Page 18 of Unmasking Love (D.C. Renegades #1)

Aide n

Who The Hell Is Jared?

“Yeah baby!” Felix glides across the ice and stops in front of me. “Great game Young Gun!” He gives my mask a bump and I slap my stick along his butt.

It felt so fucking good to be out on the ice tonight.

Even better to get the win on the road against the New York Danger.

I’m almost to the bench when Cody Alstein, my former teammate, skates over to talk.

“Aiden, bud, how are ya?”

“I’m good, Cody, how are you doing?”

“Good, good. The season is off to a decent start. How do you like D.C.? I hear their locker room is goofy.” He laughs.

I smile a little, “Yeah, but it’s a good group.”

“Classic Aiden, as few words as possible.” He jokes and starts to skate backwards towards their tunnel. “Good game tonight, we’ll see you later in the season.”

“Yeah, take care.”

I head down our tunnel towards the visitors locker room. It felt odd to be back in the Danger arena but it’s a feeling I should be used to. I’ve been a member of so many different teams it hardly registers what games are away and which are home.

I mean, it does, but when it comes to playing it doesn’t phase me. When my skates hit the ice I have one focus. Stopping the puck.

“ Young Gun! Where should we go out tonight?” Duncan asks as I sit down at my spot.

“We’re flying home tonight,” I remind him as I start to take off my pads.

“I know, wheels up in an hour, but I meant when we get home.”

“You want to go out once we get back to D.C.?”

“Yeah man, it’ll only be like 1am.” Emmett adds.

“Nah, count me out.”

“Fine, but we’re going to get you out with us sometime soon.”

“Okay,” I laugh. I doubt it.

I finish undressing and grab a shower. After I pull my suit back on I text Harper. Talking with her every day for the last week has been amazing. Plus, she’s been watching our games at night so I haven’t had to worry about sad movies bringing her down when I’m in game mode.

When I unlock my phone, a message is waiting for me.

HARPER:

AIDEN! Great game! That was so exciting to watch! You’re so good! I couldn’t believe that one got past you in the second inning but some of your saves were amazing. I was yelling at the TV! Did you hear me?

I laugh and smile at her message. I’ll have to teach her some of the terms because “inning” is the wrong sport but I appreciate her enthusiasm.

I give the message a thumbs up reaction, see the trainer for a quick massage, and shower up.

With my suit on a little while later, I grab my backpack and head toward s the team bus that will take us to the airport.

I slide into a seat at the front and pop in my headphones.

Thanks for watching Harper. I could feel your support through the airwaves. It was a good game and I wish I could get that goal in the second period back but it felt good to stop the other eighteen shots.

How was your day?

It was good, kind of quiet.

What are you going to do in NYC tonight?

Nothing

We’re flying back tonight.

Oh, got it.

Then tomorrow we have a team meeting in the morning and kids are coming by from the children’s hospital for trick or treating in the locker room. Then getting ready for the game tomorrow night. It’ll be a long day, especially coming off the road.

Sounds like it.

Are you headed to bed?

I watch the text go from sent, to read, and wait with baited breath for her reply. Rereading my question gives my subconscious a chance to picture her in bed. Surrounded by plush pillows and rumpled sheets. That multidimensional hair flowing around her.

The question was innocent enough but I shift a little in my seat as my imagination takes over.

Scr olling back up through our messages I smile because of the text she sent me at the end of the game. Then further back to our exchange at lunch. The quote from this morning and our texts about the delivery last night. Then it transitions to links to homes she sent.

Besides my parents, she’s the only person I talk to every day. Well, my teammates too but they’re paid to hang out with me and we all know that doesn’t count.

I think what I’m feeling is longing. I miss her . More than I’ve ever missed my parents. We’ve known each other for a month but I forget what it was like before I knew her.

I miss talking to Harper in person, hearing her laugh. I miss seeing her eyes as they process information. I miss her wit and her charm and her sensitivity.

My thumb hovers over the FaceTime app but I quickly lock my screen to avoid calling her by mistake.

Plus on a dark bus is not where I want to have my first FaceTime with her.

The visual of her in bed flashes again but I shake it away.

I want to talk to her about Cody coming up to me at the end of the game.

How a part of me felt bad for not keeping in touch.

But another part of me felt glad he wanted to talk to me in the first place.

I look out the window as we pull away from the arena. My ears are full of a podcast about European road cycling but my mind is full of Harper.

