would involve a fair amount of planning and structure that she wasn’t sure she could commit to.

This was the worst timing. And she’d sworn to herself that she wouldn’t ask her parents for help, not when she was so close to finally finishing her education. But what could she do?

“Hey Dhara!”

She turned her head to the side quickly, dark curls whipping over her shoulder, before she smiled. The familiar voice indeed matched one of her former dormmates, Melissa. They had lived on the same floor in freshman year at NYU, but with limited student housing, most of the friends on that floor had gone their separate ways into private renting. She’d lost touch with a few of those girls too, after they graduated from their undergraduate degrees, but those she still kept in touch with had carried on their education like she had – only Melissa and another of their friends Janelle had taken up postgraduate study at Long Island University – Brooklyn though, so it was good to see her familiar face outside of the occasional coffee catch-ups, especially after the long summer break.

“Melissa! Hi! How are you?”

“I’m good, I’m good, glad to be back in the city. How are you? Did you travel back to LA to see your parents in the end?”

“I’m pretty good too, thanks. And no, the internship offer was too good to turn down. My parents went on a few trips by themselves anyway, so it’s not like I missed out on too much time with them,” Dhara shrugged, smiling, “Now I’m just trying to get myself set up for final year.”

She loved her parents – really, she did – but she wasn’t as close to them as she had been growing up. The downfall of choosing to study far away from home. Dhara had barely been back to Los Angeles since she moved to New York when she turned 18, if she was being honest, and her parents valued her independence as well as her dedication to her studies. At least they could rely on video calls to see each other’s faces.

“Oh man, tell me about it. Shitty rent increases, right?” Melissa groaned.

“Exactly!” Dhara laughed, “I’m just trying to find something that’ll let me be flexible so I can graduate to the best of my ability, you know?”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Melissa sighed, smiling sympathetically, “I’ve got a couple of interviews at coffee chains lined up, but the hours are going to be brutal.”

Dhara grimaced. Yeah, there was a reason she wanted to avoid working as a barista unless there was no other option.

“Hey, you like kids, right?”

Dhara raised an eyebrow at her friend’s question. “I…do. I have plenty of cousins who have kids already, if that’s what you mean. Why?”

“A friend of my roommate works for a nannying agency. Completely certified company, really well paid, you can input your available hours into their website so they match you up, and they cater to a lot of wealthy clients. She told me they’re opening their books, but I’m not a huge kids person myself. If you’re interested, I could pass you her details?”

“Wait, really? Just like that?” Dhara asked, surprised.

It almost sounded too good to be true.

“Really really. The agency do background checks and would want to see your resume as well as do an interview with you in person, but I can’t see you getting rejected from this. You’re crazy smart and super competent,” Melissa shrugged, smiling.

Nannying. For a potentially wealthy client. There were a whole host of problems that could come from that, with both the parents and the children, but could the flexibility be worth it?

Then again, what did she have to lose?

“Okay sure, pass me her details and I’ll give your roommate’s friend a call,” Dhara smiled.

She could only hope this worked out in her favour.

Time was running out, Matt knew that much. There were only a few weeks before the season started up again, and it was beyond time for him to hire a nanny for his daughter. He’d been a single dad for two years now, his marriage ending mostly amicably. Sure, his ex-wife’s announcement that she was tired of following him around for his career had been hard, but not as hard as her second announcement that she was following her own career abroad. But she’d not contested anything he'd asked of her, and hadn’t made any unreasonable demands herself, so it was as clean as a divorce could be. Being solely responsible for the upbringing of their daughter Sarah was not something he’d been prepared for, not with his lifestyle. He knew he was lucky that his mom had been willing drop everything and move in with him after his wife left them, but it was time to let his mom live her own life – and for him to move on with his.

Hockey was his first love, nothing would change that. But his daughter Sarah had taken over so much of his heart that he was struggling with the idea of hiring a stranger to take care of her when hockey took precedence. But it was time – for all of them. In the end, he’d decided to go through a reputable agency that a few of the guys on the team recommended, but after three unsuccessful interviews Matt was just about ready to beg his mom to stay a little longer.

The first interview had started well. But it had quickly deteriorated when he realised that they weren’t as flexible as he needed. It was fair enough that the nanny wanted set hours – he knew his schedule was all over the place – but he obviously couldn’t offer that, so he wished them well and cut the interview short.

The second interview had started bad and gotten worse. He didn’t know if it was the way the woman smiled at him when he saw the elegant interior of the house or how she spoke of him being a single dad with a wide-eyed pity smile, but he didn’t like the vibes she was sending at all. He didn’t need a nanny that was more interested in him than his daughter. No, just no.

The third interview sounded promising on paper. The candidate had all the right qualifications and experience, but when it came down to processes and how she handled tantrums and tears? No way. He knew Sarah sometimes got upset when he was on long roadtrips – it was only natural – and there was no way he was leaving his daughter with someone who would punish her for showing understandable emotions.

So Matt could only hope that this fourth interview – his last for the day before he gave up and started from scratch – would finally be positive.

Dhara Nicholls.

When he’d first seen the name, he hadn’t known what to expect. Dar-Rah. That was how the agency lady had pronounced it, so he could only hope she was right – the last thing he wanted was to say the nanny’s name wrong out of ignorance. While he would ask for more detail during the interview, he knew the basics about her from the information the agency had sent over. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, studied BS Computer Science at NYU, went on to study for a Masters in Computer Science at Long Island University – Brooklyn, and was currently in her final year for that. It was the flexibility that he was most intrigued by – and her apparent intelligence. He didn’t care that she didn’t have nannying experience outside of family. If she could take care of his daughter, make sure she was happy and healthy, that’s all that he cared about.

The doorbell rang right on time. Good start.

When he opened the door to greet her, Matt found himself freezing a little. He’d assumed that she wouldn’t be Caucasian based on her first name (as much as he hated assuming anything), but he somehow hadn’t been expecting the sheer beauty of the Indian woman standing in front of him now. At least he assumed she was Indian – and again with those assumptions. He would have to check for sure with some subtle questions because the last thing he wanted to do was act like an ass. But right now, her big beautiful brown eyes, smooth skin, glossy dark curls and sweet hopeful smile had his mind whirling. What was wrong with him?

“Hi! Mr Martin?”

Huh, a typical Valley girl accent. Not what he’d been expecting. Damn assumptions.

“Matt, please. Mr Martin makes me feel like my dad’s standing behind me,” he managed to force out.

The laugh that spilled from her lips sounded like music. He was doomed alright.

“Good to know. Matt it is,” she mused.

“Thanks, Dhara. Please come in,” he said, smiling warmly.

The way she smiled as he said her name let him know he’d said it right. Dar-Rah. Beautiful. No, he needed to be professional about this. He couldn’t let himself be bowled over by a beautiful girl, not when she was (hopefully) going to be employed by him. That wasn’t fair to her. Or to Sarah.

“Can I get you a drink? Water? Coffee?” he offered.

“Water would be great, if you don’t mind,” she nodded.

Matt quickly grabbed her a bottle of water from the fridge, before leading her into the living room, handing her the bottle as they sat down on opposite sofas. She was tall even in flat shoes, maybe 5ft10, and she looked around the room with a smile before her eyes landed on Matt. Captivating.

“Let’s start, shall we?” he said, trying to clear his thoughts.

Right from the get-go, she was impressive. Her upbringing in Los Angeles was very family-orientated, living near her father’s 3 siblings and all their children, her cousins. Her studies alone were remarkable but the way he could tell how passionate she was for her work was the most interesting part of all. He liked that she could be flexible with timings, happy to stay overnight in a guest room during roadtrips, and she was willing to work around her class schedule to even take classes from his house while Sarah was occupied with something she could still keep an eye on. It was more than he could have asked for, if he was being honest. It was all just a bonus that she was warm and genuine on top of it all.

Matt knew what he wanted the conclusion of this interview to be. Dhara was exactly what he’d been looking for, and he knew that Sarah would quickly accept her too. He could only hope that she felt like she’d been a good fit for them too.

“Is there anything else you wanted to know?” she asked.

“I think I have everything I need. I’m not going to lie, this whole process has been a struggle,” Matt admitted, “Trying to figure out who to trust my daughter with is the last thing I thought I’d be doing.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dhara said softly, smiling sadly at him, “Would you like me to take any preferences back with me to the agency? So the next person is a better fit for you?”

If he hadn’t been convinced about her before, he absolutely was now.

“You don’t need to take feedback to the agency, Dhara. Because I want to offer you the job,” he said, smiling.

Her lips parted slightly in surprise, before a wide grin spread over her face. Somehow the pure joy in her expression made her even more beautiful, if that was even possible.

“Thank you, Mr Martin. Thank you so much!” Dhara said happily.

“You’re welcome. You’re exactly who I was hoping to find for my daughter. And please, call me Matt, remember?” he mused.

“Of course, whatever you want…Matt,” she said, ducking her head slightly to hide what looked like a shy smile.

Whatever you want.

Now that was just dangerous.

Dhara felt like she was dreaming. Three days ago, when Matt had actually offered her the job, she’d felt like her head was spinning, and it wasn’t until she had the official contract sorted and signed with the agency that everything started to sink in. He was willing to be as flexible as she needed, in return for her being as flexible as he needed – it was a small price to pay to stay in the guest room when he was away for her to still be able to attend all her classes. The only thing they’d had to negotiate was her one in-person class every two weeks that she couldn’t do online that was outside of Sarah’s Kindergarten hours, which he’d arranged for one of his teammate’s wives to look after Sarah for a couple of hours until she was finished. And wasn’t that a trip, learning who he was. An NHL player. She was really going to be the nanny for an NHL player’s six year old daughter, and she could still complete her degree. Mindblowing. The only thing that was still sort of in the works were the Kindergarten drop offs themselves – she wouldn’t be put on the accepted pick-up person list until after a first week’s trial, just to make sure Sarah was okay with her. It was fair enough, but still nervewracking. Matt apparently had full faith that everything would be fine though, and had already given her all the details. Drop off was between 8.30am and 9am, and pick up was at 2.30pm – Matt was happy for her to work from his house on the days she didn’t have to go into campus, to save travelling back and forth, which she was absolutely going to take him up on. It almost felt too good to be true, that everything was working out the way it was, but she wasn’t going to let such a good opportunity to balance work and her degree slip through her fingers.

When Dhara arrived at Matt’s house, having been given a brief introduction to Sarah before Sarah excused herself to the living room, she tried not to let the nerves get to her. Matt looked lighter, like a weight had been taken off his shoulders, and she could only hope it was partly to do with her. He might be nearly 10 years older than her, but he was one of the most handsome men she’d ever laid eyes on, that was for sure. Not that she’d ever tell her new employer these completely inappropriate thoughts of course.

“Now, I have some meetings and final pre-season things to film and so on at the rink today. I’m hoping it’ll all be done in a few hours but it’ll be a good little start for Sarah to get used to me and my mom not being around. I’ve already explained everything to her, and I think she understands the concept of a nanny and that it was time for grandma to get back to her own life in Canada, but if there are any major issues then please call me,” he said seriously.

