Page 27 of Unmasking Love (D.C. Renegades #1)

Aiden

Where is The Corner?

Harper is my girlfriend.

I keep repeating it to myself because I need the reminder.

Asking her to make our relationship official was not on my agenda yesterday but I couldn’t stop it once it started. I was living on pure momentum and leaving dinner as significant others was the only possible outcome.

We spent the night exploring each other. Inside and out. I'm exhausted but also feeling more alive than I have in a long time.

She is seriously the most beautiful woman I've ever seen and I can't imagine how any other man would have let her go. I'm struggling to let her out of my sight long enough to piss.

The team has a morning skate today, easy stuff, to keep the body fresh before our double header this weekend. Coach Bradford texted this morning to tell me I'll be playing on Sunday. My heart leapt for joy, however I wasn't expecting the sting of disappointment that came with it.

I think I wanted to stay half-in with hockey and all-in with Harper. Now I need to focus on the game and playing perfectly.

We're playing another one of my former teams on Sunday and I have a feeling that's why Coach wants me in net. There's a story there and management is always looking for a story to spin to the media.

I'm no stranger to that attention. Every interview I did once I returned to the ice, after the incident, was about how I was a comeback kid. How resilient I was. How brave.

I'm older now, wiser, but I still get uncomfortable with the attention.

Some guys, like Felix or Duncan, thrive off the media attention. Me? I'd rather just go out there, get the job done and go home. Repeat.

Now I want to rush home faster because Harper is waiting for me.

When I open the bathroom door she's in my bed, sleeping softly.

Her olive skin standing out against the undyed linen bedding.

Her dark hair strikes an even further contrast. Right now her face is turned away from me and she's curled up on her side.

I can trace the outline of her shoulder blades, the valley along her spine.

I want to run my hands up her back and sink into her from behind as I wrap my arms around her.

Harper is tall and I love how we line up perfectly. As I round the foot of bed I catch the shape of her breasts under the sheet and my mouth waters remembering the way I sucked on them in the early hours of the morning. How her skin was the delectable combination of sweet and salty.

She stirs when I slide into bed.

"Morning," I whisper with a kiss to her forehead as she snuggles into me. She pops her leg up over my lap and I feel her smile against my chest when her thigh rubs against my erection.

"Good morning," she sighs contentedly and I hug her closer. Her cheek rests over my heart and I swear I can feel it lifting towards her. Like it wants her to cradle it.

I would give anything to stay snuggled in bed with Harper all day. I want to keep her with me. Stay near her.

"So," Harper says as she slowly traces her fingers up and down my chest. Along the scar but not lingering on it. "What are your plans for today?"

"Our plans," I correct her. "I was thinking we'd get dressed and you can come with me to practice. Then we can see where the day takes us."

"Sounds delightful." She lifts her chin and rests it on my pec.

I tuck mine and I get lost in the way her brown eyes sparkle with flecks of gold.

I barely register that her face is balanced on the empty space in my tattoo.

My mar kings pale in comparison to the way our bodies react to each other and it has become a non issue.

"One problem." Harper says and I draw a blank not knowing what problem there could possibly be.

"What's that?" I ask.

"I didn't pack any clothes." She giggles and I find myself chuckling along as I remember how I all but carried her out the door after we sixty-nined in her bedroom.

"That's right. Well, let's get up and have breakfast and we can stop at your place before practice."

"Sounds like a plan."

***

We're back at Harper's house and I'm seeing it with new eyes. She lit up as she explained her plans for the renovation and I am still wondering why she hasn't done it yet.

I also wonder what she would think if I suggested we do it together.

We've been dating less than 12 hours but I already feel like building a home together is the right thing to do.

This home could be ours.

I don't need some fancy house with brand new everything. I want a home like this with history and character.

One that feels like her.

With a built-in sense of belonging.

I haven’t had that feeling in so long. I haven’t let myself. But two nights with Harper, half a day as her significant other, and everything has changed.

I take a closer look at her kitchen and living room while she gets dressed. I'm not an architect but her vision seems clear enough to me. What is crystal clear to me is how I want her to live at my place while the work is being done and then we could move in here together when it is finished.

When can I suggest this plan to her?

Harper walks out of her bedroom in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.

It lifts to show a sliver of her stomach as she pulls a brown sweater over her shoulders.

She slides thick socks into a pair of fleece lined slides and smiles up at me.

She can make anything look good. But this look, casual, softens her.

I fucking love her short skirts and tight tops and can definitely get down to business with her in those but this outfit says she’s comfortable.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

I open the car door for her and wait to close it until she's settled.

I can tell she wasn't used to it. Dad always made a point to open Mom's door when we were younger.

Only allowing me to do it when I started driving.

When I started riding my bike everywhere in San Jose he joked I should clip on my date's helmets instead of opening the door.

He's good like that. Making light of a situation. Mom worries. I'm intense, focused, and driven. Leaning more towards Mom’s disposition but with an emphasis on control she doesn’t possess. Dad will crack jokes and tease us both.

I need to tell them I'm playing on Sunday.

They're at their second home in Arizona.

They snowbird there on and off throughout the winter.

My parents met in high school, and after living together in St. Paul, they moved to Warrod when Dad got a job coaching a football team there.

