Chapter Thirteen
As soon as Aiden opens the door, his muscular arms enfold me into him. I feel his lips on the top of my head, and I close my eyes as his warm, hard body melts against mine. I smell the wonderful combination of fabric softener, soap, and cologne lingering on his skin.
My pulse burns as his arms tighten around me, as if he can’t hold me close enough. His large hands span across my back, and one moves up to the nape of my neck, cradling me gently.
I feel safe. Cared for. Missed. He’s communicating all these things to me by the way he’s holding me.
I like this place, being in Aiden’s arms like this.
And I think it’s someplace I’d like to stay.
Milo barks, and Aiden chuckles, pulling me inside his apartment and shutting the door behind us. “It looks like I’m not the only one who missed you,” he says. Then he puts his fingertip underneath my chin and tilts my face up toward him. “But he’s going to have to wait because I’ve got to do this.”
Aiden dips his head, his lips capturing mine. The kiss is slow and leisurely, and my hands slide up his hard, muscular chest, coming to rest over his heart. A happy moan escapes my lips as he breaks the kiss.
“I missed you,” he murmurs, dropping a sweet kiss onto my forehead.
Ooh, I’m so falling for this man. HE MISSED ME! And he believes in forehead kisses! And just SWOON.
“I missed you, too,” I say.
Milo barks again. We both look down, and he’s sitting next to me, his tail wagging excitedly as he looks up at me with his big brown eyes.
“Did you miss me, Milo?” I say, bending down to give him a good scratch behind the ears. He responds eagerly and jumps up to give me doggie kisses on my face.
“Milo, no,” Aiden commands.
“No, no, I love puppy kisses,” I say as I continue to pet him.
“Are you hungry?” Aiden asks.
I stand up. “Starving, to be honest.”
Aiden reaches for my hands, then draws me closer and puts them on his chest, his large hand encasing both of mine.
“This might backfire on me, but I wanted to surprise you tonight. So I took the liberty of ordering dinner for you, but if you don’t like what I got, I can get a pizza.
I want you to know I didn’t do this in some kind of chauvinist, ‘I’m going to order for the woman’ way, but just to surprise you. ”
I love two things about what he just said, and both reveal new layers of Aiden to me. One, the fact that he went to extra effort to surprise me is important. That tells me—once again—how thoughtful he is and how it’s important to make me feel special.
But the whole chauvinist comment? He earns a million gold stars for being conscious of that kind of behavior. I tuck these revelations into my heart, where I know I’ll examine them later when I try to go to sleep tonight, but can’t because I’m busy thinking about Aiden.
“You have a surprise for me?”
“Yeah. Come on.”
He leads me into the kitchen and tells me to have a seat at the breakfast bar.
I hop onto a stool, and he opens the fridge, retrieving takeout cartons.
I get excited when I see they are all from one of the poshest Japanese restaurants in Miami.
A squeal escapes my lips, and Aiden’s whole face lights up, as if he’s won the jackpot, merely from the sound of my happiness.
This man is either going to be my forever, or he’s going to ruin me for the rest of my life.
“You know this place?”
I nod eagerly. “Yes. I love it! I’ve only been once, but it was amazing.”
Aiden exhales in relief. “Good. So this is a banger surprise, then.”
“Yes,” I say happily.
“Let me share what I ordered for us.” He sets down a large row of containers, and I begin to laugh.
“I forget what it’s like to eat with hockey players,” I tease. “Jamie and Ethan had my mom going to the grocery store every day, because no matter how many times she stocked the fridge, they plowed through it.”
Aiden sets down the last container and looks at me. “No, this is because I didn’t know what you would like. I wanted to make sure you had something to eat.”
OH MY GOD, I AM FOREVER RUINED IF I DO NOT END UP MARRYING AIDEN.
Then a sheepish smile appears on his gorgeous face. “Not that I won’t eat most of it, though.”