“I’m sure everything will be fine, especially if you’ve already talked with her, but I absolutely will call you if Sarah needs you. And please don’t rush home? You deserve to spend some time catching up with your friends. Team bonding, and all that, especially if someone suggests lunch. Sarah and I will be fine, I promise,” Dhara said firmly, but with a smile she hoped was encouraging.

Matt let out a shaky breath but nodded, and her heart ached for him. She could tell how much this was affecting him – it was obvious – but the whole reason for her being here was to make his life easier. She could do that, she knew it.

“Sarah, I’m going to the rink!”

She smiled to herself at the sound of fast-paced walking (not running inside the house was clearly a rule) and soon enough Sarah was clinging to her dad’s legs.

“Be nice to Dhara,” Matt said, smiling warmly.

“I’m always nice!” she said, pouting.

He just ruffled her blonde hair, nodding to Dhara with a shaky smile, giving Sarah one last hug before leaving the house. This was it – Dhara was officially responsible for the wellbeing of a child.

“I’m going back to colouring. You can come if you want.”

How generous. Dhara grinned to herself at the young girl’s candour, following her quietly through the house back to the living room where Sarah had a small stack of paper and colouring pencils laid out. Sarah seemed happy enough to thump back down onto the floor and continue with her drawing, silent but focused, and Dhara watched for a little while from the doorway. The most important thing for today – and the rest of this week – was for Sarah to feel comfortable in her presence. She’d never had any problems getting her cousins’ children to like her, so she could only hope the same gentle methods would work with this child.

Sarah didn’t seem to mind Dhara sitting down next to her, barely giving her a glance, allowing her to settle in quietly. So far so good. After a few minutes of Dhara watching her peacefully, Sarah slid a piece of paper over to Dhara, and looked up at her with blue eyes eerily similar to her father’s.

“I’m drawing a picture for daddy, to make him smile when he gets home,” Sarah said simply.

“That’s very kind of you. I’m sure he’ll love it,” Dhara said, melting on the inside at the sweetness.

Sarah side-eyed her briefly before seeming to deem Dhara’s answer acceptable.

“You should draw him one too. He likes my pictures so I’m sure yours will be fine,” she said, sliding over the colouring pencil box.

Kids. You had to love them.

“I will do my very best then,” Dhara said seriously.

Sarah just nodded, going back to her drawing with all the focus a six-year-old could. Dhara just smiled to herself, picking up a pink crayon to attempt to draw some flowers. This was a good start, right?

The first month of Dhara’s employment (and final year of her degree) flew by. Somehow, everything was going well so far. There were no dramas, no big issues, and her classes weren’t unmanageable with her new schedule. She could admit that it initially felt weird to be dropping a kid off at Kindergarten that wasn’t hers, especially so early on into knowing Sarah, but that first big smile her charge had given her at pick-up time made everything better. Like, genuinely her heart felt like it had puffed up in size – yeah that’s right, I made her smile – and everything had only gotten better from there. They’d even settled into a decent routine, to the point where Matt even joked that Dhara was becoming Sarah’s favourite person (apparently her bedtime stories were the best?) – and neither of them had even looked at her like she was crazy when she explained her work for her Computer Science Masters like most people tended to.

(“Daddy she’s so smart.” “I know sweetheart.” “I want to be as smart as Dhara when I grow up!” “Well then you’d better show me the new spellings you learned at Kindergarten today.”)

She’d only needed to stay an extra night in the guest room once so far for a roadtrip, which also felt weird, but Matt’s flight had been delayed so there really wasn’t another choice. Thankfully, he’d been there by the time Sarah woke up, so there had been no major tantrums, but the bedtime tears were still an experience she hoped to avoid as much as possible. After looking at Matt’s schedule, she knew exactly how many roadtrips he was going to be on, so hopefully she could come up with some ideas for what to do if that ever happened again.

There were many things she was learning in this new world of being a nanny.

She knew she’d be learning something new tonight too. It was the first game of the pre-season and Matt was in the line-up to play. Traditionally, Sarah always went, and tonight was no exception. Dhara had been hesitant to accept the ticket initially, content with dropping Sarah off with the WAGs she knew and picking her up at the end, because she was quite literally just the nanny - but Matt insisted. He also insisted that Sarah wanted her there too, and how was she supposed to say no to that?

The plan would be that Dhara and Sarah would take the train over to the arena with plenty of time to spare ahead of warmups (so Sarah could hold her newly-made poster up against the glass), and then Matt would drive them all back to the Martin house – with the late timings, Dhara would need to stay late again. At least this time she had enough clothes in her overnight bag packed.

Nerves washed over Dhara as she entered the UBS Arena, but with Sarah chattering away, holding tight to her hand, it wasn’t too difficult to cover her nerves with a smile. She’d already met Kristy Cizikas – the teammate’s wife who covered looking after Sarah during Dhara’s class once every two weeks – so she would at least know one friendly face. Sarah led the way to the family suite, Dhara making sure her pass was clearly on display so no-one thought she was a fraud, and soon enough they arrived to a blonde-haired sea.

“Dhara! There you are!”

Kristy. Good.

She was thankful for the instantly-warm welcome – she was so out of her comfort zone that it wasn’t funny. Tonight really was her first time being thrown in at the deep end. At least she’d have a break soon to collect her thoughts when everyone in the suite (who wanted to) would head down to the ice for warm-ups. She could do this. She could totally do this. It helped that Kristy introduced her around the group, Grace Lee in particular making her feel at ease with her beaming smile.

The game itself was electric. Dhara mostly kept her eye on Sarah playing with the other kids in the family suite – you know, as it was her job – but by the start of the third period Sarah had fallen asleep on her lap, leaving her free to watch her first ever game of ice hockey with her full attention. Grace helped her out by murmuring along some of the rules and pointing out names of people that Dhara didn’t know yet, and she just felt herself getting fully entranced. She’d never seen anything so graceful and yet so physical. And the speed!

Dhara felt like a bit of an idiot for gasping when Matt full-body checked a player from the opposing team into the boards with a load crash, immediately throwing his gloves off to fight him, her eyes wide as Matt easily took him down to the ice. Fuck, that was hot. Why was that so hot? She could only thank her dark skin for hiding the worst of her blush as Grace and Kristy smiled knowingly at her. Whatever, they didn’t know anything. They could infer all they liked.

That didn’t mean her eyes stopped tracking Matt every second he was on the ice though.

“How was she tonight? Truly?”

Dhara smiled up at Matt, shifting a sleeping Sarah up on her hip as Matt unlocked the front door.

“She was so good. The way her face lit up when you saw her sign in warmups? She didn’t stop talking about it for ages. And she fell asleep on me during the third period so I just let her nap, I hope that’s okay,” Dhara said.

“Of course it is. I’m happy that she feels comfortable enough to do that around you!” he said, smiling.

She was too. She really was.

“I’ll put Sarah to bed, if you want to sort out your bandage?” she offered.

The cuts on his knuckles from his fight had needed a couple of stitches and would need to be cleaned then covered for at least one night, he’d told her that much on the drive home.

“You’re the best,” Matt said, nodding.

Dhara just grinned and headed up the stairs. It didn’t take her long to carefully lay Sarah down in her bed, pulling off her shoes before tucking the duvet over her. But as she slowly crept out of the room and gently shut the door, she could hear Matt cursing in the bathroom, and she frowned.

“Matt?” she whispered, trying not to wake up her young charge.

He cursed again, so she knocked on the bathroom door, and smiled slightly as he cursed in surprise and slowly opened the door.

“The bandage is caught on the dried blood in the stitch and I can’t get it off. Don’t want to rip it,” he murmured when her head poked around the door.

“Let me?” she offered, slowly walking into the room.

Dhara looked up at him through her lashes, holding her hand out, and Matt silently placed his hand in hers. His skin was warm, if a little callused, and it was all she could do to bite her bottom lip as she gently eased the bandage off his knuckles. Matt didn’t take his hand away as she reached for the cotton ball he’d already dipped in the cleansing liquid, allowing her to gently dab at the stitches until they were clean. The two of them stood close together, silent, only their hands touching, and yet somehow this was more intimate than she’d ever been with any man. It was intoxicating to be allowed to take this level of care with him. It was only when she gently pressed down the edges of the fresh bandage that she caught eyes with him once more, the intense blue making her breath catch in her throat, and she forced herself to break out of the moment.

Because it was a moment, and she didn’t know if it thrilled her or terrified her.

“That should be okay now,” she murmured, finally letting go of his hand.

“Thank you, Dhara. I appreciate it,” he said, voice just as soft.

Intoxicating.

Dhara just smiled, nodding her head as she slipped out of the bubble he’d unknowingly boxed her into, and stepped out of the bathroom with a racing heart. She needed to pull herself together. She needed to pull herself together, fast. Otherwise she was going to run the risk of ruining everything.

“So give us the details then.”

Matt took a sip of his beer, before frowning at Casey.

“What are you talking about?”

Casey shared a glance with Anders, who just smirked and shook his head incredulously. What?

“Seriously, what details?” Matt asked.

“About Dhara?” Anders prompted.

“Kristy and Grace told us all about meeting her at the game last week, how she was super sweet with Sarah and how much Sarah adored her. What really caught our attention was that they told us about her reaction to your fight. How her eyes lit up, how she gasped, how she was on the edge of her seat,” Casey said innocently, although the sparkle in his eyes was anything but.

“Shut up, she did not,” Matt grumbled.

Their words lit something inside of his though. It was just typical that they waited to interrogate him until they were all six beers deep at Casey’s house, Kristy and Grace having a girls night slash kids sleepover with some of the other WAGs, including Sarah. They were gossip vultures, the lot of them.

Did she really react like that?

He hadn’t been able to get that night out of his mind. The way Dhara came into the bathroom so carefully, like she was trying not to spook a horse. How she held his hand so gently, her skin surprisingly warm and soft. How her cleaning touch was so light that he’d barely felt it, how her ministrations hadn’t hurt at all. How her gaze had been so intense when they caught eyes that he’d felt his breath catch in his throat.

Matt hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that moment they’d shared, and it was driving him crazy knowing there was no way she was having the same thoughts.

But then again, if Casey and Anders were right, if Kristy and Grace were right, maybe she was?

“Bud, you know Grace wouldn’t gossip if she didn’t think there was some truth to it,” Anders mused.

He wasn’t wrong there.

“Dhara is my nanny. Sarah’s nanny. Everything is completely professional,” Matt said firmly.

“Everything is completely professional?” Casey prodded.

“Yes?”

At the hesitance in his tone, Casey and Anders grinned.

“I knew it!” Casey hooted.

“What happened?” Anders asked, eyes lighting up.

“Nothing! Literally nothing has happened. She cleaned the stitches on my knuckles for me because I couldn’t get the bandage off, that’s it,” Matt said sharply.

“Booooooo.”

“Seriously, don’t make it a thing. I don’t want her thinking that I’m some kind of creep,” he groaned.

“Now why would she think that, if you weren’t having creepy thoughts?” Anders teased.

Matt sent them both a flat look, making them hoot with laughter.

“Aww you have it so bad!” Casey cackled.

“You two are the worst. I don’t know why we’re friends,” he muttered.

