Chapter 14
14
LYLA
“Sooo,” Wren sings next to me. “How was your first major league game?”
I snort, linking our arms together as we walk down the hall towards the locker room. Apparently, most of the player’s families meet them here after games, and even if I weren’t about to go on a date with the incredibly sexy catcher, I would still be welcome because I’ll usually have Crew.
My smile is wide, and any panic I thought I’d feel is suspiciously absent as I recall the way Aidan effortlessly hopped the fence to get to me. I have to fight the urge to swoon when I think about the kiss— our first kiss . It was nothing short of a movie moment, and with his blond hair and perfect smile, he reminded me of Prince Charming.
Yeah, if Prince Charming had a perfect ass .
Turning to my best friend, I grin. “It was alright, I guess.”
She howls with laughter, pulling the attention of the entire room. Most people just smile or shake their heads, so I’m guessing they’re used to Wren’s brand of boisterous laughter.
“ Alright ,” she says. “Yeah, I’ll bet getting up close and personal with Aidan’s surprise hardware and getting to stare at your soon-to-be boyfriend’s perfectly toned ass the whole game was such a hardship for you, Ly-bear.”
I snicker and shrug because I can’t even deny it. The tongue piercing was a surprise, alright. A freaking hot one.
I tried really hard to focus on the girls when they tried to explain the rules of the game to me, but then Aidan would catch my eye and wink, or crouch down in those damn pants, or my mind would drift, wondering what that particular piece of jewelry would feel like on other parts of my body. Either way, now I get why some women are so obsessed with baseball players.
It’s gotta be the pants.
“Slow down there on the labels, Wren. We literally haven’t even started our first date. And what if it’s terrible? Then we have to try and pretend it never happened and go back to being reluctant boss and employee for Crew’s sake.”
My best friend gasps dramatically, clutching perfectly manicured hands to her chest. “Don’t say that. You’ll jinx it!”
“What’s the new girl going to jinx?” Brandy, one of the wives, pops up like a dang jack in the box next to us, startling a squeak out of me.
Her blonde hair is professionally highlighted and styled, and her makeup expertly applied. Her outfit looks to be designer, and the handbag she’s sporting is worth more than a used car. Or it would be if it was real.
Wren flips a switch, her once happy smile turning a little sharper. “Oh, nothing,” she laughs lightly, waving the other woman off. “We were just talking about an exam she still doesn’t have the results for yet.”
Brandy’s obviously fake smile falls slightly at the fabricated story, the glint leaving her eyes as her over-filled lips pull up into a sneer. “Oh, well then. I’m sure it was fine! Never would have guessed Aidan was so desperate for company that he’d stoop to high school jailbait.” She flicks my hair that I threaded into a loose braid during the seventh-inning stretch.
A scoff of indignation leaves Wren’s lips, but I hold my hand out, trying to reassure her with my eyes that I could handle it. I may have been sheltered from boys growing up, but I sure as hell wasn’t sheltered from spoiled rich bitches. Slapping on my tried and true “I know something you don’t” grin, I rest my chin in my hand.
“Oh dear,” I sigh sadly, returning her gesture and playing with a strand of her pin-straight hair. “I know it’s hard to believe, but some of us are blessed with excellent genetics and don’t need filler or highlights to look younger. I can tell it’s hard for you to watch a younger woman encroach on what you seem to think is your territory, but don’t let a twenty-something threaten you so much that you insult one of your husband’s teammates, darling. It’s not a good look.”
She gasps, a look of indignation shining in her eyes. But before she can speak, I lean in close enough to smell the Chanel on her collar. “And hey, I have a friend at Dior if you’re interested! She might be able to get you a good deal on a sample piece, so you don’t have to keep carrying around a fake bag,” I whisper, flicking the tassel on her purse.
Brandy stomps off after emitting a quiet scream of frustration, and normally I would laugh but instead, guilt slithers around my stomach and wraps it in a vice.
I promised myself when I left Maryland that I was leaving that life and the person I was behind, but one negative word about Aidan and I slipped right back into that skin like it was made for me.
I don’t ever want Crew to see me be this person, especially after hearing bits and pieces about what his mom was like from passing comments Aidan, Rhodes, or Wren have made.
Loud clapping behind me yanks me out of my pity party and back to the present. I fight to keep my face blank as I turn around to see not only Wren staring at me with wide eyes, but Rhodes, Aidan, and who I’m guessing is Copeland as well.
Copeland is the one clapping with a huge grin on his striking face. He’s maybe only slightly taller than Aidan, but that’s where their similarities end. His hair is jet black and shaggy around his forehead but shaved on the sides, and his eyes are a dark emerald green.
