Whether or not parties were enjoyable, Y/N hadn't decided quite yet. She enjoyed the rush of taking shots and dancing with her friends, mingling with new people and having a break, but the hangovers and nausea the next morning weren't her biggest joy in life.

Nonetheless, when her friend Cam threw a party, she always showed up. She knew the man from his days in Edmonton as the Oilers goalie. While Y/N was studying a general science degree in university, she used to frequent the same bars that he did. They bumped into one another a couple times and despite their twelve year age difference, they got along rather well.

After they hung out a few times, Cam had invited Y/N into his inner circle. She met some of his hockey teammates that were on the oilers at the time and became a regular face in his life. When he got traded they kept in touch and that lead them to today.

Y/N just finished her science degree and she had zero prospects. Hearing that his friend needed a hand, Cam searched around and talked to some people he knew. He got her a job at one of the hotels he had a partnership with and it went from there. Now Y/N was flying in the Calgary Flames' inner circle instead of the oilers. It almost felt like treason.

The bass echoed behind her head as the woman walked through the house party, there were string lights of all different colours hanging on the ceiling and various tables set up, filled with food and drinks. There were so many options that Y/N knew she could never get bored- even if she made several trips to the tables that night, there was a good chance she could find something new to try. "Y/N! Glad you could make it!" Kelly- Cam's wife- called out, she pushed her way through the crowd and wrapped the younger girl in a hug. They were beyond close and Y/N was thankful for that. When she first moved to calgary, she didn't know anyone- leaving behind her family in edmonton was a big step. Especially since she had never left home before. The first few months of Y/N's life in calgary were tough- she called her brother almost every day, just wanting to hear the familiarity of home in his voice. But as she got busier with work and started going out more, the homesickness began to fade away.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world Kell-" she grinned and wrapped her arms around her friend, pulling away, she looked through the options and grabbed herself a drink. Deciding to go with vodka and soda. "So who's here tonight? I swear everytime you guys throw a party- I recognize less faces." she chuckled softly.

Kelly turned around and looked at the crowd, even she was having a trouble knowing exactly who was in her house. "Hmm well the flames are all here- Johnny, Giordano, Tkachuk-"

Y/N groaned. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the last name. "Keep him away from me." she pointed her glass at Kelly and sighed.

The older woman smirked. "I know you two hate each other, but just you wait- one day you guys are gonna get together." Y/N looked at her as if she was crazy. "Kelly I'm saying this as your friend- I think it's time you slow down tonight, how much did you drink?" she fired back.

Laughter echoed around the pair, "Im serious Babe- you and matthew are perfect for each other. Just give it a chance." she shrugged it off before heading back out to continue her duties as host.

For a while, Y/N hung out by herself she kept to the back corner and scrolled through her phone. She hadn't seen too many of her friends there that night and if she was being honest- now that she knew matthew was there, her party spirit had dwindled.

"You're so lame you know that?" She heard a voice call out to her. Standing before her, head full of curls and devilish smile in all, Matthew Tkachuk. He was a nuisance, a pest, a pain in Y/N's ass and he knew it.

Rolling her eyes, Y/N looked up from her phone, there was irritation crawling along her skin like fire ants whenever Matthew was around. Y/N prided herself on being a patient person- but when it came to Matthew, she had no such thing. If he were to drop off the face of the earth tomorrow, she wouldn't be too upset about it.

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother me Matty? Don't you have some bimbo to go lure into your bed tonight?" she quipped.

Matthew gritted his teeth, he hated being called matty. But as soon as Y/N kept talking he chuckled lowly. "Why do you think I came over here to talk to you sweetheart?" It was a low blow but Y/N pretty much walked into that one. If she didn't hate him so much, she might actually respect him for such a good diss, but unfortunately it was directed at her- which made her blood boil.

"Leave me alone." she pushed herself up from the wall and went to get another drink, if Matthew was going to lurk around her all night she would need something much stronger than a vodka soda.

Even though parties were one of Y/N's favourite past-times, she knew that they came with their special consequences, alcohol was terrible for your body and after a morning of throwing up and feeling like crap, the woman thought it might be a good idea to go work it off at the gym.

