Page 28 of Unmasking Love (D.C. Renegades #1)

Harper

Newest WAG

There's a door in front of me that says "The Corner" with the D.C. Renegades logo on it. I take a bracing breath as I stare into the pink eyes of the wolf with wings and a puck behind him. It’s almost like someone without real design experience created it.

The thought distracts me enough to feel a flicker of bravery.

I push open the door and start to climb up the set of stairs.

I can hear chatter in the distance and it gets a little louder with each step.

Once I round the final landing I see a nicely appointed suite with some sofas in the middle, a TV on the wall over a media cabinet and along the back wall is a beverage station lined with baskets of snacks ranging from protein bars to baby rice puffs.

"Who are you?" A little voice asks at my knee. I look down and see a toddler with blonde pigtails and a D.C. Renegades sequined sweatshirt on.

"I'm Harper, who are you?"

"Tilly." She says and then she turns and runs towards the glass overlooking the rink. Tilly clings onto the leg of a woman who looks to be just a few years older than me.

"One second Tilly," the lady says as she talks to the other blonde next to her.

I take a quick scan of the six women in the room and see I'm one of two brunettes.

It feels very south Florida here. "Yes baby," the lady says as she scoops Tilly up into her arms. They talk and then Tilly points in my direction and the lady's eyes follow.

"Oh! Hello!" She says as she starts walking over to me.

"Hi ," I say quietly.

"I'm Danielle, Coach Bradford's wife. This is our three year old, Tilly, but she says you've already met."

"Free and a half," Tilly corrects and Danielle nods in her direction.

"My mistake, three and a half." Danielle smiles at me. "Tilly only told me you were her new friend but couldn't remember your name."

"Oh, sorry, yeah, I'm Harper." I say with a laugh and I hold out my hand to shake.

"Hello Harper," Danielle says warmly and holds my hand in hers. "Are you here with someone or are you new on staff? My husband doesn't always remember to update me on new arrivals."

"I'm dating Aiden Youngren." I say with a hint of question in my tone.

"You are? That’s wonderful. I’ll admit I don’t know him very well yet, seems to keep to himself." Danielle smiles wide and sets a squirming Tilly down on the ground. "Well come on over and meet the other girls."

Danielle links her arm through mine and pulls me to the seats that overlook the rink. A few staff members are skating around getting the nets set up and dropping piles of pucks in different spots.

"Harper, this is Ivanna, Vlad's wife," I shake hands with one of the blondes.

"And this is Caroline, Johnny's fiance." I turn towards her and she pulls me into a hug.

I'm a little surprised so it takes me a minute to react.

I've never really been a hugger. Mom was always putting her hands on people, men especially, and I would watch as they melted into her touch. Then in high school when you start to snuggle with your friends I didn’t have any so I never learned how to interact with women like that.

But, maybe this is a chance for me to learn. Danielle is very welcoming and Caroline obviously has no problem with me. Ivanna’s eyes were warm even as her face remained cool.

I never made friends at work because it is such a competitive environment. We’re friendly, sure, but I’m not going out with the girls on Fridays. I’m not exchanging book recommendations with them. I’m not getting brunch and going out shopping.

I wonder if Aiden will want me here for all his practices. I wonder if that’s even possible with my work schedule. What’s expected of me as his girlfriend?

Maybe I could bring my computer and do work in The Corner and still be here for him and hang with the other girlfriends.

"Kate, Tyler’s fiance, just ran out to sign for a delivery at home but she'll be back.

She ordered a new red light bed for their spa room.

" Danielle explains as she takes a seat.

She indicates for me to sit with her so I do.

"With Black Friday coming up I need to start thinking about upgrading our wellness equipment.

I have been too focused on getting stuff for Little Miss Likes To Spill On All Her Clothing. "

A surprised laugh slips out at the good natured way Danielle speaks about Tilly. Mom wasn't so easy going about me getting my clothes messy when I was little.

"Vlad wants to order a new fire pit for us. It comes with a pizza oven I think so we'll host a team dinner soon." Ivanna says.