“You love us,” Anders grinned, toasting him with his beer bottle.

Matt just stuck his tongue out in response, taking a big swig of his own drink. He needed to nip all of this in the bud. There was no way he wanted this to get back to Grace and Kristy, and then back to Dhara. Absolutely not.

“She is pretty,” Casey said, smirking slightly, “Kristy said her smile and her laugh lit up the whole room.”

“And Grace said that Sarah worships her, literally fell asleep on her without a care in the world,” Anders added.

They both knew his weaknesses so well. Matt groaned, tilting his head back, before staring his friends down.

“Enough, okay? Yes, Dhara is beautiful. And smart. And so beyond capable with Sarah that it isn’t funny. But I’m not going to be that guy, okay? I’m her boss and I’m not even going to consider crossing that professional boundary, understood? That’s not cool,” Matt said seriously, “I’m not that guy.”

“We know you’re not,” Casey mused, holding his hands up in surrender.

Anders just nodded his agreement. “We only tease you because we love you. And like I said, I wouldn’t have brought it up if Grace hadn’t seen something herself.”

“Just…don’t make it a thing? I don’t want to make Dhara uncomfortable around me. Sarah adores her and that’s all that matters,” Matt sighed, mostly in defeat.

“If you’re sure, then we won’t,” Anders said.

“But we reserve the right to change our minds later,” Casey grinned.

“Oh my god, get me another drink,” Matt groaned.

Seriously, the worst.

Sparkling lights, tinsel, and candy canes everywhere – it only meant one thing. Christmas was coming. With continuous snowfall and the way that she couldn’t escape Christmas songs anywhere, Dhara could hardly deny its upcoming presence, especially with how excited Sarah was getting. As usual, Dhara wasn’t going home for the two weeks break, and the moment Matt found out that her roommate was going home (leaving Dhara alone), he insisted that she came over to spend Christmas day with him, Sarah, and his parents.

(“Matt, no, I can’t intrude.” “No-one should be alone on Christmas.”)

He even tried to offer to pay her for coming over, with that she put her foot down. Christmas was Christmas, after all. In the end, they decided that, with her last class of the semester on the 19th, Dhara would stay over from the 20th to the 22nd, until his parents arrived on the 23rd. They would take over taking care of Sarah with Matt not getting home until late in the evening of the 23rd, and then Dhara would come back over on the 25th, leaving again in the evening of the 26th. It was a lot of back and forth, she could admit, but she’d never had someone in her life so insistent that she spend the holidays with them – and the fact that it was Matt? She couldn’t find it in her heart to say no, especially when he got Sarah and her puppy dog eyes on the case.

Somehow, travelling on the trains on Christmas Day wasn’t as bad as she feared, even with her overnight bag and holdall of gifts. It was only lightly snowing on her short walk to Matt’s house, so she wasn’t fully shivering when she knocked on the door but she was definitely glad that Matt didn’t take too long to open it.

“Hey, you made it! Why didn’t you call me from the station? I would’ve picked you up!” he said quickly beckoning her inside.

“I’m used to the walk now, and I didn’t want to disturb you,” she shrugged, unwinding the scarf from her neck.

“You would never have disturbed me. You’re…never mind, come into the kitchen, my mom’s making hot chocolate,” Matt murmured.

She left her bags in the hallway after taking off her boots, coat, and woolly hat, nervously following Matt into the kitchen. Why was she so nervous to meet his family?

“Guys, Dhara’s here!”

“Dhara! You made it!” Sarah cried out happily.

She knelt down to give her charge a big hug, grateful for the friendly face, before standing up with a nervous smile.

“I’ve heard so much about you – I’m Dawn,” Matt’s mom said, big smile on her face identical to Matt’s.

“And I’m Jim. It’s great to finally meet you,” Matt’s dad said warmly.

Was it really that easy?

“I’ve heard only good things about you too. Thank you for letting me join your family Christmas,” she said, smiling back at them.

“Letting you? I had to practically beg you,” Matt teased.

“Because I see you all year round – your parents don’t get that luxury,” she shot back, still smiling.

“I like you already,” Jim laughed.

“Drinks anyone?” Matt mused.

Once the hot chocolate was passed around, they made their way into the living room, Dhara having grabbed her holdall on the way with the gifts.

“I like your scarf, Dhara,” Sarah piped up, once she was settled on a big cushion on the floor.

Dhara’s fingers brushed over the lightweight blue patterned material draped over her chest and pinned in pleats at her shoulders with a smile. She didn’t usually indulge in her South Asian heritage with her outfits, but her holidays it always felt like a must. She might be wearing a casual plain grey sweater underneath, with light wash jeans, but the chanderi dupatta added a much-needed level of elegance – a casual but respectful outfit. Her mother had loved it at least when she called her this morning, and it was nice to know that Sarah did too.

“Thank you! It’s a dupatta – many South Asian women wear them in many different styles. I like to wear a chanderi dupatta, this lightweight patterned silk, over casual clothes to add a little something extra,” she said, smiling.

“It’s really pretty. Never seen you wearing anything like that,” Matt said softly.

“Thanks,” Dhara said, thankful her dark skin hid her blush, “I tend to only wear dupattas for special occasions. I don’t practice Sikhism as much as I did back in LA, and even then not nearly as much as my mother would’ve liked us all too.”

“Why not?” Sarah asked.

“Sarah!” Matt frowned.

“It’s okay, really,” she said, reassuring, “Well, my upbringing was fairly mixed. My mom’s parents came over from Punjab when they were newly married – my Baba Ji, my grandpa, is an Engineer. My mom and her brothers were born and raised Sikh in Los Angeles. Mom met Dad in university and they fell in love. The only problem was, he was Christian. Or at least, loosely Christian – and very white. While my mom didn’t care about all of that, because she’d fallen head over heels for him and him for her, her parents didn’t approve. She left home and married him anyway, and we haven’t really seen much of my mom’s side of the family ever.”

“But they fell in love!” Sarah cried.

“Culture and religion are complicated things,” Dhara said simply, smiling sadly, “my mom knew what she was giving up, she was very brave. She still had a lot of her friends in the community so she had that connection, and Dad’s family is huge and loud and welcoming, so she never felt alone. She raised me with a knowledge of Sikhism and the welcome to join her in celebrating any holidays I wanted to, but my parents left me to forge my own path, which I did. I have some contact with cousins on my mom’s side thanks to Instagram, so it’s not all a loss. I like to think I get the best of both worlds.”

She couldn’t have asked for more with her upbringing, she knew that. Dhara had been given the world, and been taught kindness for others always, and had an education that others could only dream of, and all the love she could ever want from her parents. She also knew that sometimes her mom struggled but that she had her husband, Dhara’s dad, to rely on for strength. Her mom truly was a hero of hers, and she could only be grateful for everything she’d done for her.

“Thank you for sharing that with us. It can’t always be easy, being so far away from your family,” Matt said softly.

“It isn’t always, no. But I’m following my passion with my degrees, and they understand that,” Dhara nodded, smiling at him, “Besides, we have modern technology, no?”

Matt and his parents just laughed, making her smile a bit wider.

“But Dhara, what about…”

“How about we give Dhara a break from interrogation and pass out gifts, hm?” Dawn mused, interrupting Sarah.

Dhara laughed, shrugging, Sarah just pouting.

“You can ask more questions later okay?” Matt said, glancing up at Dhara to make sure she was okay with that.

Dhara just nodded. The way he checked to confirm with her sent out butterflies she tried desperately to ignore. This was not the time.

As they all passed around presents, Dhara had been pleasantly surprised to learn that she had gifts to open too. She hadn’t expected anything from his parents but they’d still surprised her anyway, with a gorgeous earrings and necklace set that felt fancier than anything she owned in New York. Sarah had gifted her a set of pens and a pretty notebook (which she’d picked out herself, apparently) and she’d looked so pleased with herself that it warmed Dhara’s heart.

For Matt’s mom, she’d gifted her a set of Indian spices, because Matt had told her in passing that his mom liked to cook from all different cuisines – so she’d bought her cumin seeds, coriander powder, garam masala, turmeric, and green cardamom. Dawn had looked so touched when she opened them, giving Dhara a big hug that she hadn’t been expecting. Matt’s dad looked just as pleased by his craft beer tasting tour back home in Ontario, and promised to give her reviews of every single one.

Sarah had squealed in happiness at the book Dhara bought her. A Is for Awesome: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World. It was important for Sarah to learn about how powerful she could be as a woman, and from Matt’s smile he seemed to agree with her.

For Matt – she’d bought him a cufflink box.

“I’m always losing cufflinks on roadtrips. You remembered,” Matt murmured.

The way her heart fluttered. Wow.

“And now you have a place to store 4 sets, wherever you go,” Dhara said softly.

“Thank you, this is…I love it,” Matt grinned.

Well now she was a goner.

Her last gift to open was from Matt. Again she hadn’t expected anything from him – he was opening his home to her on Christmas, after all – but when she opened the instant camera, Fujifilm Instax Mini with multiple packs of film cards, her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

“Matt, this is…wow. This is too much!” she gasped.

“You’ve talked about wanting to preserve memories and I thought this would be a fun way to do it,” he shrugged.

A fun way to preserve memories. A whole ass camera. This was just like him.

“Thank you,” she murmured, smiling so widely at him that it hurt.

Matt just smiled helplessly at her in return.

“Can you tell me more about Sikh stuff now please?”

Sarah’s pleading interruption made her laugh, saving her from the explosion of butterflies in her stomach. “If your family don’t mind, I’m happy to tell you more about Sikhism, sure.”

Dhara looked at Matt and his parents, who all nodded and smiled at her. Well, here goes nothing. Time for a basic lesson in Sikhism.

“Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak around 500 years ago in an area called the Punjab. That’s where my grandparents came from on my mother’s side, if you remember – Punjab is an area which spans part of India and Pakistan now, and they come from the Indian side of it. There are lot of different elements to Sikhism, but some of the main things that Sikhs believe are that your actions are important, and you should lead a good life. You should keep God in your heart and mind at all times, live honestly and work hard, treat everyone equally, be generous to those less fortunate than you, and to serve others,” Dhara listed.

“That sounds really nice,” Sarah said, smiling.

Dhara smiled back at her, heart warmed by the sweet words.

“It is, yes. I don’t attend temple, the Gurdwara, as much as I should, but it’s always really peaceful there. I always try to go for Lohri, the harvest festival in January, and I definitely celebrate Diwali in late October because my family always has, but there are many more holy days that Sikhs commemorate,” Dhara explained.

“Can you tell me about them?” Sarah asked hopefully.

Dhara glanced around the room, seeing Matt and his parents listening raptly, and nodded.

“Of course I can! Firstly…”

“Watch yourself, Matthew.”

Matt lifted his head from where he was washing up, seeing his mom standing next to him with a dish towel in hand. His dad, Sarah, and Dhara were all in the living room still, playing Go Fish, but Matt and his mom had moved to the kitchen to tackle at least some of the dishes.

“What?” he said, frowning.

“Don’t think I can’t see the way you look at Dhara,” she said pointedly.

Fuck.

Matt took a shaky breath and opened his mouth to protest, but his mom quickly shook her head.

