Page 115 of Unmasking Love
So whether there is a game or not he sticks to the same schedule. And I do my best to work around it.
I get into the shower to wash off my body quickly, spending a few extra minutes around each wrist remembering how Aiden used the handcuffs last night. I’m wrapping myself in a towel when the hotel room door opens.
“Harper?” Aiden calls.
“I’m in here,” I report like I did last night.
Aiden steps into the bathroom and rips the dry fit shirt off and tosses it to the ground. The heat in his eyes is unmistakable and my knees tremble a little bit. Aiden is this perfect blend of contradictions. He’s powerful and gentle, caring and demanding. His hands grip my middle and he tugs at the towel but I keep it tucked up tight under my arms.
I want to be there for him and make sure he’s getting everything he needs. Especially now as the starter for the foreseeable future.
“Will you have any different practices or meetings now that you’re starting?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Because, we can make sure that breakfasts are prepped the night before so you can just grab them and go. Lunch too I suppose. Or maybe you’ll want to eat at the facility more? Either way, we can make it work.” I ramble quickly as he leans in and starts to nibble at my shoulder. “Aiden! I’m trying to talk to you about hockey.”
“I don’t want to talk about hockey.” He says as he kisses up my neck. I can’t help the way my head tilts to the side, giving him more access.
“What do you want to talk about?” I ask as his hands successfully free me of the towel.
“Getting back into the shower with you. I think you missed a spot.” He whispers as he backs me towards the shower.
“What time is the team leaving?”
“Seven thirty. Wheels up at eight forty five. We’ve got plenty of time.”
And we spend it pouring our emotions into each other through the way our bodies connect and rely on the other.
***
Caroline decided we would drive together to Ft. Lauderdale. It isn’t a terrible drive, a few hours, but I don’t get to put my phone on airplane mode and use that as an excuse for not contacting my mother.
Instead I use the excuse that I’m in a car full of new friends that I don’t want to burden with my drama.
Ivanna fell asleep in the very back row about thirty minutes ago and Caroline climbed up to join Danielle and I in the middle row. Caroline is telling us all about the wedding plans and she goes right into sharing details about her wedding party.
About how one of the bridesmaids, a friend of hers from college, slept with Johnny’s cousin after the engagement party but hasn’t returned his calls. And how Johnny’s brother is interested in a different bridesmaid, a friend of hers from work but he won’t ask her out he just tries to devise ways to be near her.
“Who are your friends that are getting in on all this action?” Danielle jokes.
“Right? As if I don’t have anything else to plan!” Caroline laughs.
“Unfortunately this feels pretty standard.” Danielle says with a sigh. “We had a bridesmaid break her foot two days before the wedding so she was on crutches and in a boot.” Danielle turns to me. “What’s the craziest wedding drama you’ve been in?”
The only weddings I’ve been in have been my mother’s. Sometimes as a flower girl. Sometimes a bridesmaid.
But the one thing she always did before walking down the aisle towards a new man was to take five minutes with me before the ceremony. She’d grasp me by the shoulders, get on my eye level, and deliver her sage advice.
“Remember never tie yourself to someone without a way to untie the knot if you need to.”
She’d wink, squeeze my shoulders, and we’d make our way to her new groom.
Somehow that doesn’t feel like a good story to share. It will invite more questions than provide answers. More pity than entertainment. So I just shake my head and smile.
“I haven’t been in a lot of weddings.” I say instead.
“Well I have a feeling you will be. This group is hitting the age where they’re all going to want to get hitched. My bet would be in the next three years our core group is all paired off.” Danielle says. “I’ve seen it before. Especially when Mike was an assistant coach in Vancouver. Once the first one falls the rest follow.” She tips her eyes towards Caroline indicating she and Johnny are the domino that are going to send us all down the aisle.