Calling up Kelly, she asked Cam's wife if she wanted to meet- they could go to the gym and then grab a late brunch. It was almost like their special tradition, usually they did it the mornings after a serious bender, but last night Matthew really bothered Y/N so she was feeling pretty sucky.

As sweat tripped down Y/N's figure, she felt like she was going to get sick- her body was warm and her workout clothes were sticking to her skin. She never understood why Kelly liked running, and as they set their pace on the treadmills- she was wondering why they couldn't have picked up a different hobby, like swimming or playing tennis- or even just going shopping would be better than this.

"So you wanna tell me why were at the gym when I hardly drank last night?" Kelly puffed out, breathing heavily as she ran, her heart was bumping and her blonde hair was stuck to her forehead looking stringy and soaked.

Rolling her eyes, Y/N looked at her fit watch which showed her heart rate, she pouted slightly and sped up a bit on the equipment. "Because Matthew was being a rather pesky individual last night." she gasped- trying not to pass out. "He called me a bimbo." she growled.

Kelly couldn't help but giggle at that, it was mean but she knew Y/N had probably said something first to provoke matthew. He may have been cocky and a fighter on the ice, but he wasn't one to throw cheap shots at a girl- especially one that was in their friend group.

"Well? Are you a bimbo?" Kelly teased.

Y/N let out a sarcastic 'hah hah' as she pressed the stop function on her treadmill, slowing down, she bent herself over the front to catch her breath- grabbing her towel and padding her face and shoulders off. After gulping down some water she stepped off the machine. "I think we both know that i'm not." she sighed.

"I just don't understand why he gets under my skin." Y/N pouted. It was true, none of the other guys on the team every annoyed her as much as Matthew did. Surely she joked around and poked fun at them and they did the same to her, but she was never genuinely upset with them like she was matthew.

Kelly sighed. "I mean this in the best way possible- but you need to get laid." she walked with Y/N back to the locker rooms. "You haven't been with anyone since what? You ended things with Connor?" she asked softly.

Y/N stiffened at the mention of her ex, they sort of ended mutually, she didn't have any ill wishes towards him and he didn't have any towards her- but she still missed him sometimes. Even if he had already moved on. "I don't need to get laid." She mumbled.

Of course she wanted to get laid, but Y/N wasn't one to just sleep around and have one night stands. The idea of sleeping with someone who she didn't know scared her. There was no telling what kinds of STDs they might have.

"Well you need to talk to someone- get your mind off Connor and find someone new." Kelly suggested. It was decent advice, her younger friend definitely needed a distraction even if it was only temporary.

Y/N sighed. "Like who? I go out almost every night with you and the girls- now one has swept me off my feet yet." she mumbled.

Kelly shrugged. "Get a dating app. Find someone whos looking for something quick and casual, because that's what you need right now- no strings attached."

Blushing bright red, Y/N shook her head. "No way- I don't do dating apps." she was determined to meet someone the old fashioned way.

As the topic switched over to something different, Y/N felt the thoughts still rattling around in her head, maybe it would be good for her to find a distraction, after all- plenty of people her age were doing it, there was no reason why she shouldn't at least try it right?

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly for the pair, they shared a brunch and made plans to meet up again sometime soon.

Once the day had caught up with her, Y/N found herself sitting at home. She was alone on her couch with nothing but a bottle of wine to keep her company. As she mindlessly scrolled through netflix, she felt a warm feeling erupt in her tummy.

There was a hint of desire and mystery capturing her as she grabbed her phone. Opening the app store, she typed hesitantly into the search bar. 'Dating apps'

Scrolling through what felt like a million options, Y/N figured she was out of luck. They all seemed far too cliche and hell-bent on finding her a soulmate. That was until her eyes landed on a particular purple and black square. The app design was of someone whispering into the ear of someone else. It was sultry.

After Dark was the name of the app,it was marketed as an anonymous hook-up service. No strings attached relationships with extremely specific filters.

Biting on her lip, Y/N glanced around her apartment like someone was watching her. She took a deep breath and stared into her phone screen. With a quick tap of his fingers, she downloaded the software.

What could possibly go wrong?