"You think Felix would let you?" Caroline asks as I sit back and watch the women interact and discuss people I know. She looks familiar. Caroline might have been at the Halloween party, perhaps there with her fiance but I didn’t exactly make the rounds and I only know a few of Aiden’s teammates.

I make a mental note to study the team roster so I can speak intelligently with Aiden about the guys. I wonder if their stats are available anywhere.

"Good point. We’ll have to figure out a way to trick him into hosting it at our house."

The girls smile wide. I join in because we’re all feeling a connection over our mutual understanding of Felix Fornier, Mother Hen.

The players start to step out onto the ice. I can see them talking to a young woman holding up a microphone before going out.

"Amber told me she was going to make them sing Christmas songs or do the ‘finish a lyric’ game today.

The fans will eat that sh..stuff up." Danielle says as she pulls Tilly onto her lap.

She reaches into a pocket and pulls out a whistle.

"Now, remember, only quiet whistles up here, Til, or I'll have to put it back in my pocket. "

"Yep." Tilly nods and focuses on the ice.

"She's got a little drill sergeant in her." Danielle shrugs.

The last hour has been so full of experiences and emotions I don't think I slowed down enough to be nervous about meeting these women.

First, it was the anxiety about what to wear.

Followed by the thrill of Aiden inviting me to the game.

Then, Mom's phone call and the dread of having to explain her to Aiden.

And only when I reached the door to the suite did I realize I was potentially walking into the lion's den.

Except this feels more like being welcomed into a treehouse.

I've never been immediately accepted into a group of women like this before. Real Estate is a constant competition and obviously high school was a completely different beast. In college I was a loner, keeping my head down to graduate early.

"So," Caroline turns to me. "As the former newest Renegades WAG I'm excited to be the one to ask you the questions."

"She's got a little drill sergeant in her as well," Ivanna whispers to me over her shoulder from the seat in front of me.

I laugh, "Okay."

Caroline squares her shoulders at me. "First question, how long have you been with Aiden?"

"Well, we made it official last night, but we’ve known each other for a month I guess."

"Se xy." Caroline nods. "Okay, next question. Have you hooked up only at his place or at yours too?"

"Um, both."

"Caroline, go easy on the girl." Ivanna scolds.

"I am! Do you remember what you asked me the first time we met up here?"

Ivanna cackles, "I do, but you marched right in here with a hickey on your chest so you were begging for it... which we know Johnny likes."

Oh. My. God.

I met these women *checks watch* like fifteen minutes ago.

Danielle leans over to whisper in my ear, "If we get too nosy just tell us, but there's nothing more fun than a budding hockey relationship."

"What did you ask her?" I ask and the wicked smile that spreads across Ivanna's face is downright spooky.

"I asked her if she had to two-hand his cock." she whispers the last word to make sure Tilly doesn’t hear.

I look over to Caroline who just smiles fondly at the memory. "I did, still do."

"Ohmygod!" I laugh.

"Listen, the boys spend a significant amount of time around each other every day either naked or partially dressed. Word gets out."

"Is there word out about Aiden?" I ask before I can stop myself.

"Mike says he keeps to himself," Danielle answers. "But he's starting to open up to the boys more."

"Vlad says he has a kick ass tattoo across his chest." Ivanna says with a sip of her drink.

"He does, it's a coat of arms." I share.

"That’s hot. Mike Bradford isn't a tattoo man but tell that to my FYP! Somehow I started following this German handball player and he's got the most incredible physique."

"So mehow," Ivanna repeats with mirth.

"Listen, if there are random women on the internet following these guys hoping for shirtless posts then I can watch a random man in Europe workout." Danielle says.

"True," Caroline says. "When we got engaged I started getting follow requests from strangers. Like thousands of them. It was weird."

"The entire world has a voyeurism kink." Ivanna says philosophically.

"Anyway, so you and Aiden are a new item." Danielle says as Tilly wiggles off her lap to get closer to the windows overlooking the rink. "Have you dated a goalie before?"

"I've never dated any athlete before." I admit and the girls give me an approving smile.

"Well, I've never dated a goalie either, but I've seen a lot of them on the teams Mike has led. They're intense. Focused. But that could be a very good thing for you." Danielle winks and I think I know what she means.

