7. Aurora
Chapter seven
Aurora
T hey say a picture is worth a thousand words, but right now, I’d settle for just a few. Like ‘Great job, Aurora’ or ‘You’re not going to screw this up.’ As I stare at the photos spread across my desk, I can’t help but wonder if I’m cut out for this. Building excitement for a hockey team in Florida feels about as natural as a penguin in the Sahara.
“Great work, Aurora. The scrimmage photos turned out amazing.”
I smile at the praise. It’s nice to know things are going well at work, at least. The season is about to start, and I’m nervous. There are a couple of outreach programs I’m heading up to build excitement in the community and get people interested in coming to game days. Being in a smaller town means lower crowd numbers unless we can drum up interest from the surrounding area. I know how to get the word out virtually, but getting boots on the ground is new to me. Thankfully, Katarina already has connections that I am able to use. Now, the turnout will tell me how well I do. It’ll be the first major test for me, and I’m trying my best not to vibrate out of my skin with anxiety.
As I make my way to my seat for the game, I can’t help but feel excited and nervous. This is it - the moment of truth. Will all my hard work pay off? I scan the crowd, pleasantly surprised by the turnout. It’s not a full house, but it’s more than I expected. Maybe I’m not so bad at this after all.
I settle into my seat, camera at the ready. As the players take the ice, my eyes involuntarily search for one particular figure. Aiden glides out, all power and grace, and I feel my breath catch. He pauses, scanning the crowd, and for a moment, our eyes meet. He gives me a small nod and a smile, and I swear he seems to skate with even more determination.
I shake my head, trying to clear it. I’m here to work, not daydream. But as I raise my camera to capture the action, I can’t ignore the flutter in my stomach. It’s like reading a book a hundred times and suddenly noticing a crucial detail you’ve always missed. Aiden’s always been there, in the background of my life, but now... now he’s in sharp focus, and I’m not sure how to adjust my lens.
“Hey, sis.” I jerk my head up as Jax walks over to my desk. This is the first time he has ever ventured up to the offices, and I am surprised to see him. “Wow, look at you. You look so grown up.”
I roll my eyes in response. His teasing has slowed down over the past few days, but clearly, that is done now, and he is back to his old self. Jax and I haven’t spoken much since the disastrous time at the bar. Aiden and I have spoken even less. It’s unusual enough for me to acknowledge it, but I don’t have the first hint of how to bridge the new divide. Thankfully, it seems Jax isn’t keen on letting the gap grow wider.
”I am grown up.”
He smiles and nods as he slides over another chair. “I can see that. We both can.”
“We who?” I am pretty sure I know who he is referring to, but I’m going to make him work for it. I’m tired of making it easy for people. In fact, in the last couple of days, I realize that most of my life, I’ve spent my energy trying to make things as easy as possible for everybody else. When it comes to work, that’s one thing. I want to make things as easy as possible and show my worth, and it is clearly paying off. But in my personal life, it’s led to me being unhappy or trying to deny that something’s wrong. It’s one of my biggest revelations as I think back to my relationship with Turner.
How did I let myself get so pulled into pleasing another person? I know it’s normal to want to make your partner happy, but at the detriment of your own? Of my own?
Maybe that’s what Aiden’s getting at.
I’m not sure how I feel about him seeing something in me that I’ve yet to see in myself. Especially given his tendency for harsh words. Still, what does it matter to him? He’s not my brother.
“We, as in Aiden and me.”
I snort at that. “I seriously doubt that.” I’m about to dismiss him and get back to my work when the mood shifts and Jax scoots closer.
“You know I wasn’t trying to overrule your being grown or anything, right?” Jax looks achingly sincere, and it calms a piece of me that’s been annoyed since the bar a few days ago.
“I guess,” I concede, not sure if I’m really willing to let it all go just yet. “It just feels like you’re an extension of Mom sometimes. Like I can’t handle myself and constantly need someone else to handle things for me.”
“I know you can, Rora.” His switch to my nickname, a name we so rarely use after both becoming adults, has me perking up, listening more. He only ever uses it when he’s truly serious.
“When Turner pulled his disappearing act for prom all those years ago, I promised myself the next time he or anyone tried shit with you, I’d fuck them up. Fuck the consequences. You’re my baby sister. But when you went back to him—“
“Jax—“
He holds up a hand. “No, let me say this. I think maybe you have the wrong impression of my motivations, and I just…I don’t want you to feel like you can’t come to me with shit, okay?” I nod and gesture for him to continue. “So, like I said. Turner fucked up once, and I wanted to kick his ass, but you gave him a second chance, so I did too.”