“She is a lovely young woman with a bright future. Unless you can see marriage in the cards, then don’t mess her around. She deserves the best,” his mom said firmly.

Oh.

“Yes, yes she does,” he murmured.

With Matt’s parents staying through until the 2nd January, the day before her classes started up again, Dhara had the full rest of the week to herself. The only thing she had planned was getting through work for her Database Management Systems class, but Dawn and Jim had insisted that she came to the game with them on the 28th. That whole evening had been so wholesome; it was clear exactly how much Matt’s parents loved and supported him, and to see his smiling face when they went down to see him after the game? Heartwarming. Matt had also asked her to come to the New Year’s Eve party that Anders and Grace were throwing – his parents weren’t going to that, but he’d paid for them to have a nice dinner in Manhattan for their own celebration. Dhara almost said no to Matt’s invitation (because who was she to go to a private event like that?), but when he said that Grace had invited her specifically, she couldn’t resist. An invite from Grace Lee to her own party was not something that someone turned down. She knew she’d made the right decision when Grace texted her to say how excited she was that Dhara was coming, which made her feel like a little bit less of an intruder.

What was it with these people and forgetting she was literally just the nanny?

“You look nice,” Matt murmured.

“No daddy, Dhara looks beautiful,” Sarah said firmly.

Dhara laughed, ducking her head shyly just in time to miss the way Matt blushed. Her black sparkly long-sleeved bodycon dress was something that she kept on hand as the only semi-formal thing she had in her closet – so it was really her only option for the Lee’s New Year’s Eve party tonight.

“You’re right, my apologies Sarah,” Matt mused, grinning, “You do look beautiful, Dhara.”

Even if it was prompted by his daughter, it was still spine-tingling to hear Matt say those words.

“You’re too kind, both of you,” she laughed, shaking her head.

Matt just winked before kneeling down to help Sarah put her shoes on, leaving Dhara more flustered than she’d ever been in her life. Thankfully they didn’t have to wait long for the car service that Matt had insisted on, and soon enough their party of three arrived.

“Ah, welcome Martins and Nicholls!”

Dhara giggled at Anders’ booming voice, Matt rolling his eyes fondly as they entered the house.

“Thanks for having us,” Matt mused, handing over a bottle of very nice bourbon to his Captain.

Anders just grinned. “You’re always welcome, bud. Grace is in the kitchen making cocktails for the girls – we’re not invited to that, Matt, but you should definitely head in there so you don’t miss any good gossip, Dhara.”

“Oh, but Sarah…”

“Sarah can stick with me while we go and say hi to all her uncles before they get too drunk, hm?” Matt suggested.

“Drunk Uncle Casey is funny,” Sarah giggled.

“That settles it then!” Anders said cheerfully.

He pointed Dhara in the direction the kitchen and whisked Matt and Sarah away, leaving Dhara reeling. This wasn’t what she had expected at all – and now she was being shuffled over to the WAGs like she had any right to be there?

“Dhara! There you are! Grace is just finishing a fresh batch of mojitos – join us!”

She let out a shaky breath at Kristy’s happy exclamation, but followed her with a smile. She could totally do this. She could go with the flow, especially with Matt’s insistence, and she could just get back to watching Sarah after this drink, right? If Matt was okay with it?

In truth, nothing happened the way she thought it would over the night. While she did return back to watching over Sarah, all of the other WAGs with kids insisted they she took breaks to enjoy herself because they could all chip in to watch the kids. It did make her feel weird because hello, it was literally her job to nanny, but Matt’s happy face every time she took a break to socialise was too strong to resist. The main thing that struck her though was how much she stuck out like a sore thumb. Not just in terms of appearance – she figured she was going to be one of the only people of colour there – but just in terms of importance? Not even all the team was here – the youngest ones were off clubbing apparently, which made Dhara all the more aware of how intimate this gathering was. She didn’t belong here, not in this world. What was her life coming to?

She didn’t know if Matt’s presence helped either. All through the night he made she sure had enough to drink (she stuck to water or soda after that first lethal mojito from Grace) and enough to eat. He included her in every conversation, introduced her to people she hadn’t met yet, and checked in on her when she was watching Sarah. Every time she could see a couple of his teammates and/or the WAGs smirking slightly – but not in a mean way. And certainly not mocking her. It was confusing to say the least, like the lines were blurring without giving her any way to read the meaning of the situation, and it was all she could do to try to let it go. Matt was just being a gentleman, that was all.

When it came to a couple of minutes until the ball drop though, Dhara found herself squished onto a sofa in front of the TV that Anders was setting up, with Sarah fast asleep on her lap and Matt sitting down at her side.

“Champagne?” Matt said, holding out a second glass.

“I suppose one glass couldn’t hurt to bring in the new year,” Dhara mused.

She tried to ignore the way her stomach fizzled as their fingers brushed. Eventually, with just 30 seconds to spare, the living room was packed with party guests, Dhara essentially pressed fully up into Matt’s side. All she could do was remember to breathe, keeping her focus anchored on Sarah to distract herself from the warmth of his thigh against hers. It was intoxicating to say the least, and she was grateful at least for the noise of the room drowning out her thoughts.

“3…2…1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

As fireworks exploded across the screen and out the windows, and couples embraced all around the room, Dhara’s breath caught in the throat as she looked up at Matt to see him already looking down at her.

“Happy New Year, Dhara,” he murmured.

“Happy New Year,” she said softly back.

The intensity in his eyes made fire burn through her skin, barely softened by the champagne she poured down her throat. The way he looked at her…it almost felt real.

Dhara’s birthday was always a strange time of year for her. She never did anything massive to celebrate it, just casual dinner and drinks with friends and a phone call with her parents, but this year it fell at the end of January on a Saturday, at the end of Matt’s bye week. He had no other plans that spending time with Sarah anyway, so he gave her the week off to relax.

Relax, hah.

She had her thesis proposal to finish, with the final submission of the full finished thing due at the beginning of May, but she’d managed to sort out the data she wanted to use in the first half of January – so she was able to use her week off from nannying to finish the proposal. She holed herself up in her bedroom, surrounded by drinks and snacks, barely taking any breaks other than to reassure her roommate that she was still alive, until she submitted it to her supervising professor.

It was worth it, to feel like she’d accomplished something she was proud of.

Dhara emerged from her ‘coding cave’ the day before her birthday, her roommate shoving her straight into the shower while she ordered them both Thai food to celebrate. It felt good to have a little time to actually relax before her birthday, because before dinner and drinks with her friends, Matt had planned a surprise lunch for her.

She should have expected the restaurant he chose to be a fancy one. She’d never eaten anywhere so nice, not even when her parents came up for her undergraduate degree graduation.

“I have one more surprise for you,” Matt announced, just as he paid the bill, “if you have time to come back to the house with us.”

Sarah was basically wriggling in her seat, quietly begging please please please, and how could Dhara say no to that? All through the drive back to Matt’s house, Sarah was whispering to him and giggling away, making Dhara smile to herself. Seeing the young girl so excited made her excited – and after the incredible surprise Christmas gift he’d gotten her? She could only hope it wasn’t something crazy.

“Okay Sarah, you go ahead and open the door while I make sure Dhara isn’t peeking,” Matt said with a smile.

“What,” she said flatly.

Matt just smiled innocently, stepping behind her, and it was all Dhara could to do gasp as he gently placed his hands over her eyes from behind. Fuck.

“Door’s open daddy!”

“Okay sweetheart, why don’t you take Dhara’s hands and slowly guide her indoors,” Matt instructed, “if you’re okay with that?”

“Yeah sure, go for it,” Dhara laughed.

As if her today could get any stranger than this. So with Sarah’s small hands in hers and Matt’s large hands over her eyes (his cologne smelled so good this close, it was unreal), Dhara was slowly guided into the Martin house, taking heed of Sarah’s instructions not to bash into things, until she was standing in what she was sure was the rarely-used dining room. Matt and Sarah always preferred to eat at the kitchen island, but she knew where this room was. Why was she here?

“Ready?” Matt asked.

“Ready. I think,” Dhara mused.

Sarah let go of her hands at the same time as Matt removed his, and as soon as she opened her eyes, her breath caught in her throat. What the hell. In front of her, on the dining room table, were two computer screens, high definition and huge, with a docking station and all the appropriate wires to connect them to a laptop. To her laptop? What the hell.

“Matt…” she breathed.

Sarah just giggled at her reaction before skipping out of the room, leaving them alone. Leaving Dhara with her mind whirling.

“I know you were talking about how it’s easier to see your code side by side, and rather than doing the split screen thing you have been doing on just your laptop, I thought this would be more helpful,” he explained.

He remembered that from her rambling? He was listening?

“I can’t believe you bought me two computer screens. And a docking station. This is too much, Matt, really. I can’t accept them,” she murmured.

This was so personal – no-one had ever paid attention to her like this, and it was coming from him?

“Hey, no, this is important for you. For your work. I want to make sure that you have everything that you need to finish your degree in the best way possible – you’ve done so much for us and I just wanted to do this little thing for you. Besides, you only turn 25 once, right?”

“This isn’t little, Matt. And I’m just a nanny, I’ve barely done anything,” Dhara protested.

“If that’s all that you think you are to Sarah, and to me, then I’m clearly not doing enough to show you differently,” he said firmly.

The tone of his voice made her shiver in all the right ways.

“Matt, I…”

She trailed off at the intense look he was giving her.

“Happy birthday, Dhara,” Matt murmured, smiling softly.

It was all she could do to hug him tightly, sinking slightly into his chest as his arms immediately wrapped around her too. His shirt was soft against her cheek, that intoxicating cologne filling her senses, so much so that as she moved to break the hug, she impulsively kissed his cheek. Fuck. Dhara froze for a moment, stunned at her own audacity, but as she leaned back, Matt looked just as stunned – other than the pleased smile on his lips.

“Sarah! Come and say goodbye to Dhara so she can go out with her friends!” he called out, dropping his arms to let her go.

Dhara smiled at the sound of pattering footsteps, even more so as Sarah hugged her legs tightly.

“Dhara! You’re still my friend too, right?”

Be still her beating heart.

“Of course I am. I’ll be back here on Monday, ready for Kindergarten as usual,” she promised.

“Good. Happy birthday Dhara!” Sarah said happily.

Matt’s eyes never left her once.

With only a few weeks left until Spring Break, Dhara didn’t know where her final year of her degree was going. She knew she was going to use that Spring Break time to finish as much of her thesis as possible – and she knew she was going to be spending the whole week at Matt’s. Her new computer screens had stayed at his house as there was way more room for her to work there, and the couple of occasions she’d used them there for her classwork and he’d been home, he always smiled a pleased little smile like he was proud of himself for providing for her. It was…strange.

Everything was strange.

Since that kiss on the cheek, the dynamic between them had grown even more tense. Every stolen glance, brushed fingers, sweet smile, all felt like she was getting away with something forbidden. If anyone knew the illicit way she thought of Matt, she knew she’d burst into flames. And it wasn’t like she could be sure about how he felt about her either. Sure, he looked – but she was a beautiful Indian woman, and many men looked. It just felt different when she felt Matt’s eyes on her body, that was all.

