Page 31 of Unmasking Love (D.C. Renegades #1)

Aiden

Meet Melvin

The only reason I catch Harper’s call is because I see my phone ring when I happen to turn towards my locker at this very second.

“Hi Harper!” I yell over the music in the background. “I can’t wait to see you!” I tell her because I can’t. I know I need to get a quick massage and probably some dry needling on my neck muscles but I can’t wait to celebrate tonight’s win with Harper.

“Yeah? Okay, me too. Umm, where should I meet you?” She asks and I can hear the hesitation in her voice.

“You drove right?”

“Yeah, with Wes.”

“I’ve got to see the trainers before I leave, usual stuff, nothing to worry about.” I add when I hear her sexy little gasp of air. “And then I’d love nothing more than to celebrate this win with you… in bed.”

She laughs quietly and it’s like rays of light glistening off waves at sunrise.

“Your place or mine?”

“Meet me at my place in an hour and a half.”

“Okay.” She agrees.

“Bye Harper, see you soon.”

“Bye Aiden.”

I hang up the phone and set it back in my locker as the music gets turned down. Coach Bradford walks in and we all settle into our seats.

“ That is the kind of effort I expect from you boys. That level of intensity. You were first to lose pucks, back quickly on odd-man rushes, and thanks to the heads up play by our second string tendy we got our first goal of the game.” He turns towards me and holds up a puck.

There’s tape around the outside and some writing there.

“To commemorate your first primary assist as a Renegade.” He says as he hands it to me.

The team claps for me and I nod in their direction.

I’ve had primary assists before but they’ve never been celebrated like this.

Coach steps to the side and Crosby comes up to the middle of the room holding the team’s post-game talisman.

It’s a hat that looks like a wolf snout and it’s awarded to the MVP of the game by the previous MVP of the game.

Crosby won it last night for an impressive breakaway goal that made ESPN top 10 plays of the day. He makes a show of glancing around the room as we all drum on our pants like we do at the start of the game.

“Tonight, it is my honor to bestow Melvin,” oh yeah, the hat’s name is Melvin, “tooooooooo, Young Gun!”

He spins to me and we clasp hands and hug. He plops the hat on my head and I can feel my smile pulling at my ears. We pose for a picture and then the music turns back on and general merriment ensues. I get out of the rest of my pads and hit the shower.

I can’t wipe the grin off of my face. It feels so fucking good to win. And to really be a part of the win feels even better. A shutout and a primary assist. The only thing that could top this would be if I had scored a goal!

That was always the game at the end of goalie practice. Shoot the puck from your net and try to score a goal. I got pretty good my 12U year. My coach would dump a bag of pucks at my feet and see how many I could get to the back of the net in a minute.

I haven’t played that game in a while.

That was back when hockey was pure fun. Without the pressure of it being my livelihood.

The fun shifted to effort the next year when I played a summer season in European Juniors and then one last year with my 14U team in Minnesota before I was scouted by the Alberta Juniors League. My parents figured it couldn’t hurt to try out and see how it went.

When I was offered a spot my parents agreed to let me go.

I stayed with a teammate's family and had to learn to be away from my parents as a 14-year-old.

From then on, everything was hockey. I ate, slept, and dreamt hockey.

My parents took every opportunity to come and visit me but I was still out on my own.

I haven’t felt at home, anywhere, since.

“Young Gun! You’re up!” Crosby yells into the shower room. I dry off and throw on a pair of boxers before walking into the treatment room. I lay down on my belly and realize that I walked through the lockerroom without my shirt on.

Like I have nothing to hide.

And maybe I don’t. Maybe I’ve reached a point where it doesn’t matter that I suffered a massive heart attack at 16. Maybe my skills are finally starting to speak for themselves.

And I’ll be honest, having Harper in my corner, in my bed, is boosting my confidence.

I pull my mind from Harper as the trainer gets started with some ART stretches of my shoulders and neck. Then down to my glutes. A little massage treatment along my back but all-in-all pretty painless.

Back at my locker, I put on my suit and slide my reflective vest over my jacket. I toss a few things into my pannier bag and stop to sign a few autographs for fans on the way out. A few actually knew me which was a bit of a surprise.

On the ride home I talk to my parents. Dad loves that I got the assist and the win. Mom asks how my body is feeling. After a quick convo I hang up and let the cold air revive me as I continue to my place.

I ’m riding a high I haven’t felt before.

I see Harper’s SUV outside my building and a vision of her laid out naked in my bed almost causes me to lose my balance but I’m a professional athlete and I recover quickly.

She’s got a spare key of mine from earlier when I left before her and I can’t wait to walk in the door and see her.

I want to celebrate my success with orgasms.

Yes, multiple.

For both of us.

When I lock up my bike and take off my reflective vest, I start to walk up the stairs and I hear a car door close so I look back over my shoulder.

“Where did you come from?” I ask.

“Oh, I umm, thought you wanted me to come over.” Harper says quietly and she pauses her steps.

“Harper, I did, but I expected you to be inside. Not waiting in your car.” I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her. Before she can say anything I press my lips to her and bliss travels through my body at warp speed.

Ecstasy just from kissing her.

I lift her up and she wraps her legs around my waist. I grip her thighs and pull her against me as I ascend the stairs to my unit. Her tiny skirt flutters out of the way and it’s almost like she isn’t wearing anything at all.

