Chapter Thirty-Four #2
“I agreed to talk to him, so Wyatt came over this morning. Said he had to tell me and your mom that we were making a huge mistake. One we would regret if we continued on this path. At first, I was pissed. I’ve never had players interfere in my family life, and I didn’t see how Wyatt could say a damn thing to make me think differently of you. ”
Aiden’s hand flinches in mine. I grip it harder, sending reassurance to him with my touch.
Dad pauses. The tension in the room is thick and heavy, and I hear rain begin to splatter against the windows.
“But he did,” Dad confesses.
I hear myself exhale a breath I was unaware I was holding. My heart is beating so loudly, I can barely think.
“Sir?” Aiden asks quietly.
A small smile forms on Dad’s mouth. “Your brother loves you. Looks up to you. And respects you more than I think you know.”
Aiden stares at him, stunned.
“Wyatt told me exactly what he thought of me this morning,” Dad says slowly. “He started with calling me an idiot.”
Oh my God! I look at Aiden, whose jaw drops. A pink flush immediately colors his pale skin. I squeeze his hand again, but he continues to stare at Dad, the stunned look still on his handsome face.
“And he was right,” Dad continues. “I am an idiot. I’m sorry.”
Aiden exhales next to me, and I can’t stop the furious pounding of my heart. “Sir?” he asks again.
A wry smile forms on my dad’s lips. “Wyatt told me your story. Perhaps the story you would have told me if I had been willing to listen last night. Wyatt said I would have a right to be concerned if he were the one wanting to date Scarlett. Openly said he’s not boyfriend material, and if Scarlett were in love with him, I should trade his ass to a team in Canada.
He also named other guys on the team who shouldn’t date Scarlett.
He named nearly every other single guy on the team except for Bailey.
Said Beckham is a good guy and good boyfriend, and I know that’s true after what happened with Georgie.
“But he said the one man I should trust with my girl’s heart was you,” Dad continues. “Not because you’re his brother. But because of the man he knows you are.”
I suck in a breath. I stare at my dad, stunned at the words he’s speaking right now.
“Wyatt said you have always been serious about hockey, which I know. But he told me that seriousness and thoughtfulness extend beyond the rink. It’s a part of who you are. You don’t screw around with girls, and you never have. The last relationship you were in nearly destroyed you inside.”
Aiden flushes again. “Sir, I—”
“No, no, I’d like to get all of this out, please,” Dad says.
Aiden nods. “Okay.”
“Wyatt said he’s never seen you so in love as you were with your ex.
Or so broken when it ended. Until you met Scarlett.
He told me the way you love my daughter—” Dad pauses for a moment, and I’m stunned when I see his Adam’s apple move a few times before he can go on.
“Wyatt said you love my daughter in a way he’s never seen you love before.
That you talk about Scarlett all the time.
How you look at her when you think nobody is watching.
How all you want to do is make her happy.
Wyatt told me if I don’t want this kind of love for my daughter, then I’m an idiot. ”
He swallows hard. “And I am.”
Tears fill my eyes. “Dad,” I whisper.
“For you to take this risk, it has to be real,” he says to Aiden.
“It is,” Aiden says, his voice strong.
“And for you to tell me you’d rather play somewhere else than give up Scarlett? Not many men would make that decision.”
Dad turns to me. “You were right, too. We’ve been trying to shape your idea of who you could love since you were a teenager.
You know the dynamic of getting involved with one of my players.
You’ve never crossed that line before. I have to believe you wouldn’t do it if this young man wasn’t worth it. ”
I blink back tears. “Dad, I promise you, Aiden is worth it.”
“That’s what Wyatt told me. He told me to ask Bailey what he thinks of Aiden.
Then he listed each team member, one by one, and said that to a man, Aiden is respected and admired by everyone in the dressing room.
All he did was fall in love with the exceptional woman I raised, and he shouldn’t be punished for it. ”
“Sir,” Aiden says, squeezing my hand in his, “I promise you, I love your daughter more than I’ve ever loved anybody in my life. It happened fast—I know that—but sometimes you just know. I knew. I knew what I had in Scarlett, and that’s why I took the risk. It wasn’t to hook up. It was—and is—real.”
“That’s what Wyatt said. He reminded me of why I picked you as an alternate captain. That I should consider myself lucky to have someone with all these qualities love my daughter.”
“I do, sir,” Aiden says, his voice rough with emotion.
Dad turns and looks at me. “You also said some things that made me think once I was through being angry. You were right. You’ve never given us any reason to not trust you. I shouldn’t start now. Wyatt brought that up, too.”
“He did?” Aiden asks with surprise.
“Yes. I needed to hear it from a different perspective, apparently. Never would have thought Wyatt would be the voice of reason, but he is. He told me to go ahead and continue on this path if I want to lose my daughter, because he knows how much you love Aiden. Being tyrannical wasn’t going to change that.
And more to the point, I should not only want a man like Aiden to love you, but I should want Aiden himself to be that man. ”
Aiden smiles softly at that, and I do, too.
“I am still going to coach you in the same way,” Dad says, leveling his gaze back on Aiden. “If you mess up, you will be treated accordingly.”
“I wouldn’t ask for it to be any other way,” Aiden says.