She knew it was futile though. She was his nanny, nothing else. And she didn’t dare mess anything up with her employment now that she was only a couple of months away from turning in her thesis and finishing her Masters in Computer Science. She knew that she had to seriously start applying for jobs for starting in June, knew she didn’t want her years of hard work to go to waste – but it was so hard to decide exactly what she wanted when her head was spinning.

In a dream world, she’d have the career she’d always fantasised about, with Matt and Sarah by her side. But this was reality – girls like her didn’t get the career and the guy. She had to be realistic with herself, otherwise she was going to drown. She knew she had to stop indulging her daydreams and wake up – it wasn’t worth the inevitable heartache, as much as those dreams were nice to fall asleep to.

Still, when Spring Break arrived and Matt refused to let her nanny for him, rather than holing herself up in the bedroom of her tiny apartment, she holed herself up in Matt’s dining room, only emerging when Matt dragged her out to get some sleep or Sarah begged her to eat dinner with them. It was a weird but welcome change, to have people care about her wellbeing like that (her current roommate had her own weird work hours), so when she finally came out of her week of thesis writing and showered, she felt more human than she usually did after a data spree like that. It was refreshing to say the least.

“I can’t believe you spent your final ever Spring Break sitting at my dining room table,” Matt teased, handing her a plate of sliced apples.

Dhara stuck her tongue out at Matt as she happily took the plate, making him laugh.

“I needed to get my thesis finished as soon as possible so I can work on editing it and proving the data works. And I managed to get it nearly finished – now it’s just concluding it and all the weeks of editing to get done. Otherwise, all the hard work of the past three years will come to nothing, and I won’t be able to get a good job like I deserve,”

“Right, yes, of course. A job using computer science,” Matt nodded.

The way he said it though, and the way he looked like a kicked puppy, made her heart ache. “Matt, you knew I would only be able to work for you for a year. We talked about this, right from the start.”

“I know,” he said quickly, shaking his head with a smile, “It’s just going to be strange not having you around. You feel like part of the family already, and you know that Sarah loves you.”

Fuck.

“Matt, you’re killing me,” she murmured.

“Sorry,” he quickly said.

“No you’re not,” she said dryly.

“I am a little bit.”

Dhara huffed out a laugh, shaking her head. “I love systems analysis and the increase in importance of connectivity to keep up with modern systems within growing infrastructure, and I would love to work in something like that because it’s where my passion is. I just…I hope I can find something that takes a chance on a nobody like me.”

“You are the furthest thing from a nobody, Dhara. You’re incredible and talented and a beautiful person inside and out, and you deserve the best. Whatever you need, whatever I can help with, I will, okay? References, making calls, whatever. You name it and I’m there.”

Her lips parted in surprise at his supportive words, eyes stinging with tears, but she found herself smiling. He was such a sweetheart.

“That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” Dhara said, voice thick with emotion as she stepped forward to hug him.

She felt herself tremble slightly at the warmth of Matt’s hands on her back, even more so at the way he buried his face in her long thick curls, and tried to savour the feeling of his arms around her while she still could. How had their time together come to an end so quickly? How was this fair?

“Yeah, well, you deserve everything and more,” Matt said gruffly as he stepped back.

If only she could read his mind right now, to see what thoughts were running behind the complicated expression on his face, then she would do it in an instant.

“Thank you, Matt,” she murmured.

“You’re welcome. Make sure you start applying soon, okay?”

Network Operations Engineer – Madison Square Garden Entertainment – full time.

Submission – completed.

March.

April.

May.

His fleeting time left with Dhara was slipping through his fingers. The harder he tried to hold on, the faster the days flew by, until she submitted her thesis and the end was in sight. He couldn’t blame her for being excited – fuck knows he wouldn’t be sane after all the years of education she’d gone through – but he couldn’t stop the anxiety that built in his chest when he thought of how, soon, she wouldn’t be laughing and smiling and typing away at her computer in his house.

The Islanders had barely lost the first round of the playoffs, kicking and scraping to the last minute, and now with the whole summer stretched out in front of him, the thought of spending it without her was excruciating. But Matt knew he had no claim on Dhara, had no right to feel this way, no matter how she looked at him or smiled sweetly at him or that one time she’d kissed his cheek. She was everything he hadn’t known he’d wanted and needed, and now she was soon to be gone from his life forever.

He, Matt Martin, was completely gone for Dhara Nicholls, and he didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do about it.

“Dhara, come on, you’re not watching!”

Matt rolled his eyes fondly at Sarah’s petulant whining. “Sarah Dawn Martin, that’s not how we speak to our friends.”

He could see Dhara biting her lip to hide a smile as Sarah huffed dramatically.

“Dhara, please will you watch this with me? You said you would!”

“Of course, why don’t I just get us some more water each and we can settle in, hm?”

“Deal!”

Matt watched Dhara walk over to where he was putting together lunch in the kitchen, unable to stop himself smiling at her the moment she smiled at him.

“Hey.”

She giggled, shaking her head at herself as she pulled a couple of bottles of water out the fridge.

“How’s it going in there with the Drill Sergeant?” he mused.

“Oh it’s tough, but I think I’ll make it out alive,” she grinned.

Why was everything so easy between them? Nothing had ever been this easy before.

“Look, I, uh…I was hoping to ask you something?”

Dhara raised an eyebrow with a bemused smile but nodded, leaning against the counter next to him. “Go for it.”

“So you know it’s my birthday on Saturday?” he started.

Dhara just nodded, smiling.

“Okay cool, so I know you have things to finalise this week, with administration at your university, but Casey and the guys and girls have organised a night out and I was hoping you’d come? So yeah, come out with us, please,” he said, cursing himself for rambling.

“Oh, thank you – I just…what about Sarah?” she asked.

So sweet.

“She’s having a sleepover with a friend from Kindergarten, I already sorted that,” Matt said simply, smiling.

“Well in that case, I’d love to. If you’re sure?” Dhara said, uncertainly.

“Of course I’m sure. I want you out celebrating with me,” he said firmly.

While he couldn’t tell if she was blushing or not, the flash of surprise and something else in her eyes satisfied something inside of him that felt distinctly feral. He really was losing his control around her, wasn’t he?

“Then I’ll be there,” she said sweetly, “You only turn 35 once after all.”

Matt just grinned.

Saturday night rolled around quicker than he’d expected. The WAGs had taken Dhara out with them to get ready – the full works apparently, hair, make-up, and manicures, all of which he paid for Dhara because it was last minute – and when the ladies finally arrived to the restaurant he’d booked out for dinner? Well, it felt like he’d been punched in the face. It wasn’t that her dark curls were glossy and teased to volumed perfection. It wasn’t that her make-up was flawless, full glam like she never did herself. No, it was the emerald green mid-thigh strappy silk dress she’d clearly borrowed from one of the other ladies. The dress was so dainty and unlike anything he’d ever seen her wear, close enough to a negligee that it sent his mind reeling. He knew she had a great figure already, and that her legs were long and toned, but seeing them like this? It was mindblowing. And, obviously, it had taken everything in his power not to drool or let his jaw drop.

Naturally he missed Casey and Anders smirking at their wives and receiving triumphant grins in response from Grace and Kristy. Dhara’s sweet greeting and warm hug made everyone else in the room disappear.

Still, after dinner and going to a couple of bars, they ended up in a night club nearing midnight, Anders having booked a couple of tables upstairs in the VIP area. The whole group had a couple of shots together, toasting Matt’s 35th birthday, before the WAGs all dragged Dhara off to dance with them. From their table he could just about see her in the middle of the dancefloor, looking like she was having the time of her life, body swaying and moving in a way that had his full attention. Captivating.

He watched her on and off for the next half hour, switching between talking to the guys, sipping on his whisky and coke. But it wasn’t until Casey thumped down next down next to him and clapped him on the shoulder with a huff that he realised anyone had noticed.

“Come on man, just go down to the dancefloor and put us all out of our misery,” Casey groaned.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Matt frowned.

“You’re pining after Dhara and it’s driving us crazy,” he retorted.

“We’ve talked about this. She’s my nanny,” Matt said sharply.

“Yeah okay, like that even matters. I’ve seen the way you look at her and Kristy’s seen the way she looks at you, and it’s not like she’s going to be your nanny for much longer, right?” Casey smirked.

“Oh fuck you.”

“Fuck her.”

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Matt all but growled.

Casey just grinned, clearly getting the answer he wanted, goading Matt just like he intended. Damn it, he really did know him too well.

“Love you too bud. Stop being a coward,” Casey just snickered, patting Matt on the shoulder, a clear indication to just get out of there.

And if the desire to dance with Dhara hadn’t won out, he knew he’d be scowling at his friend. Instead, he found himself drifting down the stairs from the VIP area to where he lasted spotted Dhara in the crowd, and soon enough he found her. She looked like a goddess: swaying from side to side, multi-coloured lights brushing across her brown skin like a Picasso painting, and he felt himself mesmerised. She turned her head slightly at the prompting of Grace, wide smile stretching across her lips when she spotted him.

“Mind if I join you?” Matt said, raising his voice.

“Of course not birthday boy!” Dhara said happily.

Matt stepped closer to her, barely registering the rest of the ladies grinning at each other and slipping away through the crowd to leave them alone. His attention was completely captured – Dhara’s hips swaying so close to him were a massive distraction – and it wasn’t until a familiar song started playing that he finally looked up at her face.

“I love this song!” she said happily.

Dhara turned her back to him, confusing him slightly, until she looked back over her shoulder expectantly. He knew they’d both had a fair amount of alcohol to drink at this point, but her eyes were clear enough – dance with me. He could barely control himself as he stepped up behind her fully, hands on her hips, pulling her gently back against him, the soft moan that sounded from her lips making him feel wild. Fuck, he could feel himself stirring where his crotch was pressed just above her ass, even more so as she continued to sway her hips.

“Come, lay me down, 'Cause you know this, 'Cause you know this sound

In the middle of the night, In the middle of the night, Just call my name, I'm yours to tame...”

“Matt,” Dhara murmured, looking up at him.

He followed his base instincts for once, staying silent as he used the grip he had on her hips to spin her around to face him, taking pleasure in the look of surprise on her face and the flash of lust in her eyes, swaying their bodies together again.

“…I'm wide awake, I crave your taste all night long, 'Til morning comes, I'm getting what is mine, You gon' get yours, oh no, ooh, In the middle of the night.”

“Matt please.”

It was all he could do to guide her quickly through the crowd to the edge of the dancefloor, to an empty spot against the wall, leaving them mostly in the shadow, the bright flashes of light illuminating them just about enough to see each other’s faces.

“Tell me to stop,” Matt murmured into her ear, hands threading into her thick curls.

“Kiss me,” she replied, lifting her head in challenge.

He didn’t hesitate to press his lips to hers, kissing her just as she’d demanded, his heart immediately soaring. Dhara moaned into his mouth, moaned again when he pushed her firmly up against the wall, kissing him back just as eagerly as her hands clutched at his shirt. It was like she melted against his body as he slid his tongue past her lips, fire zipping through his blood, his head swirling. Matt kissed Dhara over and over again, one hand leaving her hair to clutch at her hip, the silk of her dress driving him mad and doing nothing to mask the heat of her skin, and while the music washed over them, he wanted nothing more than to get her away from this crowded dancefloor and take her home.