“I fucking love these skirts you wear.” I tell her as I press her against my door and pull my key out of my pocket. She kisses along my neck as I fumble to unlock the door.

“You do?”

“You know I do sweetheart.” I say low in her ear. We stumble inside and I set her down on her long, tempting legs. “Next time, I want you waiting for me,” I whisper into her ear as I ease the zipper down on her skirt, “in my bed,” I say between kisses along her jaw, “naked.”

Harper lets out a little gasp as I shove her skirt down to the floor. I pull her sweater over her head and once she’s free of it I pull her to me for another life giving kiss.

Together we stumble to the bedroom and it becomes a frantic exercise to get us both undressed. She pulls me down onto the bed on top of her and only then do I slow us down.

“Aiden,” she whines as I trail my hands up and down her thigh. She’s already pulled her legs up along my ribcage and with only the thin material of our underwear between us, it would be so easy to slip inside of her. But, I want to savor this night.

“I know Harper, I know.” I soothe her as I inhale her sultry scent at the base of her throat. “I loved having you behind me tonight.”

“You were amazing.” She says breathlessly as I bite down on her collarbone.

“And I hope you understand that because I won tonight, you need to be at all my games. You’re my lucky charm.”

“But I didn’t do anything.”

“I wanted to impress you so I was showing off.” She giggles under me and it lights me up inside.

“Stop it,” she says and I pull up to look at her. “What?” She asks.

I stare down at her flushed cheeks, her kiss swollen lips, her dark eyes looking at me.

“You said stop, and, on the off chance it was an ask to stop kissing your delicious skin, I stopped.”

“Yes, I mean, no, don’t stop that. Stop saying you’re trying to impress me.” She slings her arms around my neck and tries to pull me into a kiss but I hold my position above her. “Aiden! Kiss me!” She complains.

“Wait, I want to clear this up. Why don't you think I should try to impress you?”

“ Aiden, c’mon, really?” She reaches between us and cups my erection and my elbows almost buckle. “You want to talk right now?”

“I do,” I say and I slide off to the side. She rolls and looks at me. “I want to celebrate this win with you but I want you to know you’re a part of it.”

“But I didn’t do anything.” She says again.

“Harper, you did everything. You were there. You cheered. You smiled at me. You smiled at my teammates. And you were here when I got home.” I almost choke on the last word.

Home. It hits me again how different things feel here.

A lightness consumes me and I speak the next words with a smile dancing on my lips.

“I want to be with you because you’re you , not because of what you do for me. ”

I watch as her eyes soften. I know exactly how shitty the most recent asshole she was with treated her and Wes made it seem like he’s just the latest of many. Why couldn’t these men see this charming, thoughtful, selfless person and try to give her everything?

Instead they took.

And she thinks that’s normal.

Not on my watch.

“Now, I have big plans to make you feel as fucking high as I do.” I rumble into her ear and her answering moan sends my erection into overdrive. I run my hand up her hip and over her ribs settling just under her breast. “Can I lift you up?”

She bites her bottom lip and nods. I roll to my back, scooting up the bed so I’m resting along the headboard.

I guide her up and onto my lap. Her eyes focus on where her fingers are tracing my tattoo.

I force myself to keep my breathing even.

She drags her fingers down my pecs leaving trails of electric zaps along their path.

It’s too much.

I reach out and pull her hands up over my head.

“Hold on here,” I tell her as I press them into the headboard.

Then I trail my hands down her sides and watch goosebumps erupt.

When I reach her underwear, I slip my fingers into the lace and start to drag it down her hips.

She stands and I roll the fabric down her legs and help her step out of them.

Before she lowers down I pull her pussy to my face and kiss her hot, wet core.

“Oh god, Aiden.” She groans and I grip her hips harder to steady her. She’s locked her legs making it harder for me to reach her so I run my hands down her thighs and tickle the sensitive skin behind her knee.

She buckles and I catch her by the waist and help her kneel against my shoulders. Her hands are still plastered to the headboard and her hair is falling across her face.

“Ride my face baby.” I demand as I pull her down to me.

I spread her with two fingers and suck her clit into my mouth.

Harper’s hips buck and I don’t let her pull away again.

I hold her on me and assault her pussy with kisses, licks, nips, and flicks.

It doesn’t take long before she’s chanting my name and rolling her hips back and forth.

It’s fucking heaven.

Feeling her swell and soak my face.

Hearing her gasp and pant my name.

“Aiden, it’s too much.” She whines and I drill two fingers into her. Her head falls forward and her hair drapes between us.

I pump into her and slide back enough to say, “it’s not too much, feel the pleasure Harper. Feel the high,” before I pull her between my lips, sucking and pressing my tongue flat along her clit.

She trembles, jerks, squeaks out some syllables, and then slumps backwards. I slowly caress her inner walls as her body comes back down. I reach up and cradle her face in my hands. “You’re so beautiful.”

Harper looks down at me and then scoots backwards so she’s lying on my chest. I wrap my arms around her and recognize what we’re sharing is more than lust, this is intimacy.

“ That was,” she trails off and I reach down to tip her chin up to me. “That was unreal.”

“No Harper,” I tell her as I lean in for a kiss, “that was very real, and we’re going to get there again, right now.”