Chapter Twenty
I move to open the door as soon as Aiden raps on it. He winces as soon as he lays eyes on me.
“Baby, I’m so sorry,” he says, taking me into his arms and brushing a kiss into my hair.
Aiden slides his hand protectively to the back of my head and nestles me against his broad chest. I close my eyes, relishing the feel of his soft hoodie against my cheek and the familiar scent of his citrus cologne on his skin.
This feels so good. I love being wrapped up in his arms like this. I feel so cared for. Warm.
Safe.
I’ve never felt like this with anyone else.
“I know, I look horrible,” I murmur into his chest.
Horrible might be putting it nicely. The knot is still there, and it’s starting to turn a lovely shade of purple now.
Aiden drops another sweet kiss on the top of my head. “You’re still beautiful. You just lost a fight with a frozen iguana,” he says, kissing me one more time.
I move back from him, and I see the concern is still present in his eyes when he looks at me.
I love this about him. Aiden’s concern is genuine.
He’s texted me a lot today, asking how I was feeling, if I needed anything, and if I was keeping an ice pack on the knot.
He wanted to see me straight after practice, but Dad called Mom, and I spent most of the afternoon with her.
As soon as she heard about the accident, she insisted that she come over and monitor me for a concussion.
I argued with her, but seeing that she was determined to mother me, I gave up.
I let her come over and bring me lunch, so she could see that, yes, it was just a stupid accident that left me with a goose egg on my forehead and nothing more.
But now? I’m happy to let Aiden take care of me for the night.
“I have my stuff ready,” I say, inclining my head to the overnight bag on the sofa. “Just let me get it.”
“Nope,” Aiden says, moving past me and picking it up. “I’ve got it.”
Such. A. Gentleman.
“Is your camera in here?” he asks.
I furrow my brow. “No. Why?”
“Go get it. I want to see the pictures you took at practice today.”
“Why? They’re practice pictures. And they were taken after I was hit in the head, they’re probably crap.”
“Would you just get your camera?”
My heart flutters. Aiden really wants to see my work, and I never knew that mattered to me until now.
“Okay, let me grab it.” I head into my bedroom and retrieve my camera bag. I stop to say goodbye to my babies, then head back out to the living room.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
We go downstairs to his car, and Aiden opens the door for me first, then places my bag in the back seat.
I slip into the luxurious leather seat and immediately notice there are two drinks in the cup holder.
“What’s this?” I ask as Aiden slides behind the wheel.
“One is a hot peppermint matcha. You didn’t get to drink your matcha this morning, so I didn’t want you to feel cheated. Hot because it’s still chilly out.”
“Aiden?”
“Yeah?” he asks as he backs out of the parking spot.
“You’re not an acquired taste. You’re the kind of man who ruins all other men who come after you.”
“I hope,” Aiden says, his voice low as he keeps his gaze straight ahead, “I’m the kind of guy who makes you not want anyone else.”
Ooh!
My heart leaps excitedly in my chest as those words hit me with all the intensity he wanted them to have when he dared to speak them.
Now it’s my turn to lay a card on the table, revealing some of the thoughts I’m having about him and where I see this going.
“I don’t want anyone else. Your game plan has worked brilliantly.”
Aiden gives me a quick side-eye, as if confirming he heard me right. Then a slow smile spreads across his face, and I feel butterflies dance in my stomach. This is definitely going somewhere good.
And I can’t wait to take every step of the way with Aiden.
* * *
“Aiden?”
“Yeah?”
“You can never break up with me. Because you spoil me in a way no other man can.”
Aiden grins. I’m stretched out on his sofa, my feet in his lap, and he’s been massaging them for at least an hour now. “My evil plot is working,” he jokes.
If he only knew how much. From having matcha waiting for me in the car, to ordering a cozy takeout meal of roasted chicken and mashed potatoes from a farm-to-table restaurant, then watching hockey while being cuddled up on his sofa.
Aiden eventually had me lie down so he could rub my feet, and I’ve never been so pampered.
Ever.
“You’re playing Ethan next week. Will you promise not to wreck his face?” I tease.
