Chapter Nineteen
I’m going on a mission today.
I pull into the parking lot for the Miami Manatees headquarters. It’s Saturday morning before practice, and I’m going to take some pictures. I haven’t been able to do practice pictures for a while now due to soccer season, but with it being Saturday, I can do it.
I’m also surprising Aiden, too.
I turn off my engine and gather up my purse and camera bag.
I left his apartment early this morning, telling him I wasn’t sure how I was going to spend my day just yet.
We’re going to have dinner tonight, but we have no plans until then.
I thought it would be fun to see his reaction when he spots me up against the glass taking pictures.
A cold front moved into Miami overnight—temperatures are in the forties this morning.
Where did that come from? I had to dig out my faux-fur vest this morning.
It’s a soft pink color, and I rarely get to wear it here in Miami because it stays so warm.
I slipped it over a long-sleeved black shirt and, on a whim, tied a leopard-print scarf around my neck.
I think I look rather chic today, and I hope Aiden will notice.
Not that I want to distract him during practice.
Okay, maybe I do.
Just once or twice, I think wickedly.
I spot some players pulling into the lot, but so far, no Aiden.
I retrieve my hot matcha and my bags, get out of my car, and head toward the building.
It’s the corporate offices and training facility all rolled into one big complex.
I step onto the sidewalk, walking underneath the massive row of palms and smaller trees lining the pavement.
I take a sip of my drink, hoping it will warm me up.
It’s amazing. I’ve lived in Miami for less than a year, but I’ve definitely adapted to the warmer climate and fe—
Whack!
Something rock-hard and cold hits the corner of my head, and for a moment my vision is blurred by a green object as I fall to the ground, my matcha flying out of my hand along with my bags.
I scream as I fall, panic and pain gripping me in unison.
Is someone attacking me? Have I been punched? Hit with a rock?
Then I look in front of me on the sidewalk. Wait, I think, studying it. Is that a lizard?
I process what I’m looking at. And a dead iguana is staring back at me.
“ACK!” I scream. “Oh my God!” I have been hit by a falling iguana.
Wham!
Another one falls next to me, narrowly missing my hand, and I screech some more as the crap is scared out of me again. I snatch my hand back and stare at the lizard. It’s a huge one—he looks to be about twenty-five pounds—and they both look DEAD DEAD DEADER THAN DEAD. I’m completely grossed out.
Why are dead iguanas falling from the sky? What the hell is happening?
“Scarlett!”
I turn and see Aiden running across the parking lot, a look of panic on his face, followed by Wyatt.
Now in addition to having a headache, I’m mortified. Who on earth gets hit by a falling dead iguana?
Apparently, me.
I put my hand to my head. I can already feel a lump forming, and there’s some blood, too. This is beyond embarrassing.
“Scarlett! What happened?” Aiden asks, immediately dropping down next to me. His gray eyes flash with concern as he stares at my forehead. “Christ, you’re bleeding. How bad does your head hurt?”
“I got hit by the little iguana,” I say, wincing. “My head is pounding.”
“What?” Aiden asks in confusion.
“I think you’d be knocked out if you got hit by that one,” Wyatt interjects, staring at the one that is the size of a sandbag.
Aiden blinks, as if he wasn’t even aware of the dead iguanas around me. He surveys the scene around me, and then a look of shock passes over his face. “Falling iguanas.”
“I got hit by the smaller one.” Embarrassment surges through me. This has to be a Scarlett-only experience. Getting whacked in the head by a frozen dead iguana. “I have a headache, and I feel a knot, so the iguana must have hit me there,” I muse.
Again, mortifying. My boyfriend is helping me after I got hit in the head by a frozen dead iguana. I couldn’t make this up if I tried.
“You need to have Jones look at you,” Aiden says, gently brushing his fingertips against the lump on my head. “You’re bleeding and swelling.”
“No, I’ll be fine,” I reassure him. I don’t want to see the team doctor.
“No, you might have a concussion,” Aiden says, his voice firm. “I won’t let you go unchecked, Scarlett.”
Despite the goose egg that is developing on my forehead and the grade-A headache I have, I love how caring and protective Aiden is being right now.
“They’re hard as a rock when they go into this state,” Wyatt says, staring down at the iguanas. “I’ve never seen anyone get hit by one, though.”
My head is throbbing, and I try to shake the cobwebs out, but Wyatt isn’t making sense to me. “State? They’re dead. And why are dead iguanas falling on me?”
