Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
MORGAN
AJ looks back and forth between Aidan and me where we sit next to each other, across the kitchen table from her. She sweeps her long dark hair behind her shoulders, licks her lower lip, then says, “I didn’t see this coming.”
“Didn’t you?” I ask. I consider how she saw him get up in my face about wearing McCabe’s jersey before the home opener and wait for me on the plane when I got sick. Not to mention how suspicious she seemed when she asked if I was seeing someone.
“No. I thought the two of you were friends. I knew you only lived a couple blocks from each other, so him taking you home when you were sick didn’t register as suspicious . . .” She lets out a huff of laughter and shakes her head. “Seriously?”
Aidan reaches over, taking my hand where it’s resting on my thigh, and lacing our fingers together. “Seriously. And, hopefully, permanently.”
Jesus, this man . . . when he’s in, he’s all in.
It’s been less than two weeks since he sabotaged my date to tell me he loved me. He was away on a road trip for eight days after that, and he already wants to make it official.
We’re in this weird place where we can’t just casually tell our friends about this, because in many cases they’re also our teammates, colleagues, or boss. Lauren, Paige, and Eva already know, and now that we’ve told McCabe and AJ, we’ll be able to let everyone else know, too.
“I called it,” McCabe says gruffly, where he sits on the floor a few feet away playing with his adorable daughter, Abby.
AJ spins in her seat. “You knew about this?”
“I suspected.”
Aidan told me that McCabe encouraged him to talk to my dad, so I think he more than suspected. But that’s between him and AJ.
“And you didn’t say anything?” she asks.
“That’s our agreement,” he reminds her as he takes the squishy ball Abby hands him and tosses it across the room so she can run and get it.
“I don’t say anything that I know, as a player, might impact your opinion of my teammates.
And you don’t say anything about other players that I shouldn’t know, as their teammate. ”
She sighs and says, “Yeah, but Morgan’s my friend.”
“And Renaud is mine,” he says, opening his arms for Abby to run into as she returns with the ball. He scoops her up and plants a loud kiss on the top of her head. “But he’s also one of your players, and she’s also your employee.”
“I’m not an employee,” I remind him. “I’m doing some contract work for the team, which is very different.”
“And not even for much longer,” Aidan adds. Even though my work with the Rebels gave us a lot of excuses to see each other over the past couple months, I think we’ll both be relieved once there’s a clearer separation between our personal and professional lives.
“Didn’t you tell Patrick you’d be open to staying on in a consulting role?” AJ asks me.
“If you want to keep me on retainer for PR situations, I can do that. But once Tatum’s back, I can’t be there part-time. Natalie is the only reason I don’t feel so behind these days, but I need to start devoting more time to my own business.”
AJ nods. “I’m glad that’s working out with Natalie. And we will absolutely keep you on retainer.”
“You may not like my rates,” I tell her.
“Just ask for what you’re worth, Morgan, and we’ll go from there.”
God I love this woman. She could easily try to lowball me to save the team some money, but that’s not her style. No, she’ll go straight to finance or even to Tucker Hartmann to ensure I get paid what I am worth.
“So,” Aidan says, “about this relationship . . . is there anything we need to do? Like do we need to talk to HR or make some sort of official announcement, before we start telling people?”
AJ’s eyes slide to me like she’s making sure I’m on the same page, while also trying to figure out how the hell the always single Aidan Renaud got to this point without her noticing. I give her a small nod.
“I don’t think so. I’ll check with Sarah in HR just to make sure. But I’m pretty sure there’s no reason it would be a problem.”
“Good,” he says. “Let us know.”
“You seem . . . in a hurry,” McCabe observes.
“You saw what I was like for the two weeks without her, right?” Aidan responds before turning back toward me. “Now that I’ve got my girl back, I’m never letting her go.”
“Never, huh?” I say with a chuckle as he leans in and presses a kiss to my forehead.
“Never.”
“Oh my god, you two are sickening,” AJ says with a laugh.
“Right, because you two aren’t all ooey gooey when you’re not at work,” I remind her.
“She’s got you there, Sunshine,” McCabe says, rising and then picking Abby up so he can walk over and press a kiss to the top of AJ’s head. “You two want to stay for dinner? We’re ordering out.”