Ethan plays for Las Vegas, and they’ll be in town on Wednesday to face the Manatees.
Aiden stops rubbing my foot for a moment. “I never thought about that. I’m going to have to play your brother.”
“Play him like you would anyone else.”
“But he’s not anyone else.”
A look of worry passes over Aiden’s face, and I bite my lip. I can see, once again, the weight of dating me hanging heavily on him.
Will there ever be a point where I won’t be worth this weight?
I shove the thought away. Aiden has proven to me repeatedly that what we are building together is going to be worth the fallout when it happens. He wouldn’t be here with me if he felt differently.
“Ethan is also your head coach’s son.”
“I’ve never crossed this bridge before. Last year, I wasn’t playing for your dad.”
“Dad won’t direct anyone to play Ethan differently,” I tell him. “You know that.”
“Of course. But knowing he’s your brother, and what he would think of me if he knew what I was doing with you… He’d want to throw me into the boards—for starters.”
I sit up, my stomach churning with anxiety. I reach for his hand, and then Aiden levels his gaze at me. “Don’t think this changes anything, because it doesn’t,” he says firmly, lacing my fingers through his. “It’s just hard because I never thought I’d be in this position.”
I try to fight the sick feeling rising within me.
“Scarlett. I mean it.” Aiden squeezes my hand in his. “I know what code of conduct I’m breaking. I would do it a thousand times over to be with you, okay?”
He pulls me up to a sitting position and kisses me, his tongue tangling with mine in a long, lingering kiss. When Aiden breaks it, and I see the way he’s looking at me, my fears fade away.
“Okay. But I want you to know I understand this isn’t easy for you.”
“It’s not. But it doesn’t matter. Not when it comes to you.” Then Aiden smiles at me. “Go get your camera. You’ve avoided me long enough on that.”
Embarrassment rushes through me. Aiden has asked twice now to see my camera, and I’ve put him off twice, but from the look on his face now, he’s not taking no for an answer.
“Okay. But don’t expect anything spectacular,” I warn him. I get up and head back to his bedroom, Milo following behind me, his tail wagging excitedly. “I’m sorry, Milo, just retrieving a camera, not taking you for a walk.”
He still follows behind me, and I stop and ruffle his head affectionately before I get my camera out of my bag.
I bring it back to the living room, taking a seat next to Aiden on the sofa.
I don’t know why I’m nervous about him seeing my hockey photography.
He’s seen my pictures on the Real Miami social media pages.
But hockey is different. It’s my first love, and the game he loves. I don’t want him to look at the pictures and think I didn’t do the sport and the Manatees justice.
“Okay, remember, I was under duress during this session,” I warn him. “I had just been hit in the head with a frozen iguana.”
Aiden rolls his eyes. “Show me already.”
I go to my saved pictures and start at the beginning of practice. Aiden leans into me, his arm brushing against mine, his head bent forward so he can see.
I begin to go through the photos, and as I study them with Aiden, I really do think these are good. Every bit as good as the ones from the freelance photographer for the Manatees, and I’m definitely better than the people taking the pictures on the in-house social media team.
“Scarlett, you’re really good at this,” Aiden says, his voice filled with awe.
My face grows warm from his compliment. “Thank you.”
“No, you capture so much. Like on this one. Look at the way Becks is laughing. He was giving Wyatt a lot of crap during practice and having a good time. You nailed his mood in this one shot. Or this one, with the way ice sprayed up around my skates when I stopped on that sprint. I know there’s more to it than the emotion and action, like lighting and stuff I won’t even try to understand, but you’ve got a gift.
Have you ever thought about doing photography exclusively for a living? ”
“Well, I’m able to do some of that with Real Miami,” I say.
Aiden shakes his head. “But you have to do a million other things for Real Miami—photography is a small part of it. I’m talking about where this is all you do, day in, day out.”
I hesitate for a moment. I’ve never spoken about this dream to anyone. But nobody has looked at me like Aiden has, seeing my talent for hockey photography and asking why.
With a jolt, I realize just how much Aiden sees me. He sees me in a way no previous boyfriend has, or even my friends and family have.
