2. Shane
Chapter two
Shane
Try to steal my girl, I dare you.
I did it, I finally freaking did it!
I kissed her, and it was the most magical moment of my life.
I’ve craved Aubrey Ford since the moment I first saw her at Silas’s wedding. It was like my eyes had opened for the first time, and there stood a beautiful angel in front of me.
I watched her walk down the aisle with such grace before taking her spot with the bridesmaids. I was so captivated by her that I missed Cecilia’s entrance—and every word that was spoken between the bride and groom—because all I could see was her.
I had never seen such an angelic creature with long, ashy-blonde hair and splatters of freckles over her fair skin that dotted her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.
Add in the light-pink puffy lips, a cute, tiny, upturned nose, and big, beautiful round eyes, the palest shade of brown you can imagine.
I had never seen eyes like hers; she looked like a dream, a vision, one I constantly wanted to see, over and over again.
But she was so young at the time, about to turn twenty-one, when I was already thirty-four.
It didn’t make sense for me to approach her.
It didn’t feel fair. And the fact that her older brother, Greyson Ford, is one of my players for the New York Griffins simply didn’t help.
He seemed extremely protective of his little sister and would never let a thirty-four-year-old divorced man date his barely legal sister.
I tried to keep my distance, I tried to forget her, to pretend that what I felt every time I laid eyes on her wasn’t real.
But the more time that passed, the harder it felt, the more impossible it became.
I just couldn’t stay away. I couldn’t stop myself from looking for her in the crowd during games when I should have been paying attention to my players.
Or every time I was invited to special events or celebrations and knew she was going to be there, I was drawn to her, no matter how hard I tried to fight it.
But what made it even harder to stay away was the fact that every time my eyes found her, she was looking right back at me, like she just couldn’t stop herself.
I understood that feeling entirely.
Aubrey is everything I’ve ever wanted; she’s kind and sweet, with a heart that cares deeply. She’s soft and shy, but then she loosens up from time to time—it’s a beautiful transition to see. She has the most sensual laugh and the brightest smile. She’s intoxicating in the very best way.
But I think what really made me fall for her was her uncontrollable blush. When people say they wear their emotions on their sleeves, they’ve never met my Angel. Every emotion she feels shows on her face and body.
She has these different shades of blush depending on what she’s feeling.
Sometimes it’s a light pink that spreads over her cheekbones or a darker pink that fills her cheeks entirely.
Then sometimes it turns more of a red and reaches her neck and ears.
But when it’s extreme, even the tip of her nose turns red.
It makes me wonder if the blush travels lower down her body.
I step into my car with a shiver after the quick walk back and start it up quickly as I blast the heat. I should have convinced her to take the car ride home instead of walking. I’d hate myself if she got sick because of me.
But then again, if we hadn’t walked, we never would have had that conversation, and I may have never walked her to her door and kissed her. Actually no, I still would have done that. My mother would smack me across the head if I didn’t walk a woman back to her door at the end of the day.
Leaning back against the seat as the heat coming from it begins to warm my frozen bones, I look off toward the now dark bakery, going over every word spoken, every glance and soft smile exchanged, every touch.
When Aubrey said she was a virgin, it surprised me for sure.
I was a bit stunned because I couldn’t fathom how such an exquisite beauty wasn’t being propositioned constantly.
But then it all made sense—this is Aubrey. My timid little Angel, who, after almost four years, still didn’t know how attracted I was to her. Men must throw themselves at her everywhere she goes, and she doesn’t even see it.
And then when she told me she had never been kissed, all I wanted to do was grab her hair, angle her head back and a little to the side, and give her something she had never had, something I’ve dreamed of doing for years.
All I craved was to taste those perfect pink lips and have them spread for me, inviting me in to caress my tongue against hers, see how smooth they feel together, discover if her lips and tongue are just as soft as her.
And God, are they ever. I can still feel hers against mine.
I check the time on the dash and curse myself for being out this late.
It’s just past midnight, and I have to get up in a few hours and be at my office by seven.
The team’s practice doesn’t start until ten, but that doesn’t mean I get to sleep in until then.