“Baby, they’re not dead,” Aiden says, brushing my hair back from my face. “They’re frozen. This is the first time I’ve seen it happen in real life.”
I stare at him. “Aiden, no. They’re dead. Look at them! Their eyeballs aren’t even moving!”
“No,” Wyatt says. “They go into shock when it gets cold. They’re paralyzed, but they’ll recover. Don’t touch them.”
“Wait … I was hit by a paralyzed iguana?”
“Apparently so,” Aiden says, absently stroking my hair. He looks at me with confusion. “What are you doing here? You didn’t tell me this morning you were coming to practice.”
“Surprising you, but not in the way I had planned,” I say, a wry smile forming on my lips. “I was coming to take pictures. And secretly watch you.”
Suddenly there’s the sound of a car approaching. I look over and see it’s my dad. He puts the car in park and jumps out, his face full of shock and concern. “Scarlett? What is going on here?” he barks.
Aiden rips his hand way from my head. I look at my dad, who is such an intimidating figure. He’s in shape, a former star player, and his dark hair has more gray than black in it now. Dad also has the same eyes as me.
And now those piercing blue eyes are lasered in on the scene in front of him.
“Scarlett got hit in the head by an iguana,” Wyatt says, jumping in with an explanation.
Dad’s eyes scan the field of debris around me: two frozen iguanas, matcha that has exploded all over the sidewalk, and the contents of my purse are scattered around me. He moves closer, bending down next to me to see what has happened. To my surprise, however, Aiden doesn’t move.
“Coach, I was looking at her forehead,” he explains. “I think she should see Jones.”
Dad nods as he puts his hand on my shoulder. “I think you should, sweetie. You might have a concussion.”
“I think I was clipped by just part of the iguana,” I explain. “It didn’t land on the top of my head.”
The sentence is so absurd, I burst out laughing.
Which also makes my head hurt, and I wince.
“You’ve got to get used to Miami winters,” Dad says, running his fingertips gently over my bump. “There was a falling-iguana warning on the weather last night.”
I blush. Am I the only person living here who didn’t know to look out for falling iguanas?
Apparently so.
“Here, let me help you get your things,” Aiden says, reaching for my wallet.
“No, no, I’ll get it,” I say.
Wyatt bends down. “No, we’ve got it.”
Dad stands up and extends his hand to me, helping me up as Aiden and Wyatt gather my things and hand them back to me.
“Thank you,” I say, taking my tote and purse. “And thank you for checking me over.”
A flush begins to climb up Aiden’s neck. “Of course.”
“We heard your scream and saw you on the ground. We thought you fell,” Wyatt adds. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Well, I’m glad both of you were here,” Dad says. “Thank you both for taking care of my girl. Scarlett, get in my car. I’ll take you to see Jones.”
I meekly get into his SUV, and as soon as he’s in the driver’s side, he moves the vehicle to his reserved parking spot right near the entrance to the building.
“I couldn’t believe it when I drove up,” Dad says. “I saw you sitting on the sidewalk, I did a double take. Then I noticed Aiden next to you and Wyatt standing over you. I’m glad they were there.”
“I am, too. I was coming to shoot some pictures for fun today,” I explain. “I didn’t intend to get an injury from an iguana landing on me.”
He chuckles at that. “It’s a first for me. Of all the things I’ve worried about for you, getting hit in the head by an iguana was never one of them.”
“Dad, you don’t have to worry about me at all.”
He gives me a side-eye as he turns off the engine. “Scarlett, I will always worry about you. You’re my little girl, no matter what the candles on your birthday cake say.”
“Dad, outside of the falling iguanas, look at me. I’ve got my own place and a professional job.”
“Yeah, I know. But I’m always going to worry about you.”
My stomach slides a little bit. If he were going to go through a list of things that would worry him, I’m sure dating a hockey player would be in the top ten.
Growing up, he always warned me to stay away from the players.
I know my brothers carried out that idea by always telling their teammates to stay away from me.
I’m going to have to prove to him I don’t need to be saved from Aiden, or even by Aiden.
I have to prove to him I’m strong, intelligent, and when I made the decision to date Aiden, it was the right one. I’m in control of my life, I’m taking care of myself, and when I decided to date Aiden, it was because he added something to it I wanted.
Of course, it would be helpful to prove this point by knowing to look for falling iguanas when the weather gets cold and not being taken out by one, but Rome wasn’t built in a day, either.
“Come on, let’s go see Jones,” Dad says, getting out of the car.
I gather my things and follow him inside the building.