“But you never really liked him?” I ask. I have to know.
“Fuck no,” Jax explodes before looking around. Thankfully, we’re the only ones in the immediate vicinity. “I still hated him, but I was willing to overlook a lot of things as long as you were happy. I’d still like to kick his ass.”
That makes me giggle. It’s been a long time since Jax got physical with anyone off the ice, and I certainly don’t remember him fighting anyone because of me. But it does make me feel good to hear that he’s put his own feelings aside for my happiness.
“Well, if you see him again, you have my blessing to rough him up. Just don’t get caught. I don’t want to have to do any social media cleanup for my own brother.”
Jax’s smile is radiant, and he nods so fast he looks like one of those bobblehead figurines that people used to stick on their dashboards. I wonder how a human head can move that fast without getting dizzy.
“You got it, sis.” He hops up from his chair. “I’m headed out. Promised one of the guys that I’d help plan some birthday thing for next week. See you at home?”
I nod before watching him walk out. At the doorway, he turns and gives me one of his over-exaggerated waves, making me giggle again, and I give him a quick hand wave in response before he’s gone.
Work seems to flow smoother after that, and soon enough, I’m on my way out. I don’t know why, but I feel more settled. Fighting with Jax doesn’t happen often, thankfully, because when it does, it’s the worst. Holding a grudge against Aiden, though, I’ll take that to the grave.
“Oh, excuse me,” I say when I bump into someone in the hallway. A hand shoots out, gripping my upper arm.
“Sorry about that,” a male voice replies. The lilt of it is almost familiar, and it makes a frisson of unease well up within me. I look up and nearly wince. The man is attractive, sure, but with his dark brown hair and ice-blue eyes, he looks an uncanny bit like Turner. Everything in me wants to run the other way, and I tense when his hold doesn’t loosen. “Oh, I think I recognize you. Aren’t you the one always taking pictures of the team?”
“Yes,” I squeak out. Frantically, I keep screaming inside my head to jerk away, but it’s like everything in me has shut down.
He smiles and nods, but none of it puts me at ease. His grip loosens, and something in me loosens when I can shift away. “I’m Mark, one of the physical therapists with the team. What’s your—“
“There you are, kitten—where have you been?”
Something spicy with a hint of sweat twists through the air, enveloping my senses. When I take a deep breath in, I am startled to realize that the darkly sensual, enticing aroma is Aiden. As much as I hate that nickname, I can’t help but feel relief at Aiden’s voice coming from close behind me. I turn and paste what I hope looks like a genuine smile on my face. From the look on Aiden’s, I can tell it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Before I can ask him what he’s up to, a strong arm slides around my waist, pulling me into over six feet of muscle and warmth.
I look up at him, but he’s looking at Mark. Something in his eyes has the hairs on the back of my arms raised. He looks poised and ready to do something at a moment’s notice. He must feel me looking at him because, for a moment, he glances down at me. When our eyes meet, all the air is sucked out of the room, and the highs and lows of the past few months must have caught up to me because I feel myself slowly starting to tremble.
A look of alarm flits over his face before Aiden steers me away from Mark. I want to yell and cry out that I’m not a fainting flower. I can handle this on my own, but the reality is that I don’t want to. It is nice to have someone stick up for me for a change.
“Oh, are you two…” Mark’s voice trails off as he gestures between Aiden and me. I don’t want any rumors to get started, but I also don’t know what to say. This isn’t the first time we’ve found ourselves in this position.
Thankfully, I don’t have to say anything. “We’re leaving,” Aiden replies gruffly. The tone of his voice invites no argument, and I allow myself to get pulled away. It isn’t until we’re alone in an empty office and behind a closed door that I realize Aiden’s arm is still around me. It takes an even longer moment to realize why.
I’m shaking, trembling like a leaf in a windstorm, and barely staying on my own two feet.
“I’m fine. Really,” I say, though I am not sure who I’m trying to convince, him or me. “He just reminded me of someone.”
“Who? That dumbass ex-fiancé of yours?” Aiden’s voice hasn’t lost any of its gruffness, and I shiver as if I feel it rolling over my skin. “Wasn’t he the same guy who stood you up for prom?”
I close my eyes as I try to regain my balance. I’m not sure now is the best time to take a trip down memory lane, but after the way he swooped in and saved me, I can concede that maybe Aiden deserves some credit and a little more information.
So why is it so hard to figure out where to begin?