I smile back at him, my heart fluttering again inside my chest from how cute he looks. “So what do we have?” I ask eagerly. “Give me the big reveal!”
He opens the first container. “Blistered shishito peppers.”
“Yum. Love those.”
“Thank God,” he teases. “Next, let’s see what this is.” Aiden picks up the box and looks at the writing on the side. “Ah. Let me do the reveal so I don’t spoil the surprise.”
UGH, he is too cute!
He sets it down and opens it. “This is a spicy tuna roll.”
“That’s fantastic, I’ve ordered that before,” I tell him. “You’ve scored two goals, now let’s see if you can get a hat trick.”
Aiden chuckles. “Well, this one is a no-brainer, so I’ve got the hat trick unfairly,” he says, opening the next container. “Wagyu steak with a miso glaze. I knew you would at least like this.”
“It’s still a hat trick,” I say.
He continues to show me what he’s ordered, from grilled black cod to tempura vegetables. I eagerly fill my plate with a bit of everything, and Aiden does the same, just with twice the amount of cod and steak, and we take turns heating up the food in the microwave. Finally, we’re ready to eat.
“You have a bit of a break before you travel again,” I say, using my chopsticks to pick up a piece of steak. “What are you going to do, besides practice?”
Aiden’s eyes dance mischievously at me. “You can’t get your dad to call those off, can you? I’d really like a day to just nap.”
“Let me think on that. No.”
“I’m only joking. Practice is part of the job,” he says easily. “But I don’t fly out again until Saturday, then we’re on the road until Thanksgiving. And why am I telling you this? You know the schedule.”
We both fall silent for a moment, as this turn in the conversation has brought us back to the reality we’ve both excelled at ignoring.
I’m Scarlett Rivershon. The coach’s daughter.
And if we keep seeing each other—as we’re both committed to doing—this will have to be addressed at some point.
Not tonight, I tell myself firmly.
Am I falling for Aiden? Yes.
But we’re still so new. It’s so early. There’s no sense rushing to tell my dad and causing a huge blowout until we get to the point where we know it’s incredibly serious.
“I’d like to see you before I have to fly out again, if it works with your schedule,” Aiden says, and relief fills me as we both ignore the reality that popped up between us.
“I’m really slow at work,” I say. “We do have our office potluck, which completely creeps me out.”
“Potluck creeps you out? Tell me more,” he says, eating some of his cod.
“I’m adventurous in eating, but potluck is a whole new level,” I explain. “You don’t know the cleanliness of the person who made it. If their counters were clean. Food stored at the right temperature. It’s just … gross. Ew, I hate them!”
He begins to laugh. “So what do you eat when you have to go to one?”
“Anything that looks like it came from a restaurant or bakery. Safer.”
“So what do you bring?”
I begin to chuckle.
“What, I’m serious. I want to know,” he says.
“We’re actually talking about potlucks.”
“And?”
“We’re in our twenties, Aiden. This is not normal.”
“Are we supposed to be playing cup pong? We’re past college,” he says, smiling at me.
“No, I didn’t even enjoy cup pong when it was my cup-pong era,” I admit.
He laughs. “Your cup-pong era.”
“I know, I just never liked to be sloppy drunk,” I say. “Besides, someone had to make sure everyone got back to the dorm or apartment safely.”
“So you were like the crossing guard?”
I snort laugh. “Crossing guard? What?”
He begins to blush. “That wasn’t the right phrase.”
My God, he’s so cute when he blushes.
“Well, I’m picturing myself walking them across every intersection on campus with a stop sign and a safety vest on—that would have been funny.”
“I think chaperone was the word I meant,” Aiden counters.
“I was that.”
“I felt like I was that for Wyatt. Making sure he stayed out of trouble.” He pauses for a moment. “Nope. That’s a lie. I made sure his trouble was never uncovered.”
“Did that bother you? Being the serious one?”
“Nah. I didn’t mind having a few beers, but I was never one to get drunk or party hard. Not my DNA.”