He sees through the layers and knows the heart of me.
I stare at him, his face so open, so trusting. He’s looking at me and seeing everything I’ve kept wrapped up and hidden, even from myself.
And I know Aiden has won another piece of my heart tonight.
“I can’t do anything with hockey,” I say slowly. “Everyone will think I got the job because my last name is Rivershon. It even pops up now and then with Real Miami. That I got the job because my dad is a sports celebrity in this city.”
Aiden’s gaze doesn’t waver from mine, as if he’s absorbing the truth from my words. “But if your last name weren’t Rivershon, would you pursue a position as a team photographer?”
“I’ve never even considered it because I never felt it was an option.”
Aiden is quiet for a moment. I can see in his eyes that he’s thinking it all over.
“I’m tired of rules that hurt good people,” he finally says. “You have a gift for photographing hockey. And if you want to do it, that’s what you should be doing. I know if you were to submit your photos to the Manatees blindly, they’d see they need to hire you.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“Baby, I’m not just saying that. I mean it. You’re freaking talented, and if this is what you want to do, you should be doing it. My last team had a full-time staff photographer. Traveled with us and everything. You could easily do that and help the social media team with pictures, too.
“What I’m saying is,” Aiden continues, “I think you need to find a way to pursue this. Put up these pictures as examples and offer your services. You could use some of your Real Miami pictures, too.”
“You mean as a professional sports photographer?”
“Why not? Or at least start showing them on social media to generate interest.”
I consider this.
“You’re not sure.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Because of stupid unwritten rules,” he says.
I look at him. Aiden reaches for my hand and entwines his fingers with mine again.
“I used to be the same way. Until I met you. I was the alternate captain. I did everything right. Lead by example. Deceiving Coach was never on my bingo card, and if any other player had approached me and asked my advice if they were in my shoes, I would have told them no. Absolutely do not get involved with the coach’s daughter; that’s a hard pass.
“But then I met you.” Aiden lifts our joined hands and presses a soft kiss across the top of my knuckles.
“And you told me how you felt, and it hit me that you were a real person, not just Coach’s daughter.
You were Scarlett. You had feelings and ideas of your own.
I knew it didn’t matter what your last name was.
I had to get to know you, because agreeing to stay away from you was going to kill me. ”
“You’re risking everything for me,” I whisper, my voice growing thick.
“No. I was risking everything that mattered by staying away from you. Because if I had stayed back, you would have found someone else. And that, I couldn’t handle.”
I swallow down the lump in my throat. I’m soaking up everything Aiden is willing to give me, taking it and holding it to my heart.
Taking it and further falling for him.
I suddenly move, taking him by surprise, and straddle his lap. His brows raise as I link my hands around the nape of his neck.
“Whoa, I thought we were just hanging out tonight,” Aiden says. “You took quite a hit on the head.”
“I’m feeling just fine.”
His hands shift to my hips, his thumbs moving across my shiny black leggings.
“Are you sure?”
I lower my mouth to his, drawing his lower lip between my teeth and gently sucking it. Aiden’s breath hitches, and I can feel him grow hard against me.
“I am so sure,” I murmur against his warm mouth. “I couldn’t handle it if you were with anyone else, either, Aiden. You’re the only man I want to do this with.”
Then I kiss him, sinking my hands into his hair, my tongue drinking deeply from his. A groan escapes his throat, and his hand slides up under my shirt. I shiver as his fingertips deliciously explore my body.
“This is all yours,” I whisper to him.
That elicits another primal groan, and I revel in the sound.
“I want you,” he says. He kisses me hard on the mouth, a searing, hot, yearning kiss that leaves me breathless. I feel one of his hands go up, lightly moving my head back so I can stare down at him.
“I want you in so many ways,” he says, his eyes growing soft. “More than physical, Scarlett. More than sex. Do you understand?”
I nod, because I don’t trust myself to answer.
Then he reclaims my mouth again, this time, kissing me slowly and reverently.
Tears prick my eyes. My heart is soaring, and I move one hand to his face to gently stroke his cheek.
Because in his own way, Aiden just told me he’s falling in love with me, too.