Mom got a teaching job at my school so we'd have the same schedule. It made getting to practices easier.

With Harper in the front seat I’m realizing that I haven’t brought someone to practice with me since my parents came along during juniors.

I've seen other players bring their wives and girlfriends. Sometimes their kids tag along. A few pets too. The Renegades built a suite up in the corner with a bar and comfortable seats. I want Harper to hang out there because I'm not sure this outfit is going to keep her warm at the rink.

"Since it's a weekend I bet there will be other families at practice." I tell her as we drive towards the facility. "You can sit with them up in The Corner. It's like a suite."

"Oh, okay, sounds good."

"I'll spend the first thirty minutes doing goalie drills in the annex rink but then we'll get together on the ice as a team and run more drills and probably scrimmage a bit."

"Fun." I reach across the console and take her hand to stop her from tapping her nails together.

"Ha, not really, it's no walk in the park. And, shit did you bring a book or something? This might get boring."

"I won't be bored." She says with a smile and I give her palm a squeeze.

Then the phone rings in her car and I see on the screen that it's her mom.

"Oh, uh, hold on. I can call her back later."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, well, let me just tell her I'll call her back." Harper says and she reaches over with her free hand to answer the call.

"Hey Mom, I'm driving, so I'll call you back later, okay?"

"Well, later I've got tennis at the club so let's just talk now," her mom says through the speakers. "This will be quick. Gerald surprised me with a trip to Tahiti for Christmas so we're going to be gone. I'm glad you and I have that weekend in the Keys or I wouldn't see you!"

"Yeah, good thing." Harper says unenthusiastically.

"How's your diet been recently?" Her mom asks and I raise my eyebrows.

"Uh, mom, not now, okay?" Harper says as she tries to pull her hand out of mine. I glance over at her to see she's flushed with embarrassment.

"Fine, but I've been sending Theo my food log and he made some adjustments and I've been feeling much better."

"Th at's great." Harper says and I can tell by the tight set of her jaw the comment is laced with contempt. "Mom, I gotta go."

"Fine, one last thing. Are you seeing someone yet? I don't like you being single."

I give Harper a quizzical look after that question but her eyes plead with me to bite my tongue.

Clearly Harper doesn't have the same supportive parental unit I do.

"Uh, yeah, I am." She says. "I'm actually headed to see him right now."

"Oh good! Thank god. Okay, well remember, it isn't using if it's offered." And I see Harper hang her head out of the side of my eye.

"Yep, got it. Okay, bye Mom." She says before she leans forward and hangs up the call. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, but, umm, do you want to talk about… any of that?" I ask because I want to talk about it. I have so many questions.

"Not really." Harper looks out the window. "It's complicated with my mom and she means well, in her way, but it doesn't always come across as nurturing."

"I got as much."

"It's fine." Harper says as she tries to pull her hand away again but I squeeze it, keeping it planted on her thigh trying to convey my support for her. I know building a relationship takes time but I’ve spent the last month supporting her and now I don’t have to hide behind the guise of friendship.

I can do it as her boyfriend. She continues to stare out the window at the passing neighborhoods but pulses her hand back in mine three times and I smile.

"Will you come to the game on Sunday? I'm playing."

"Of course! I'd love to Aiden." And I can feel her smile light up the car as we pull into the parking garage at the practice facility.

"Great! I'll talk to the team today and get you two tickets. You can bring a friend if you want. Or there's a family suite if you want to be in there."

"I' ll let you pick the best seats for me."

"Right behind the net then. So you can stare at my ass for the first and third periods."

She laughs and I want to capture the sound in amber and preserve it forever. I don't want anyone else to hear it.

"I'd love to stare at your ass." She says as I get out of the car and round to her side.

The D.C. Renegades have a practice facility some other teams in the league would kill to work in.

It was an investment they made five years back after the team won the Stanley Cup.

Then because of the salary cap they had to make a bunch of trades and the team is still rebuilding.

Last season they got close but lost in six games to Dallas in the conference finals.

Our hands stay locked together as we walk into the building. A few guys are in the hallway signing photos and jerseys the team uses for giveaways. I only release her hand when I step up to the team photo and need to sign it.

"Harper? Did you join the team?" Bryson asks as he walks into the hallway half in his gear.

"Ha, no. Aiden invited me along to watch."

"He did?!" Duncan asks as he pokes his head out behind Bryson. He must have been one foot into the locker room and stopped. He's also only half dressed in his skates, shin pads, socks, and shorts. He locks eyes with me and mouths something like "so is she your girlfriend?"

"I am," Harper says and Duncan looks at her with a guilty expression. I shake my head and roll my eyes behind my lids. These guys take goofy beyond loveable to just plain obnoxious sometimes.

"That's great! Congratulations!" Duncan cheers and then he leans his head into the locker room, one skate popping up behind him so he can balance. "Young Gun is dating Harper!"

She looks up at me and smiles with wide open eyes as the room erupts in cheers and claps and "atta boys".

"Yo u better get out of here," I tell her with a quick kiss to her lips. I want to linger but I know I can't. "The Corner is just around that, well, corner." I point down the hall.

"Okay, have a good practice." She says as she tilts up to peck me on the lips again.

And it's on cloud nine that I float into the locker room, accept the congratulatory cheers, and dress for practice.