Coaching isn’t only about bringing my players to their highest potential.
It involves a shitload of paperwork and meetings with the management team as well.
As I drive off toward my house in Yonkers, I reminisce about my time with Aubrey once more, never getting enough of having her invade my mind. A smile lingering on my face as I remember watching her in her element at the bakery. It’s where she belongs, and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot.
Hitting the phone button on the digital screen, I call up my longtime best friend, who answers on the second ring with annoyance lacing his voice. “What do you want?”
“I kissed her.” I get straight to the point. Julian knows how crazy I’ve been about Aubrey from the start.
“And this could not wait until morning?” he asks, clearly irritated.
“Oh, shut up. Don’t act like you were sleeping, I know you, Jules. I could bet my whole fortune that you’re sitting in your home office as we speak.”
Julian Storm and I have been friends for a very long time—we met at boarding school when we were ten. I thought he was a cold, uptight jerk, and he thought I was too friendly and made stupid jokes. We bonded instantly.
Okay, maybe not instantly, but then I met his brothers, Jason, and Jessie, who started inviting me everywhere they went.
So, in the end, Julian and I had no choice but to get along.
And now, almost twenty-eight years later, I can’t see my life without him in it.
He might be hard on the surface, but he’s a true friend who always has my back.
His chuckle resonates through the speakers. “And you get to keep your wealth for another day.” He goes silent for a moment before he speaks up again. “I must admit, I am surprised it took this long for you to give into your urges.”
“You know how she is, rushing her wouldn’t have been the right move.” If I had kissed her from the start, when we first met or on any other occasion, she probably would have freaked out.
“And how did little Miss Ford take this kiss?”
“She kissed me back, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
Although she did freeze up at first, but maybe it was simply because she wasn’t expecting it or she didn’t know what to do.
Which is exactly when I decided to help her out a little, and my plan worked beautifully because after that, she melted into me, clutched my jacket, and pulled me in to deepen the kiss.
I’m not even sure she’s aware that she did that.
“Wonderful. So, when are you seeing her next?”
I frown, realizing I hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I’m not sure. We didn’t exactly make plans.”
“Well, I do still have that date I acquired for the both of you,” he says, his fingers tapping away on a keyboard. This guy is always working.
“That’s true, maybe I could take her out somewhere, but we still have the problem with her brother.” I sigh. Now I’m the one who’s irritated. Why is it that when I finally meet the woman of my dreams, it has to be under complicated circumstances like this?
“Ah, right. The one marrying the redhead.”
I frown. “You know their names, Jules.”
“I do, I simply choose not to use them.”
“You are a cruel human.” I laugh.
“And yet in the past twenty-eight years, I still have not managed to get rid of you.” He chuckles in return.
“And you never will.” I find myself smiling as the gates to my home open, letting me onto the premises.
“Well, if that will be all, I would like to return to my work.”
This guy. No wonder people don’t understand why we’re friends.
“Yeah, that’s it. Thanks for accepting the call.” I park behind the first out of four garage doors.
“As if I had a choice,” he mutters before sighing. “Shane, just date the girl. Her brother will deal with it. It is not about him; it is about you and Aubrey.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Anytime.” He goes silent for a moment, and I’m about to hang up just as he speaks once more. “Oh, and one more thing, Jefferson.”
“Yeah?”
“Call me Jules one more time and I will make you disappear and steal your girl.”
I bark out a laugh as he hangs up.
He’s always hated that nickname, but we use it whenever we can just to get on his nerves.
Julian is someone who’s always in control, so watching him lose his cool over a name is completely worth it.
And every time it ends in the same way, with him threatening to make us disappear.
Although it’s always said as a joke, and the part about my Angel better be too.
AUbrEY
Stepping into my condo, I set my keys and purse down on the kitchen island and head to the fridge for a water bottle. After a kiss like that and the way I’m feeling all wound up, I desperately need to quench this thirst in a different way.
I’m just closing the fridge when the front door to my condo flies open, and in come people I didn’t expect to see this late at night, or today at all, for that matter.