With cheekbones that could cut glass, multiple facial piercings and dark tattoos on every inch of visible skin, he very much fits the image of the emo rock band leader Wren recently compared him to.
He clamps a hand down on Aidan’s shoulder with a loud laugh. “I like this one. Can we keep her?”
My date hasn’t stopped staring at me like I’m a stranger, and it’s making the vice around my stomach clench even tighter. I think I might actually be sick if he doesn’t say something soon. My cheeks heat, and in my quest to avoid eye contact at all costs, my eyes land on my best friend and her fiancé .
Wren is nearly bursting at the seams she’s so excited, and Rhodes seems to be holding back a laugh. Rolling my eyes, I send them both a mean glare, making Rhodes hold up his hands in surrender.
“Is it just me, or was that weirdly hot?” Aidan’s voice has me whipping my head around in shock.
He shrugs innocently at my astonished stare. “What? You defended me, and it was sexy as hell.”
The dam finally bursts, and everybody breaks into hysterical laughter at the bewildered look on their catcher’s face. I’m fighting off a smile of my own until my phone pings with a text message that drains all the blood clear from my face.
Bile burns my throat as I read the words on the screen, thanking my lucky stars we are out of the state and away from Crew.
Unknown
You looked so pretty on the TV today, darling, and so very close to home. We’ll be together again soon, Little Bunny.
“Angel? Everything okay?” Aidan’s concerned voice cuts through the static buzzing in my ears and I quickly block the number before deleting the text.
I clear my throat and force a smile. “Totally fine!” The words sound strained even to my own ears, so I swallow hard, hoping I sound normal with my next words. “So, what do you have planned for tonight?”
I can tell he doesn’t want to let it go, but the man clearly knows how to read a room, so he does, offering me a small, reassuring smile. “It’s a surprise, but you’ll need a jacket.”
“Oh my god!” I squeal into the microphone attached to the large headphones resting over my ears. “When you said I needed a jacket, I never would have expected this! What happened to being afraid of flying?”
Aidan had a hired car waiting outside the field’s staff entrance to take us to a private airstrip just outside the city, and he had me bundled into a helicopter before I could protest.
We’ve been in the air for over an hour now and the views are absolutely stunning, but I’m slightly anxious about the direction we’re headed. I haven’t been this close to my home state in over a year, and a small part of my brain is terrified we’ll run into Sebastian somewhere.
He laughs, intertwining our fingers and placing a sweet kiss on the back of my hand before he brings them to rest on his muscular thigh. “I’m terrified of airplanes. You’re in a giant metal tube thirty-thousand feet in the air with hundreds of other people breathing recycled air. Helicopters are totally different.”
He trails off, a shy smile lighting his handsome features. “Plus, this was the fastest way to get to our destination. And I don’t want to waste a single moment with you.”
I can’t find the words to express how that makes me feel, so I squeeze his hand tightly. His shy smile transforms to a blinding grin when I do, making me feel breathless. He’s easily the most attractive man I’ve ever seen.
“I guess since we’re already above the city, I’ll tell you we’ve got reservations in Washington DC for this evening.” One side of his pillowy lips pulls up into a smirk. “But I’m not telling you for what until we get there.”
The last fifteen minutes of the flight are incredible as the sun descends in the sky, casting a golden glow over the devastating man next to me.
I should be in awe of the way his icy eyes turn transparent in the waning light or the way his hair glows and creates a halo of light above his head, but how can I be in awe of his looks when Aidan continues to prove he’s also golden on the inside. Over the last month, there were so many times he could have cornered me about my past or the inconsistencies in my story, but he didn’t.
Aidan Black is kind, smart, beyond attractive, and such an incredible father. I can’t help but feel like me and my issues are going to drag him and his sweet son down to the gutter with me when this blows up in my face.
I want to believe I can make this work. I want so desperately to take the happiness and family Aidan and his son are so freely offering. But how can I when I know Sebastian will never let me go?
When I realize what I’m going to have to do, my thoughts are so consumed by turmoil and sadness that I don’t even notice when we touch down until Aidan squeezes my hand tightly. I paste on a smile, unwilling to waste even a minute of the time I get with this perfect man being sad.
“You ready for this, angel?” he asks with a wide grin after hopping out of the now silent helicopter.
The way he reaches for me as he uses that nickname brings a genuine smile to my face, even as I make a mental note to ask him where it came from later. Taking a deep, steadying breath, I grab his much larger hand and let him help me out. “As ready as I’ll ever be."