Page 138 of Unmasking Love
"Nope, try again." I say after making a buzzer noise.
"Aiden Hugo Youngren, why didn't you listen to your doctor?!" His mother squeals and I kind of love seeing how Aiden's face crumbles as he gets in trouble.
"Okay now, Betsy, let's go, they'll get him out of his gear and then Harper will get him home and we'll check on him in the morning."
"But, my-" she starts and his dad cuts her off.
"Say goodbye and let's go."
She sighs in resignation and goes over to kiss Aiden's forehead. His dad gives him a hand shake and then he nods at me before leaving.
I lift my hand in a pathetic wave and immediately hate myself for it.
“Harper,” Aiden says with such a lost puppy look in his eye I have a hard time mustering up the hurt he caused. In fact, it washed away when I saw him collapse.
“Can you help me get home?” Aiden asks me.
“Um, yeah, I can.”
I wait while the training staff gets him undressed. I help him into some team issued sweats and then get my car and bring it down to the players lot. He rests his head against the window as I drive him home. Neither of us speaking much.
The silence feels heavy but not oppressive. Like we’re both aware we need to talk about us but we both agree it can wait.
That being together is the first step.
When we get to his apartment he goes straight to bed. I get a glass of water and check the prescription status. I come back in and press a kiss to his forehead that has cooled since the fever reducer has kicked in.
“I’ll be back in the morning.” I whisper against his skin. My body is drawing me closer to the scent of him. It would be so easy to slide under the covers with him. Hold him. Let him hold me. To pretend the last two weeks never happened.
“No, stay.” He says gruffly.
I look down at him and see the softness in his face as he succumbs to sleep. I remove my contacts, slip out of my clothes, and climb into bed behind him.
I drift off to sleep wondering what tomorrow will bring.
Chapter 41
Aiden
A Purple Nurple Saves The Day
Iblinkopenmyeyes and freeze.
Just inches away is the most realistic vision of Harper I’ve conjured up yet.
This hallucination is bittersweet.
The moment I come to my senses and realize she hasn’t returned to me I’ll be crushed even further.
My body aches without her.
Fuck, I’m even imagining the way her body rises and falls with her breath in her sleep.
There’s only one way to confirm that I’m imagining her.
Slowly I move my fingers to my chest and twist my nipple.
Ouch!