It isn’t until I’m boarding the plane for D.C. twenty minutes later that she responds.

Not yet. I am absolutely captivated by this Heartmark show.

The goofy love story channel?

My podcast is interrupted by my phone ringing. I sit up a little straighter and answer the call. “Hello?”

“I can’t text and watch the show at the same time so I’m calling.”

“Hi Harper,” I almost whisper. The sound of her voice warming my entire being.

“So, they’re doing this reality show competition. It is twelve hunky actors that are trying to get the starring role in the channel’s major Christmas movie.”

“For real?” I laugh.

“Yes, and it is amazing. Tonight they had to make their own ugly Christmas sweaters and then model them in a room full of grannies.”

I chuckle at her excitement and she goes quiet. I assume she’s watching the show so I just wait quietly too. I hear little sounds. Maybe she’s shifting around, pulling a blanket up to her chin. Maybe it’s just her breath. But it makes me feel close to her. Like I’m in the same room.

What would she say if I asked to come over tonight?

No, that’s ridiculous. We’ve only been texting for a week and she can’t possibly be ready for a new relationship.

“Okay, commercial.” She says. “How’d it feel to be back in New York?”

“A little weird, the arena is always different when you’re coming from the visitor’s locker room. But, at this point I’ve been on a third of the teams in the league so I’ve been on both sides of the ice.”

“Did it feel good to win there?”

“Yeah,” I admit. “It did.” Cody comes to mind so I add. “I got to say hi to an old teammate after the game and that felt good, too.”

“That’s really nice Aiden.” Her voice is soft. Would we speak like this if we were together on the sofa at the end of the day? Would she let me rub her feet? Would she comb her fingers through my hair if I rested on her legs?

“ I’ve been meaning to tell you,” I stop breathing when she takes a deep inhale. What if she asks to see me right now? Shouldn’t I be the one to ask her out? But then again, after a breakup I want her to be in charge of how fast we move. “I haven’t found another house to show you yet.”

My eyes fall closed as I lean my head against the window. It feels hopeless to dream of these things with Harper because, to her, I’m just a client, nothing more.

“That’s okay Harper,” I tell her as the plane starts to get going. “What does your day look like tomorrow?”

“A few meetings, a photoshoot for a new listing. I don’t get to trick or treat with kids and have fun like you do.” She playfully pouts.

“Ha, that’s just like thirty minutes of fun. Trust me, practice and conditioning and team meetings are all work. No play.”

“Somehow with Felix at the helm I don’t believe you.”

“You might be right,” I admit. “Alright, we’re about to take off. Have a good night Harper.”

“Good night Aiden.”

***

“I don’t get it,” the gap-toothed kid dressed as a pickle says. I can’t blame her. I’m half dressed in my costume, half in my gear. The penalty kill meeting went long because we’ve slipped in the PK rankings lately and Coach wanted to tighten things up.

“It’s from a board game, Clue?” I venture as I toss some candy into her trick-or-treat bucket.

I’ve got the safari helmet on and the mustard colored jacket over a white turtleneck but my bottom half is still in goalie pads.

I didn’t think it was appropriate to strip down to my compression shorts with kids about to walk in.

I l ook up around the room and see that the rest of the guys are getting questions about their costumes and while Duncan is proudly strutting around as Miss Scarlet in a mermaid style gown, he’s mostly eliciting laughter from the kids in the room.

We have a game tonight and tomorrow Felix is hosting a Halloween party. I have wanted to invite Harper to the party but never figured out exactly how to do it. Every text I’ve drafted has sounded immature or forced.

Hey, what are you doing Friday night?

Do you want to come to my friend’s house?

Felix told me to invite you to his party.

I just don’t know how to get the conversation between us to a point where I can ask her to meet me in real life.

It was easier when she was still showing me homes. Then we had a built-in excuse to see each other. She’d call it a reason not an excuse, since I’m technically her client. Maybe that’s what I’ll do. Ask her to show me a home and then try to spin it towards an invite to the party.

The Monster Mash starts playing and I inwardly groan because I’ve been dreading what we’re about to do since Felix told us about it two days ago.

“C’mon boys, line up!” He hollers as the parents huddle their kids on one end of the locker room. By the time the first refrain hits, we’re in formation and the kids are splitting their pants in laughter as we dance.

It was a team effort choreographed by Felix and Duncan. Then Emmett made them remove more than half of the hip thrusts reminding them this was a visit from a children’s hospital.