Fuck, it was intoxicating how well she fit into his arms, how her body was moulded to his, how their tongues danced together as intimately as their bodies had done. In all the times he’d thought about kissing her, about holding her, nothing could compare to the real thing. Nothing could compare to this.

But he needed to know that it wasn’t just him, that she wasn’t just kissing him because she was drunk. He didn’t think he would survive that. The confused noise she made when he broke the kiss just about broke his heart though.

“Dhara, baby, I gotta know…”

He groaned, kissing down her neck, feeling like he was shaking apart at her soft moans.

“What, Matt?” she gasped as he nipped at her skin.

“You’re not…you’re not too drunk right now, right? You want this?”

“Matt, I’ve been drinking water throughout the night between drinks. I want this. I want you. I just didn’t know if you wanted me,” she said, shrugging with a sheepish smile.

She didn’t know if he wanted her?

He rested his forehead against hers, pressing her fully into the wall again so she could feel where he was half hard in his jeans. Dhara giggled, pulling him down into another kiss with her grip on his shirt, and Matt was all too happy to oblige her, knowing he’d never get enough of her now that he’d tasted her.

“It’s not just sex, baby, I swear. I want all of you,” Matt murmured, breaking their kiss again to suck on the thin skin behind her ear.

“You promise?” she asked softly into his ear, almost shyly.

“I promise,” he nodded, as serious as he could manage in this moment.

“Then take me home.”

“Yeah?” he grinned.

“Yeah, take me home Matt,” she grinned back.

Dhara woke with a soft groan, eyes feeling gritty and mouth as dry as an old sock. She blearily lifted her head, grabbing the glass of water on the side table and chugging it, body not recognising the weight of an arm over her waist until her head was a bit clearer.

An arm over her waist.

Over her bare waist.

Matt’s arm.

She let out a shaky breath as all the memories of the night before flooded into her head. Dancing intimately with Matt in the nightclub where anyone could see them. Making out on the side of the dancefloor. The two of them leaving the club without telling anyone, barely keeping their hands off each other in the uber back to his. Then a rush of lips and hands and teeth and bare skin, and waves of pleasure over and over again, crying out his name without a care in the world.

It was everything she’d ever dreamed over, and now, waking up in his bed with his bare body pressed to hers, it was her nightmare all the same.

She’d never acted like this before in her life. Never slept with a man she wasn’t dating. Absolutely never slept with her boss. What kind of trashy behaviour was that? How could he ever think she was worth his time if this is the way she acted the first time he showed interest? Fuck.

But she remembered his words too. How he checked that she wasn’t too drunk, that she wanted this. How he swore it wasn’t just sex, that he wanted her. How insistent he was on promising that it wasn’t just talk to get her into bed. And in between each of the many orgasms he brought her to, he checked in with her each time, making sure she was okay, just because that’s who he was.

He was Matt Martin, gentleman under a rough handsome exterior, and he wanted her.

None of that changed her insecurities though, how all of this was so out of character for her. Not to mention, she knew damn well that everyone knew what they did last night, why they left the club early, and wasn’t that mortifying? No, she needed some air, she needed to think. And to maybe put on some clothes she’d left in the spare room because there was no way she could wear Kristy’s tiny silk dress home in broad daylight.

With a shaky breath, Dhara gently picked up Matt’s arm, moving it off of her body, before slowly sitting upright. If she could just stand up without waking him it would be…

“Good morning. Going somewhere?”

Matt’s husky voice made her freeze, a wave of guilt washing over her, before she turned to face him, sheets clutched to her bare chest.

“I…I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m doing,” she murmured, more honest than she cared to be.

And if that wasn’t a metaphor for her life since she met him, what was?

He just frowned, sitting upright, and she couldn’t stop her gaze from raking over his chest, his biceps, his shoulders. Damn. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Where should I start?” Dhara said, feeling a little hysterical.

“I thought we were on the same page last night,” Matt said hesitantly, “I thought we both wanted this.”

“We did,” she said quickly, “I did. But…you know this doesn’t make any sense right?”

“Why not? You like me, I like you. You want me, I want you. It’s simple,” he frowned.

If only.

“It’s not simple at all, Matt. Not for me. It’s one thing for you to have the hots for your young pretty nanny, but to actually hook up with her? And to say you want something more? People are going to think I’m a gold digger! That I trapped you! That I manipulated my way into your life!”

“Dhara, all of that is bullshit. I don’t care what people think. Anyone who dares to call you a gold digger is an asshole who doesn’t know us. Everyone who knows us knows it isn’t like that at all. You’ve already got a job lined up waiting for you with Madison Square Garden Entertainment Group and you only just handed in your thesis – like, you’re going to be making your own money so it’s not like you only like me for that, right?”

“Well, no, but…”

“And you didn’t even know who I was when you first interviewed with me, so it’s not like you planned this, right?”

“Of course I didn’t, but…”

“If you don’t want anything more than this one night with me then obviously I would accept that. It would suck and the last few weeks of you working for me would be really awkward, but damn Dhara, I want a future with you,” Matt finished, taking one of her hands in his, the other still clutching at the bed sheet.

He really wants a future with her?

“You do?” she asked softly, almost as if she didn’t believe it.

“Yeah, I do,” he nodded, smiling warmly, “I mean, I’m not sure what you see in me – I’m a 35 year old hockey player who’s nearing the end of his career, already divorced once with a kid who doesn’t have an off switch or a volume control, and I have no idea what I’m going to do with my life…but I just know that I want you in my life, however I can have you.”

“You’re the kindest, sweetest, most handsome man I’ve ever met, with a daughter who loves you so much, and you see me for more than the Indian girl stuck behind a computer screen. I…I never expected this, any of this Matt, but I want to try?” she said, biting her bottom lip.

The way his face lit up with sweet genuine smile made her heart soar.

“You have no idea how happy that makes me. I’m going to do my best to make you so happy too, Dhara, I swear,” he grinned.

Dhara huffed out a laugh, laughing properly as he tugged the sheet out of her hand and guided her to lie down again in the messy bed, sliding his thick arm over her waist to tug their bare bodies together, lying face to face in the most intimate yet soft way she’d ever lain with another man.

And in that moment, it didn’t matter that her career was just about to kick off while his was in its hockey-twilight. And it didn’t matter than he was 10 years older than her, a whole wealth of life experience that she barely had. And it didn’t matter what people would whisper about them, or what judgemental looks she was get, or that her mother had never met him, or even that none of this would ever have happened in her wildest dreams.

All that mattered was that he wanted her, in his bed, in his family, in his life.

“Can I kiss you, baby?”

“Yes.”

Tagging a few people: @jostyriggslover96 @misshoneyimhome @senditcolton @fallinallincurls @2manytabsopen

#my writing #matt martin fic #the summer fic exchange 2k24 #matt martin x oc #matt martin fanfic #matt martin imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine

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chrisstvrns · 2 months ago

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𝐂𝐎𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐀: 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ˚.⁺⊹ .ᐟ | 𝐂.𝐒.

𝒾𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽… chris & his girlfriend investigate and potentially solve a murder from nearly 80 years ago

warnings: mentions of murder & death. mostly fluff & angst (if what they talk about is considered angst?) pet names (baby, pretty, ma, pretty girl, & mama), not proofread im exhausted

word count: 1.4k

you were sat on the couch of the triplet’s living room, scrolling through your instagram feed when you come across a post from a historical page, of a murder from close to a century ago.

the cover of the post was a black and white photo of a young woman, a wide smile on her face as she posed, wearing a yellow showgirl outfit. the text on the photo read “lola jones, famous manhattan showgirl, died 20 years ago today”.

you clicked on the link to the article in the caption, having always been fascinated by lola’s story, and the murder she was rumored to have played a part in. you skimmed the article, hoping there would be something mentioning the murder. the first paragraph read:

“lola jones, well known manhattan night club showgirl of the 1940s, has died 20 years ago today, on december 4th, 2004, aged 83. jones was best known for being one of the most popular dancers at manhattan's most famous dance club of the 1940s, ‘the copacabana’. jones was rumored to be in a romantic relationship with the late tony starr, a bartender at the club, sometime throughout 1942 to 1944, when he was murdered in the club by a runaway party-goer. to this day, investigators all over the country cannot figure out who it was who killed the late tony, and when asked, jones denied to speak about the situation.”

there was a bunch more in the article, simply speaking about her life. before you knew it, almost an hour had passed and the front door was swinging open, and nick, matt, and chris all filed up the stairs, making their way to the couch as you looked up, reaching your arms out toward chris.

“hi baby” you sweetly whisper, as chris sinks into the couch next to you, wrapping his arms around your torso and pulling you onto his lap.

you lean back on his chest, holding his hands in yours.

“i missed you today” he mutters into your shoulder, gently moving his face to kiss your neck as his brothers stare in disgust.

you giggle, running a hand back through his hair

“i missed you more.”

you pick up your phone, cuddling into chris a bit more as you continue reading the article.

“what’s that, pretty?” he mumbles, into your shoulder

“that copacabana showgirl from the 40’s, lola jones? she died 20 years ago today.” you respond, your eyes drifting across the screen

“didnt she kill someone?” nick chimes in from the other couch

“no, she was dating the guy that got killed. it says in the article that she like, refused to ever speak of him or his death since the day he died.”

“but she knows who killed him?” matt asks, as you shrug

“i have no clue. she could, but for the 60 years she was alive after he died, she never once spoke about it. at least, not to reporters or investigators.”

“so its an unsolved murder? they never caught the guy?”

“i guess so”

“what if we looked into it and caught the guy?” nick jokes, causing you all to laugh

“nick, the dudes definitely long gone by now. and besides, thats way to much work.” chris scoffs, gently rubbing your thigh

“i’m just sayin! it could be interesting, even just to try!”

“it could be fun, but nothing would come out of it. hes definitely already dead, whoever it was.”

“i mean, it does still say that if anyone has information you get a $100,000 reward?” matt mutters, scrolling through a news article from a few months ago

“shit, are you deadass?” chris sits up, staring at his brother in shock

“are we serious? theyre still tryna solve the murder when everyone alive at the time is probably fucking dead already?”

you turn your head over your shoulder, looking at chris with a smile.

“what d’you say, chris? we can just do it as our own little fun thing! its exciting!”

“i dont- i dunno, baby. theres like no point in it. fuck, dont give me those eyes. y’know i cant say no when y’look at me like that.”

“gross. get a room. fucking, please.”

you giggle, looking back at nick, then back at your boyfriend.

“soooooo?”

chris cups your face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over your cheeks.

“ill think about it, okay, ma?” he whispers, looking at you with those eyes that always drove you crazy

“thank you baby. i love you” you whisper, cuddling into him

for the next few hours, you and the triplets talk about random nothings, and by 11 oclock, you were all exhausted and ready for bed. nick and matt headed to their bedrooms, while you and chris hung out on the couch for a bit longer, talking about the next days plans and whatnot.

eventually, you make your way down to chris’ room, cuddling up in the blankets. while chris was out like a light within ten minutes, you couldnt sleep.

you kept thinking about lola, and tony, and the club, and who killed tony. the club was always so packed, with so many witnesses there that night, but nobody saw who killed him?

within 15 minutes, you found yourself hunched over your laptop and notebook, scribbling down facts you found online about the club and lola’s life after tony’s death.