“If a trade comes up and we need to move you, I will,” Dad says firmly. But then his blue eyes sparkle. “Good thing for you that you’re one of the best defensive players in the league, you’re one of my alternate captains, and popular with the fans. I don’t see you moving anytime soon.”
I’m fully breathing again. It’s going to be okay.
“I think we tell the team and media relations, so they’re prepared, but I don’t plan to make any comments about my players’ personal lives.”
“Thank you,” Aiden says.
“You’re to call me Coach at work,” Dad continues, rising from his chair. “But in my house? I’m Scott. Scarlett’s father.”
Now I begin to cry. I leap up from my chair and throw my arms around my dad, and his big arms wrap around me.
“Thank you, Dad,” I murmur into his chest. “I love you so much.”
He squeezes me tight. “I love you, Scarlett. I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become since coming to Miami. I’m sorry I didn’t fully understand that until today.”
I step back from him, and then he extends his hand to Aiden. “Hello, I’m Scott Rivershon. Scarlett’s father.”
Aiden grips his hand tightly. “Aiden Wentworth, sir. And I’m completely in love with your daughter.”
Then, to my shock, my dad hugs him. He claps his hand on Aiden’s back, and I’m wiping the tears that are falling from my eyes.
Dad lets him go and turns to me. “Your mom has her own things she wants to say to you two.”
“All right,” I say.
Dad opens the office door and stops. “Will you come over for Christmas Eve tonight? We went Columbian this year. Tostones. Empanadas. Chorizos and whatever else your mom has planned. It wouldn’t be Christmas Eve without you, sweetheart. Aiden and Wyatt are welcome, too.”
I turn my head and gaze up at Aiden. He smiles. “Only if we can bring some Cuban food,” he says. “We have a feast ordered.”
“Sounds like a perfect combination,” Dad says with a wink. Then he walks out the door, going to get my mom.
Before long, she’s in the room, in tears, apologizing for last night and saying she’s sorry it took Wyatt guiding them to see the truth.
“We’re guilty of being overprotective,” Mom admits, her voice breaking. “But I do trust you, sweetheart. If you love Aiden, then that’s all I need to know. I hope you can forgive the things we said. We not only judged Aiden unfairly, but you, too. I’m so sorry.”
I hug her. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too,” she says, hugging me tightly.
She steps back from me and smiles tearfully at Aiden. “I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us.”
“I already have,” he says.
She hugs him, too. “Come on out to the kitchen. You’ve got to see what Wyatt is doing with his gingerbread house. It’s so good!”
“Mrs. Rivershon, would you mind sending Wyatt back here for a minute?” Aiden asks.
“Please, call me Christine. And of course.”
She leaves the room. Aiden exhales loudly and pulls me back into his arms, his lips finding the top of my head. “I’m not dreaming this, am I?” he murmurs into my hair.
“No, you’re not,” I promise.
There’s a rap on the door, and we break apart as Wyatt steps inside. The first thing Aiden does is hug him. “I owe you everything,” he says, his voice thick.
Wyatt claps him on the back. “What are you talking about? You’re my brother.”
Aiden steps back from him. “But you called Coach an idiot.”
Wyatt smirks. “To be fair, he was being an idiot. Aiden, you’re the best man I know. Everyone in that dressing room knows it, and Coach knows it. I wasn’t about to let him talk about you like that. Or trade you or make you and Scarlett miserable for no good reason. That’s just stupid.”
“You thought we were crazy for doing this at first,” Aiden reminds him.
Wyatt appears thoughtful. “Yeah, but then I saw you two together. It was real. So you should ignore your feelings and finding your person just because Scarlett’s dad is the coach? That’s freaking stupid.”
“I don’t know how I can thank you for what you did,” I say.
“Just don’t break this guy’s heart. That’s all I ask,” Wyatt says, his expression serious.
“I can promise you I won’t.”
“Good. Now I’ve got a gingerbread house to finish. Christine is very impressed with my decorating skills.”
“How did you learn that, anyway?” Aiden asks.
“Because you’re always watching those holiday baking shows on Food Network when we’re on the road. I must have absorbed something against my will.”
Wyatt turns and leaves the room. As soon as he shuts the door behind him, Aiden pulls me into his arms, his hands sliding around my back and drawing me into his chest. “I love you,” he says. “I love you so damn much, Scarlett.”
“I love you. You have shown me over and over what love is. What it means. I’m so lucky to call you mine.”
“I’m yours,” he murmurs, bending down closer, his lips hovering right above mine. “And I will always be yours. Happy Christmas Eve, baby. You are all I could ever want.”
Aiden breathes the words over my lips, and then he kisses me. I move my hands up his back. His tongue dances across the seam of my lips, and I open for him, kissing him slowly. Deeply.
Lovingly.
With my kiss, I let him know that I love him more than I ever thought I could love someone. But I want to say the words again.
“I love you today,” I murmur against his mouth. “Tomorrow. And forever.”
I can feel Aiden smiling against my mouth as he kisses me again. “You’re my forever,” he murmurs back.
I run my hands up to the nape of his neck, breaking the kiss and staring into the eyes of the man I’ve fallen in love with.
And I know I’ll be kissing him every Christmas Eve.
For the rest of my life.