Page 100 of Just a Footnote

“I’ll deal with Liam. Just take me to my hotel,” Aiden orders. Miles actually looks unsure if he should listen to Aiden or not. “Are you…afraid of Liam?”

A deep grimace crosses Miles face. “A little bit,” he whispers.

“Oh, my god,” Aiden says, frustrated. “It’s Liam! Just take me to my hotel.”

Tapping his slim fingers on the steering wheel, Miles purses his lips again. A few silent moments pass by as Miles seems to weigh the outcome of taking Aiden to his place. Finally, Miles nods his head once in agreement. Aiden turns to the window, watching as Seattle passes by them. Not much later, they pull up to a nice looking brick building, with multiple floors, that’s only about ten minutes away from the arena. It’s a nice hotel.

He checks in with Miles standing quietly behind him.

“Thank you so much,” Aiden says sarcastically.

“I do not want to get in trouble for this. Instead of just having to deal with Archer being protective of you, I now have to deal with Liam too.”

Aiden rolls his eyes. “I don’t need anyone to be protective of me. They’re both giant idiots.”

“Disagree with the first statement, hard agree with the second statement.” Miles skewers him with a look, one hand on the door handle. “I’m going to head back to the arena. I’ll pick you up a bit later?”

Aiden nods at Miles, then watches him quietly leave the hotel room. He tugs his phone out of his pants pocket to immediately dial Liam.

A breathless Liam greets him. “Hey, I just finished with practice.”

“I am not staying at your hotel with you.”

A heady pause goes by. “Where are you?”

Aiden huffs. “I’m not telling you.”

Another short pause. “Are you at the hotel room you booked?”

“I’m not with you or Archer. It wouldn’t be fair. I will see you tomorrow before the game. I will wish you both luck, then I will sit in the box and watch the game.”

“Fine,” Liam grumbles, sounding sufficiently whipped.

“Make sure to rest tonight. Is practice over for the day?”

“Will you at least wear my jersey?” Liam asks, completely sidestepping all of Aiden’s previous questions.

“I’ll think about it,” Aiden lies. He’s definitely wearing the jersey. There was never another option. Archer will just have to get over it. “Now rest tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Liam’s smile is obvious even through the phone. Aiden hangs up before he can say anything decidedly mushy.

Although the gameisn’t until the early evening, Miles and Aiden arrive at the arena in the late afternoon. A few fans mill about outside, but otherwise the arena isn’t too packed. Miles parks his fancy rental sports car in the full players lot.

“I have to admit,” Aiden says as they climb out of the car, “I kind of thought this entire time you were just hanging out in Boston…I wasn’t even really sure you were playing.”

Miles gives him his best death glare. “You’re such a fucking asshole.”

“Witty comeback,” Aiden retorts. The slight smirk on Miles face tells him enough though. Seattle weather isn’t that muchdifferent from New York. The heat isn’t sweltering, but it’s also not exactly pleasant. Sweat dots his hairline as they make their way into the arena. Miles waves at a security guard after they make their way through the Player’s entrance.

“So,” Miles says in the leading sort of way he always does. “Who are you seeing first? Archer or Liam?”

Shit. “I must admit that I did not think this through.”

Miles lets out a sigh, ruffling his curls with the hand not tucked into his pants. “You could just tell them both you saw each other first? How would they know?”

“Miles,” Aiden says with a wicked smirk. “You’re so devious.”

With a roll of his eyes, Miles takes off down the hallway. Aiden trails after him with a pep in his step. The hallway gets busier the closer they get to one of the locker rooms. He’s not sure which locker room he’s being led towards, but he assumes Miles knows exactly where he’s taking him.

---