I glance at Aidan, but he says, “Thanks for the invite, but we have plans.”
“We do?” I ask.
“Yeah, we have to move some more of your stuff into my place,” he says, as if this is something we’ve talked about before. But, given that I haven’t spent a single night at my own place since we got back together, not even while he was away on his road trip, I’m not surprised.
Yes, this is moving fast. But it feels like we’re playing catch-up for the months of telling ourselves this couldn’t be more than friends with benefits, even while it obviously felt like so much more. “And, I think I promised you we could get a Christmas tree once I was back?”
“That’s true, you did say that,” I say, as we stand to say our goodbyes.
Some time, I’d love to join McCabe and AJ for dinner. But right now, I feel the same way I sense that Aidan does: I just want more time together before his next road trip.
Ilook around Aidan’s home in utter shock. I lift my arm, gesturing toward the huge, fully lit and decorated Christmas tree centered on the front windows. “Is that . . .”
He just chuckles. “One of the trees you sent me a picture of? Yeah.”
“That was just to see if you were okay with how I wanted to decorate, not so you’d have it all done for us while we were out.
” Everything, from the tree to the realistic garland draped over and hanging down the side of the mantle, to the stockings, the candle holders, and wooden holiday decorations on the sideboard that runs along the stairs, is straight out of the photos I sent him.
“Are you disappointed that you don’t get to shop for everything and put all the decorations up?” he asks quietly.
“No, it’s gorgeous. I guess I’m just confused. Didn’t we just go pick out a Christmas tree?”
He’d found this adorable city tree lot, with lights strung between brick buildings on either side.
We snapped some photos together while we walked around the lot, and found a tree that was neither as beautiful nor as perfect as the one currently standing in the living room, but we’d picked it out together.
“You said you wanted one for the bedroom too, didn’t you?”
My breath hitches. I made a one-off comment a week ago that I’d always wanted a Christmas tree in my bedroom. “That’s what that one is for?”
“Yeah. And there should be lights and ornaments waiting in the bedroom, but I didn’t have the decorator get as many ornaments because I figured you’d want to pick some out too.
And I thought maybe we could pick a special one out each year?
” His voice waivers slightly as he says it, and I look up at him.
“It’s something my family always did growing up. ”
I stand on my toes so I can press a kiss to his lips. “Where are those ornaments now?”
“In a storage box in my garage.”
“If you want, we could use them on our tree?” I phrase it like a question because I don't want him to feel like he has to, if he’s not comfortable with it.
He gives me a small smile—the kind I’m so often giving him, the kind that says “I feel seen.”
“Yeah, maybe. We can take them out and look through them at some point over the next few days.”
“I hate that you’re leaving again so soon,” I say, “but we can make the most of the time you’re home.”
“By ‘make the most of the time I’m home,’ do you mean decorating for Christmas? Because,” he says, pulling me to him and leaning in, “that’s not exactly the way I want to make the most of our time together.”
My chest shakes with silent laughter. “I’m sure we can decorate first, and then you can have your way with me.”
“What about naked decorating?” he asks.
“Sounds like it would be cold.”
“I’ll keep you warm, baby.”
I roll my eyes and push at his chest but he doesn’t let me go. “You’re out of your mind.”
“Yes, for you.” He presses a kiss to my temple and then says, “Let’s take the tree up to the room and get it set up.
” He walks through the kitchen to the small hallway in the back leading to the door to the garage.
There, he grabs the tree that’s leaning up against the corner where he left it when we came in.
Throwing the six-foot tree over his shoulder, he walks toward the stairs. “C’mon. The sooner we get the tree decorated, the sooner I can get you naked.”
“Way to rush it,” I say, following behind him, but I’m pretty sure I want him as much as he wants me.
Eight days away was hard, and we’re not even halfway through the season.
At least my friends are pretty much all in the same boat, and once I finally tell the rest of them about Aidan and me, we can be a support system for each other while our men are away.
I allow myself a small, private smile as I follow him up the stairs, thinking about how frequently I used to tell myself that I was a strong, independent woman who didn’t need a man to be fulfilled.
And while that’s true, I sure do like having him around, and I sure do like how he makes me feel.
Not complete . . . but supported. Like this is a partnership.
I’ve seen it with so many of my friends, but getting to experience it myself is new.