“she has a daughter, born in ‘49. so she would be like, what? 75? yeah, 75. okay, her daughter has three kids. 2 sons and a daughter, they're 48, 46, and 44. and they all have their own kids, like, my age, probably? lola’s daughter is antonia jones, and she still lives in the city”

you found yourself muttering to yourself out loud, completely forgetting about chris being asleep next to you as you review your facts aloud.

“what’re y’doing, ma?” chris mutters, his face smushed against the pillow

“chris, look. her daughter is still alive, and she has a bunch of grandkids and i'm assuming great grandkids?”

“who are you talkin’ bout?”

“lola jones!”

with that, chris fully rolls onto his back, eventually sitting up.

“y’still on this?”

“yes!”

“you really wanna do this, huh? y’wanna solve her boyfriend or whoevers murder? from like 80 fuckin’ years ago?”

you nod, sympathetically looking into your boyfriends eyes. “i do. i really do. not for the cops, or for the money, but to get justice. its been 80 years, nobody knows what happened. the poor guy probably had a family, maybe not kids, but his parents, cousins, siblings! they all lost someone, and i bet you theres some siblings grandkids still alive that want some form of justice for their uncle!”

“fuck it, lets do it then.” he smirks, brushing a strand of hair away from your face

“really? you mean it?” you squeal, climbing on top of his lap as he nods

“of course i mean it. anything for my pretty girl.” he mutters, cupping your jaw as you hold his neck

you lean down a bit, pressing your lips together and holding him close. you passionately kiss him for a few seconds longer, before pulling away and just hugging him.

“thank you baby.” you whisper into his ear, tightly hugging him

“dont thank me, its something you wanted to do, and i can see how badly you want this. i dont give a shit what it is, ill do anything for you.”

you pull away from the hug, staring into his icy blue eyes, noticing the sparkle thats always there when you look at him.

“i love you so much.”

“i love you so much more.”

“not possible.”

“dont argue with me on this, okay mama?”

“okay.”

you sweetly whisper, clinging to your boyfriend as he lays down in bed again, holding you close to him as you finally drift to sleep after hours of researching and spiraling.

this was it. you were gonna go back into evidence, news articles, and research from over 80 years in the past, all the way back to when lola and tony started fooling around in what was rumored to be 1942. but was it actually? or is there more to the story?

────────────୨ৎ────────────

a/n: i lowk hate myself for this cliffhanger but im tired and need to go to sleep so im scheduling this to post in the morning gn angels!! <3 & yes that is tara yummy i couldnt find any good yellow showgirl pics for the moodboard ignore it pls n ty

inspo: i was listening to the song today and actually payed attention to the lyrics for like the first time and literally spiraled and told everyone i knew abt it and then decided to write about it & expand on the story we hear in the song a bit more LMFAO

likes and reblogs are always greatly appreciated! ੈ✩‧₊˚

to be added to my taglist, comment on this post!

tags:

#christopher sturniolo #chris sturniolo #chris sturniolo fanfic #chris sturniolo fluff #rory's blog𝜗𝜚 #© chrisstvrns #rory's copacabana series⋆✮⋆˙#auroras blog𝜗𝜚 #Spotify

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runningincircl3s · 3 months ago

Text

Nothing Ever After

Noah Sebastian x Reader x Vinny Mauro

Chapter Seventeen

masterlist

chapter warnings: alcohol, SMALL SMUT WARNING (through a flashback), reader singing just pretend, subtle foreshadowing through the songs...

this is just a fun and super silly filler chapter! bad omens want to keep their cool and mysterious reputation but ik these guys are lovers of fun, also i wrote this chapter when i was soo tired so reading this back honestly felt like a fever dream

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The bar was pretty lively tonight, the constant hum of conversation and the occasional burst of laughter filled the air, along with a lingering smell of alcohol as you stood at the bar and ordered another margarita before asking Noah if he'd like another drink

“I’ll have a pepsi.” He smiled, looking up from his phone.

“One margarita and a pepsi…” The bartender nodded, adding it to Noah’s tab.

“I just told the guys we’re here, they're already on their way,” Noah mentioned, leaning against the bar as you waited for your drinks.

The two of you had already been here for about half an hour. It’s been nice to spend time with him away from the others and somewhere that isn’t a hotel room or empty tour bus.

“You sure it's okay for them to join us?"

“Yeah of course, I thought that was the plan anyway.” You smiled, glancing at your phone as you waited for the bartender to return with your drinks. You had been hoping for a text from Vinny, maybe an apology, but so far, nothing.

“So," Noah asked as you were given your drinks, "How was your weekend?"

“It was fine,” you said, putting your phone down on the bar, “Vinny’s parents were lovely, and I made sure I got plenty of pictures for them.”

“I didn’t know you and Vin were even that close,” Noah says, raising an eyebrow, “Wasn't it kind of weird?”

“Not at all, anyway his parents invited me, didn't they. Vinny and I are pretty good friends, I guess you just don’t see us around each other that often.” And you wonder why that is.

“Well, after seeing you two the other week I’d say he might have a crush on you,” Noah smirked, “I don’t blame him.”

You almost choked on your drink, holding back laughter.

“A crush? What are we, seven?” You scoffed, “I don’t see him like that at all, he's just a good friend.”

“Vinny please! Fuck, you’re the only thing on my mind when I’m with Noah, there's nothing between us… Not when this is all I think about!”

“Oh yeah?” He smirks, your words only egging him on as he lifts your legs over his shoulder, his cock hitting deeper than it ever had. He looked even more beautiful like this, the sweat beading on his forehead, the hair hanging over his eyes as he leaned down, his lips attaching to your neck, “I bet you wanna moan my name too… Oh what would he do if he ever found out you're my pretty whore, sweetheart.”

You tried to push away the thoughts that came flooding back from last night, you also tried to stop thinking about Vinny so much as you were with Noah tonight. Between the silence on the drive home and the way he spoke to you in his hotel room, you realised your feelings towards him probably weren't as reciprocated as you were led to believe.

“Hey it’s your birthday next month, right?” Noah asked, noticing how you had gone silent.

“Yep,” you smiled, “I’m not telling you the date though. I don’t want anyone making a fuss, and Bry knows how I’d feel if he ever told anyone.”

“Okay,” Noah chuckles, “I was just asking.”

“There you guys are!” You heard Folio before you spotted him, with Matt, Jolly, Nicholas and Bryan.

“So... When does karaoke start?” Jolly asked, clapping his hands together, noticing how nobody was singing yet.

“I’m pretty sure it’s already started-”

“Since when? You could’ve told me, Noah!” You gasped, smiling at Jolly as you took his hand, “Can we do a duet?”

“I thought you’d never ask!”

"We're gonna play 8-ball, we'll watch from over there!" Folio called out as you and Jolly walked up to the makeshift stage.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

“What’s the sense in sharing, this one and only life.” You sang into the microphone, getting caught up in the energy with a wide smile on your face as you looked over at Jolly, who was reading the words off of the screen.

“Ending up just another lost and only wife.” Jolly sang, “You count up the years.”

“And they will be filled with tears” You sang together.

“Love only breaks up to start over again!”

“You’ll get the baby, but you won’t have your man…” Jolly seemed to be a little off, you chuckled to yourself as you assumed he didn’t know the song too well.

“While he is busy loving every woman that he can… Uh huh!”

This was easily the most fun you’ve had the whole tour, as you were catching your breath you spot Matt leaving the guys and making his way over to the two of you, looking ready to join in.

“Young hearts run free! They’ll never be hung up, hung up like my man and me!” The three of you sang, Matt leaned towards you to share the mic, as s couple people in the bar cheered for all of you, and you saw Noah singing along with a grin on his face.

As you three continued to sing the rest of the song, you kept motioning for Noah to join in, or one of the other guys, but they all shook their head- even Folio which surprised you the most.

When the song ended, you noticed no one else was eager to get up next and sing, so you took a sip of your drink and promised the small "audience" an encore. You scanned the song list, hoping to pick one you knew Noah would join you in.

Then you saw it, the perfect song. You turned to Noah, watching his expression change as the music started.

“Come on, Noah!” you smiled, “Just this one?”

His smile was slow but inevitable, though he shook his head, looking down at the ground. Anyone watching would have thought he was a little embarrassed. A faint blush coloured his cheeks as you pouted, calling out again.

“Please!” You pleaded, “...Do it for Cher!”

Somehow, whatever you did managed to convince him and he said whispered something to Nicholas before slipping his phone in his pocket and began walking over to you. As he approached, you noticed how good he looked tonight, even in a simple pair of black joggers and a matching t-shirt. Maybe it was his hair, he’d clearly styled it differently tonight. It was growing out again, and you couldn’t help but hope he’d let it keep growing.

“No matter how hard I try… You keep pushing me aside and I can’t break through! There’s no talking to you…” You bobbed along to the music as you sang, a wide grin on your face as Noah picked up the other microphone.

“It’s so sad that you’re leaving,” he joined in, “It takes time to believe it, but after all is said and done, you’re gonna be the lonely one.”

“Do you believe in life after love.”

“I can feel something inside me say…”

“I really don’t think you’re strong enough!”

“Do you believe in life after love!”

Noah knew the song so much better than you, which didn’t surprise you at all. You thought back to the night by his pool when he told you about his love for Cher, explaining how a fan had gifted him the Cher shirt he wore all the time.

“I don’t need you anymore!” Noah sang, trying not to laugh.

“No, I don’t need you anymore!” You matched his energy, grinning.

After the song ended, you both bowed dramatically to the small handful of people in the bar who were enjoying the show you were putting on. You couldn’t help but smile contently as Noah threw his arm around your shoulder, walking back to the guys. You noticed Folio raised an eyebrow.

“Who knew you could sing like that?” Noah chuckled, taking a sip of his drink as you both sat down opposite the pool table, it was currently Ruffilo's turn.

“Yeah well compared to you-”

“Well, if you two are gonna keep flirting, me and Bryan want to see if they have 'don't stop believing'.” Folio announced with a grin.

“We're not-”

“It’s okay,” Noah patted your knee, “He’s not wrong is he.” He smirked, and you hid your smile as you took a sip of your drink, finishing yet another margarita.

"So, y/n," Bryan cleared his throat, "How was your weekend?"

"Why does everyone keep asking?" The words left your mouth quicker than you intended, sharper than you meant for them to be. "It was fine."

"Did something happen?" Jolly asked after a moment of silence, concern in his eyes as he noticed how the question clearly pissed you off.

It only pissed you off because it reminded you of him.

"Oh, no not at all!" You shake your head, "It was fun, I just, uh, everyone keeps asking me but I was just there to take pictures. I was working." You said, almost trying to convince yourself.

"What do you think about Vin?" Bryan asked, "I didn't realise you guys were even friends."