“Well, that was good for Wyatt,” I tease.
“For sure.”
“And it would have been good for me.”
He looks at me, his brow furrowed. “How so?”
“If we would have met in college—and you weren’t dating Madison, I mean—we would have been perfect together.”
I wait to see how he takes this statement. I know he loved Madison. He didn’t want it to end. He might be with her today if she had been able to handle the distance between them.
To my surprise, Aiden slides his hand underneath my hair, to the nape of my neck, his fingers tangling sensually in it and sending shivers down my spine.
“You know what?”
I remind myself to breathe. “What?”
“You’re right.”
Goose bumps sweep over my skin.
“That’s why I can sit here and talk to you about anything. I don’t care if we aren’t hammering drinks or dancing at clubs. Because that’s not who I am. It’s not who you are. More to the point? I like who I am with you.”
Grateful. I feel so grateful right now that not only did fate bring us together, but we were both brave enough not to fight the attraction between us.
Because there’s no way this could be wrong.
“Even if I’m talking about potlucks?” I ask playfully.
“Especially if you’re talking about potlucks. There’s nothing hotter than a woman telling me her potluck phobias.”
I burst out laughing at that, and Aiden does, too.
“Scarlett?”
“Yeah?”
“Is it weird that we’re in the middle of dinner, but all I can think about is pinning you down on that sofa and kissing you?”
Heat sears through me. “Who says you can’t? Except that I probably taste like miso glaze.”
Nice, Scarlett. You’re really bringing your A game tonight by talking about potluck dinners and tasting like miso glaze when Aiden wants to ravish you.
Aiden draws my face closer to his. “Good thing I’m obsessed with miso.”
Then his mouth takes mine, his tongue demanding access, which I give him.
The kiss is hot and seeking, his tongue tangling with mine.
Aiden’s hand is in my hair, lightly tugging on it so my head tilts back.
Then his mouth is on my neck, kissing and nipping with his teeth as he works his way down to my collarbone.
“Aiden,” I gasp.
He groans into my skin in response. Aiden moves off the stool, then stands before me, nudging my legs apart.
I open for him, and now he’s got both hands sinking into my hair, his body hard and tight and pushing up against mine, and the kiss is off the charts steamy.
It’s becoming urgent. His mouth is back on mine, then back to my neck, and then his tongue flicks over the hollow of my throat, tasting me.
I grow tighter inside, throbbing with need. I hook my legs around him, trying to draw him closer. A primal growl escapes his throat as he kisses me, and I swallow it as I try to press closer to him.
I’ve never made out on a barstool before, but this is freaking hot. Aiden’s hand slides underneath my shirt, his large, rough hand skimming over my rib cage, and I shiver in response to the contact.
“Can I take off your shirt, baby?” Aiden whispers against my mouth.
Consent.
It’s the sexiest thing that’s ever happened to me.
“Please,” I whisper.
“Good girl.”
OH MY GOD, I AM LIVNG SO MANY FANTASIES RIGHT NOW, IT IS DOWNRIGHT STUPID.
He lowers his hands to my T-shirt, grasping the hem, and yanks it upward. I put my hands up and help him pull it off, and now I’m simply dressed in a lacy black demi-cup bra and jeans.
Aiden’s hands skim over my breasts, and a shudder runs through him as he touches me. I link my hands around the back of his neck, my back arching, enjoying not only his touch, but knowing how much he’s getting pleasure from my body, too.
“You’re perfect,” he breathes, dipping his head to kiss my neck again. “I can’t wait to taste you.”
I’m about to beg him to do just that when suddenly his door beeps and Milo begins barking. I freeze, and so does Aiden, but the door pops open before we can do anything else.
“Bro, I’ve got—”
I shriek, and Aiden whips around and moves in front of me, trying to cover my nearly naked body with his.
But it’s too late. Wyatt Wentworth is standing in the doorway.
And our secret is out.