***

When the scrimmage is over I give Danielle, Ivanna, and Caroline hugs.

Over the two hours we spent together chatting I built a connection to them.

I fist bump with Tilly who is snuggled in on Danielle's shoulder and fighting sleep. I’m worried about how fast these friendships came about.

But I’m also riding the high of belonging.

A few other women showed up during practice and everyone was warm and welcoming and I think I made actual friends.

Danielle said she'd get me a pass for the family suite at the games so I could sit there if I wanted to.

We exchanged numbers and she told me to call or text anytime.

Aiden is going to have me sit behind him on Sunday but I remind myself to text her before a game to figure out the apparel vibe of the family suite.

I wait with them outside the locker room and hear the boys laughing with each other. Aiden is the third or fourth guy out and the smile he greets me with warms my soul.

"Hey Harp," he says warmly as he leans in and gives me a kiss. "You ready to go home?"

"Yeah," I tell him as he loops his arm over my shoulder. He smells freshly showered but with a sting of sweat. He played well and I learned a few things from Danielle about his position while we watched.

"So you like to stay high in your crease huh?" I ask and Aiden stumbles a bit as he looks down at me.

"Have you been reading up on goalie shit Harper?"

"Danielle, Coach Bradford's wife, was giving me some notes."

He laughs. "That's awesome. Yeah, I like to stay high. I'm tall so I can cut off angles if I'm a little further out of the net. Sometimes it catches me, if the guy makes a last minute pass, but I'm also pretty good at poke checking those out of the way."

"Interesting." I say to hide the fact that what he just said makes little sense to me.

"You'll learn," he says quietly into my ear. "I'm looking forward to teaching you."

My cheeks flame as he leads us to the car.

“Danielle said she’d get me a pass for the family suite if I wanted it.”

“Do you want to come to the game tonight? I’m not playing but it would still be fun to have you there. I already talked to the ticket team about tomorrow night, I got you seats behind the net.”

“Thank you, remind me to text Wes about it later and see if he can join me. And, I dunno about tonight. Do you think I should come?”

“ What would you do if you didn’t go?” He challenges. I rub my palms against my jeans while I think about my options. I could get ahead on work. I could bake. I could just lounge around. Take a bath. Switch out my summer for my winter clothes. Watch the game from home.

“I don’t have any specific plans.” I tell him.

“Well, don’t just come to the game because you’ve got nothing better to do. Why don’t you watch from home tonight, maybe while baking something, and then I’ll come over after.”

“To stay over? Can you do that? Is it bad to sleep on a different bed before your game tomorrow?”

“We travel for half our games so we’re in hotel beds forty plus nights of the year. I even try to sleep on the plane. I’ll manage. Granted, I didn’t lay on it long last night but I think your bed is comfortable enough.”

The sweat that was accumulating on my palms breaks out across my body with the memory of us together last night.

Aiden must notice because he reaches up and brushes his knuckles across my cheek.

It’s tender, whisper soft, and causes chills to follow in the wake of the heatwave that just rolled across my skin.

“Can you come have lunch and a nap with me? I can drop you off at your house before I head to the arena later.”

“Yes. I’d love that.”

He smiles as he focuses on the road and I stare at his profile. Aiden is inviting me into his routine. He’s adjusting to include me. Our relationship had virtually no build up. Or maybe the foundation was settled before a relationship with Aiden wasn’t even on my mind.

I’ve been in many other relationships. It has always followed the same sequence. First, there was the meet moment, then casual dating and most of our conversation outside of the dates was logistical, for getting to the dates.

Aid en and I were talking everyday about our lives. He was sharing about his job, his teammates. I talked about work and baking and, gosh, I think I spent a half an hour one night telling him about the Heartmark Channel competition show for finding the actor who would star in their Christmas movie.

I bite back a smile remembering the way he actually talked with me about it. He asked questions. He even put me on speaker so he could go and look at the different contestants. We laughed together and his dry, quiet teasing was laced with affection.

Maybe this is moving too fast. Maybe this got intense too quickly. Maybe I’m not being careful and letting myself get swept up in him.

Or maybe this is how it’s supposed to feel.