It was as if the guys all shared one single braincell between them.

"That's because I wasn't there as his friend, Bry," You were so thankful the only two of the guys who knew about your situation with Vinny weren't here at this moment, "I think he's a great guy, we're good friends but his parents specifically asked if I could come because they wanted a photographer."

"But, wait isn't his sister a-"

“Oh my God they’re really doing it,” Nicholas laughed, pointing over at Nick and Matt, “And they’ve only had one beer!”

“Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world! She took the midnight train going anywhere!” Folio sang and you tried to contain your laughter, he looked so happy to be up there, bless him.

“Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit… He took the midnight train going anywhere!” Matt sang, nodding his head as he read the lyrics off the screen.

You couldn’t help but crack up at Nick’s air guitaring, followed by the way Matt looked so passionately at him as they sang together.

However, your attention was drawn back as Noah’s phone started to ring. But, to your surprised, he took one look at the contact which happened to be ‘Toby (Sumerian)’ and he didn't hesitate as he flipped his phone over.

“Weren’t you supposed to answer that?” You asked, and he thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“No, not tonight,” he sneakily wrapped an arm around you as you felt his hand rest on your waist, “I’m here having a night off with my friends, with you.”

He kissed your forehead, and suddenly your cheeks were hot, a rush of warmth spread through you. It had been so long since you’d felt like this with Noah, so long since the Noah you’d fallen for had shown up. But tonight, it was like he had come back.

You noticed Nicholas giving you two the side eye, his lips curling up into a teasing smirk, but you chose to ignore this.

As Nick and Matt finished their song, you had an idea that you knew the guys would hate you for, but one which would be quite funny. You would need to sneak away from them- maybe pretend to go the bathroom. You wouldn't do it yet, you'd wait a little while first, maybe have a couple more drinks first.

"Wow," was all you could say as Matt and Folio returned, "We need your guys' vocals on the next album!"

"I've been saying that for years, y/n. They just won't listen." Folio sighed dramatically, "Anyone want another drink?"

"Please." You smiled, the rest of the guys shook their heads in response, their glasses still full.

You checked your phone again, still no text from Vinny. You wondered if you should text first, but held yourself back.

"So," you put your phone back down and look up at Noah, "What did you get up to whilst I was gone?"

"Not much..." He thinks for a moment, and you noticed he gave Bryan a look before saying, "Me and Matt went to the gym... Uh, yeah that's pretty much it."

You watched as Nick returned with drinks for him and yourself, placing yours down on the table before he sat down with his.

"Well, I went fishing and caught a..." Folio lost you as he began explaining the fish he caught, how he had never caught one of them before and how rare it is. You just smile and nodded your head, it was quite wholesome to hear him talk so passionately about his hobby.

"That's so cool!" You smiled, despite not understanding a word he said.

The guys all talked, and you occasionally joined in, but as you finished your drink you thought now would be the perfect time to execute your plan.

"I need to pee." You said to Noah, "Can you look after my stuff?"

"Of course." He smiled, and you got up from your seat and headed to the bathroom.

However, as you returned, instead of going back to the group, you made a beeline to the karaoke stage. A couple of young girls were belting out a song when you approached, and you patiently waited and cheered for them as they finished. As you searched for the next song, you could feel the anticipation building inside you, this was your moment.

You were almost certain they wouldn't have this song, and you were right, but you knew all the words so all you needed was the backing track and you were good to go.

As the music began to play out of the speaker, you felt the familiar rush of adrenaline mix with the alcohol in your veins, making you giddy with excitement. Your smile was wide, and you couldn’t suppress it as you picked up the mic. You glanced over at the guys, who had no idea what was coming. They were all busy talking, unaware that you were about to take them by surprise.

“I’m not afraid of the war I’ve come to wage against my sins…”

Their reactions were priceless. You couldn't contain your laughter as you saw the pure terror on Noah’s face, the way Folio's smile quickly faded, Ruffilo's eyes widening in fear and the way Matt, Bryan and Jolly all burst out laughing.

“I’m not okay… But I can try my best to just pretend, so will you wait me out? Or will you drown me out… So will you wait me out…" You began to really feel the music, bouncing up and down as you sang, "Or will you drown me out?! I can wait for you at the bottom! I can stay away if you want me- Noah what are you doing?” You giggle as he takes the microphone from you, cutting the music and beginning to lead you away from the stage.

“You’re drunk,” he chuckled, “C’mon it’s probably time we leave now.”

“But I didn’t thank them!” You pouted as he puts his hoodie that he brought with him over your head, letting you slip your arms in.

“Thank who?”

“My audience.”

“You mean the two old guys eyeing you up?”

“Exactly!” You giggled, feeling Noah’s arm wrap around you as he walked back to the guys.

“I think I’ll get y/n to bed and make sure she has some water. See you tomorrow guys.” He chuckles, collecting your things as you wave to the guys.

The group gave their goodbyes, and Noah led you out of the bar, his arm protectively wrapped around you as you stumbled slightly, leaning into him for support. The cool night air hit your face, and you smiled up at Noah, feeling an odd sense of calm settle over you.

“I’ve had a lot of fun tonight, Noah.” You tell him, holding onto his arm as you walk together.

“Yeah? Me too, I’ve actually been able to switch off from work for the night, and I don’t think I’ve done karaoke in about 10 years!”

“You do karaoke every other night on tour!” You laugh, “Have I ever told you how much I love your voice?”

“Uh…” Noah thinks, “No I don’t think so.”

“I fucking love your voice...” Your words slur as you mumble, “You’re unreal!”

“Well, thank you,” he grinned, clearly entertained by your drunken honesty. “And your rendition of Cher? It was... unique.”

“Hey we could be Sonny and Cher for halloween!”

“Really? I’d rather not spend my birthday with a moustache.”

“You’d look hot with a moustache!” You blurted out, without any hesitation.

“I’ll have to disagree with you there, angel.” He laughed.

“Yeah me too.... you always look fucking hot.”

Noah couldn’t help but chuckle at how open you were being right now, but they do say drunk words are sober thoughts.

“And you always look beautiful.”

Your steps faltered for a moment, and you suddenly stopped walking, catching his gaze under the streetlight. His words seemed to hang in the air between you.

“Really?”

“Why would I lie?” He says, “Y'know, you always look best in the morning when we have to rush you out of your room on to the bus, , the messy hair, old stained pjs, grandma slippers-”

“Bastard!” You smack his chest, “I value my comfort over anything, thank you.”

“And that's what I love about you y/n… You just don’t care. You’re real, and that’s something that’s so rare to come by these days. That's part of the reason why I gave up on dating," He confesses, "But then you came along again, I've always wanted to get to know you better since the time we first met, it was my idea for you to join us on this tour-”

“Really?” You ask once more, feeling a lump in the back of your throat at his words, “Noah I-”

“I wasn’t finished,” he chuckles, pressing a finger to your lips to silence you, “I was worried whilst you were away with Vin this weekend-”

“Fuck Vinny!” You spat out, the anger suddenly flaring up in your chest. But he shook his head, cutting you off.

“My point is,” he said, taking a deep breath, “I don’t want to hide anymore. If you think we have something real, I think we should give it a shot... I know I shouldn’t be telling you this now, because you’ll probably forget everything by the morning, but I can’t keep pretending like this. I don’t know how much longer I can go without you, y/n. I feel terrible about the way I’ve been acting lately. I never realise how much I hurt people until it’s too late, and you’re the last person I ever want to hurt.”

You were stunned, unable to find the words to respond. His sincerity hit you like a wave, and for a moment, the world around you seemed to disappear.

You suddenly reached up, pulling him down to your level, pressing your lips to his. The kiss was unexpected, but it felt right, and for a few seconds, the chaos of everything else faded away.

When you pulled away, your breath coming in shallow gasps, you suddenly turned, feeling a wave of nausea hit you.

“Y/n are you okay?” He asked, rubbing his hand on your back as you bent over.

“No… I think I’m gonna be sick…” You whispered, feeling his hands move to hold your hair back.

“Think you can wait until we get back to the hotel?” He asks softly.

“Maybe…” You breathe in and out slowly, “Just don’t make me walk too fast.”

That’s okay,” he chuckled, his arm steadying you. “Let’s go and get you to bed.”

"Yeah..."

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

“C’mon,” Noah says as he pushes your door open, “Let’s get you ready for bed.”

“I’m so tired.” You mumble, sitting on the edge of your bed, barely able to keep your eyes open.

“I know, baby,” he murmurs, crouching down in front of you with a soft pout. He carefully slips your shoes off, his touch surprisingly tender. “But trust me, you’ll feel so much better in the morning if you let me take care of you tonight.”

“Okay…” You sigh, trying to keep your eyes open as he searches your room for your pyjamas.

“Can you dress yourself?” He asked, setting the tshirt and shorts down next to you on your bed.

“Can you help me?” You asked, picking the shirt up to find it’s inside out.

Noah smiles gently.

“Of course,” he says, taking the shirt from your hand and flipping it the right way around before helping you out of your clothes. His hands are steady and he remains respectful as he slips his fingers under the hem of your shirt, lifting it carefully. There’s a quiet intensity to the way he helps you, his gaze never straying from your face as he helps you step out of your jeans.

You don’t mind the intimacy of the moment. It felt strangely comforting.

When you’re in nothing but your underwear, he picks up the band t-shirt you’ve stolen from Bryan all those years ago. He pulls it over your head with a soft chuckle as you mutter nonsense.

Once you were dressed, he led you to the bathroom to wash your face and brush your teeth. You couldn’t help but giggle as he sat you on the toilet and tied your back, pumping some of your cleanser onto his hands and carefully massaging it into your face.

“Since when were you into skincare?” You smiled.

“...How’d you know?” He questions.

“You knew what the cleanser was for.” He chuckles as he runs a cloth under warm water and begins wiping it off your face.

“Maybe I like to take care of my skin too.”

“I love your skin.” You mumble, getting up and reaching for your toothbrush.

As you got into your bed, Noah grabbed a bottle of water from the mini bar and handed it to you, telling you to have at least three sips before going to sleep.

“Thank you, Noah.” You smile as you pulled the covers over you, getting comfy as you let your eyes shut.

“For what?” He chuckled, fixing a strand of hair that had fallen over your eyes.

“Tonight… It’s been fun…" You mumble as your eyes fall shut, "Even if you did have to look after me…”

“It’s not like I haven’t done it before, angel.” He smiled, noticing how peaceful you looked as you fell asleep, “Sweet dreams.”

As he moved to get up from his place beside you on your bed, he heard your phone vibrate from it’s place on the nightstand. He knew he shouldn’t, but he looked over anyway in case it was something important, but he furrowed his eyebrows as he looked and saw it was a text.

From Vinny?

-------------------------

@rumoured-whispers @collisionofyourkissmakesitsohard @lma1986 @thisbicc @dominuslunae @miss570 @miamore0570 @jilliemiw86 @itsyaboinoah @kait16xo @discocowgirly

#nothing ever after <3 #noah sebastian x reader #vinny mauro x reader #vinny mauro fanfic #noah sebastian fanfic #bad omens fanfic #motionless in white fanfic #vinny mauro #noah sebastian

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