And grow even more determined to prove to my dad I can take care of myself.
* * *
I wait for Aiden after practice. I got a few small stitches put in my head, was given an ice pack, and Jones—Dr. Patricia Jones, team physician—told me I didn’t show signs of a concussion, but gave me things to watch out for.
It’s an unnecessary list, as I’m well-versed in concussion protocol thanks to my dad and brothers.
I always made sure Ethan and Jamie followed it when they had head injuries, despite their protests over being taken off the ice.
I was determined to take pictures today, and by some miracle, my camera came through the incident unscathed, so I did exactly that this morning. I got some great ones of Aiden, so it was well worth fighting through my headache to be able to take them.
But apparently my iguana incident was the talk of practice, and as the players come off the ice, I’m asked about it repeatedly.
Mortifying is definitely my word of the day. Now I’m a legend with the team for getting hit in the head by a shocked iguana.
Fabulous.
Finally, Wyatt, Beckham, and Aiden are the last to leave the ice, and they all stop to talk to me. Aiden’s gaze immediately shifts to my forehead, and I’m sure my lump is a glorious shade of purple by now. He winces when he looks at me.
“You really took a hit,” he says softly, gripping his hand harder on his stick.
I suck in a breath. He’s gripping his stick harder because he’s fighting the urge to touch me.
Maybe getting hit in the head by a falling iguana has some perks after all.
“I’m just glad the second iguana didn’t hit me. I think he could have knocked me out,” I joke.
“For the record? I hadn’t heard of this either,” Beckham says. “I’m going to have to give Georgie a hard time for not preparing me.”
“Look at you, casually dropping in the name of your girlfriend whenever you get a chance,” Wyatt teases. “You’re down bad.”
“As you will be when you finally get a girl,” Beckham retorts.
Wyatt snorts. “Not happening.”
“Oh, we’ll see about that,” Beckham challenges.
“Oh! Speaking of Georgie, I’m going to take some pictures for her Etsy shop and website,” I say.
“She’s very excited about that,” Beckham says, leaning on his stick.
“I am, too.”
Beckham chats a bit more, then leaves to go in the dressing room. Wyatt waits until he’s fully out of sight before speaking. “Need me to linger and be your cover?” he asks his voice low.
“No, Aiden helped me this morning. If anyone sees us talking for a minute it will be fine,” I reassure him.
He nods his head. “Okay.” Then he looks over at Aiden. “Don’t be too long and don’t be obvious.”
Aiden scowls, and I bite back a smile. “Like I would do that,” he says, his voice laced with irritation.
Wyatt raises his eyebrows. “You can’t help it. It’s on your face right now.”
The familiar flush grows up Aiden’s neck, and Wyatt laughs.
As soon as he leaves, Aiden turns back to me, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips.
“It’s freaking hard not to be obvious around you.
I was so worried this morning. When I saw you on the sidewalk, I didn’t know if you had fallen, or worse, if someone had attacked you—”
“But it was just an iguana,” I interrupt. “And I’m fine.”
His eyes meet mine, and I know he’s telling me the depth of his feelings with no words. “I’m taking care of you tonight,” he says, lowering his voice so only I can hear him.
“I don’t need you to, but I’ll let you,” I say, smiling at him.
He grins, and as soon as the dimple appears, I’m done for.
“See you, Scarlett,” he says.
“Bye,” I say casually.
I make my way out of the practice area and push open the doors to the parking lot.
I decide I’m not going to go for a hat trick of falling iguanas and avoid the sidewalk, opting to walk through the lot instead.
Just as I’m slipping behind the wheel to my car, my phone dings with a text notification.
I retrieve it from my bag and see I have a text from Aiden:
I’m so glad you’re okay. You have no idea how panicked I was when I realized you were the woman who was screaming. If people knew about us, I would have escorted you inside, taken you to Jones myself, and made sure you were okay rather than leaving you with your dad.
I type back:
I know you would have, Aiden. The look in your eyes told me everything I would ever need to know.
Brooks is typing …
I still hate it.
Another message drops in:
But I’ll make up for it tonight, I promise. Not because you need me to, but because I WANT to.
I put my phone into the cup holder, and a happy sigh escapes my lips. I might have been hit by a frozen iguana, become infamous at the Miami Manatees training complex, and have a goose egg on my head, but I feel so cared for and adored.
Treasured.
It makes getting hit in the head with a falling iguana okay.
And I can’t wait to be spoiled by Aiden tonight.