Page 100 of Unmasking Love
“I am.” I smile down and let myself melt into her chocolate eyes.
“Care to share?”
“I like how hard you work.” I tell her.
Instead of the look of pride on her face that I was expecting, she scoffs. “Like I have a choice.”
“What do you mean?”
She looks away, over my shoulder. “Listen, I know what I look like. I can get attention but I have to work twice as hard to secure the deal. I have to do extra research and provide more details to prove I’m not just a pretty face.”
“Is that why you know the intricate details of traffic patterns?” I tease as I duck into her line of sight.
“Yeah, and why I know how tankless water heaters work, or how much voltage is required to keep multiple electric cars fully charged in a garage.”
“How much voltage?” I ask, half to lighten the mood, half because I’m curious.
“A lot.” She smiles up at me and as we spin I see Coach Bradford and his wife again. “You met Danielle, right?”
“Bradford? Yes, when I came to practice.”
“Okay, come with me.” I kiss her temple and pull her behind me off the dance floor. Harper’s approach to proving her value is something I can work with. One, I’ve played on a lot of teams and have insights into their strategies.
Two, I’ve studied every team in this league so I could be ready. Coach saw Denver’s left side preference, but he shared it after I had already told the boys.
Maybe I shouldn’t just wait for my opportunity.
Maybe I should make my opportunity.
Chapter 29
Harper
Grade A Manfriend
"Wes,whatthehellam I going to do?" I feel tears pushing against my eyes as I survey the damage. I forgot to turn off the external water spigots at my house and with the freezing temperatures last night a pipe burst.
I called Wes even though my first instinct was to call Aiden. Dating him has been a dream.
We talk every night he’s on the road. And when he’s home we spend the nights together. If he’s not playing he’ll stay at my place. He finds ways to make little moments special. He brought me a fancy hand cream that his hotel had in the bathroom. He records Heartmark shows for me to watch at his place. He’s always sending me coffee or lunch or is sneaking little trail mix bags into my purse.
He brought me home with him last night and I rode him until my legs couldn’t handle it anymore. As he held me in the early break of dawn this morning, he shared how busy today would be.
He's got a full day of meetings, practice and conditioning. At the gala he asked Coach Bradford if he could contribute to the strategy talks. Danielle smiled knowingly at me while they talked through it and in the six weeks since that event, Aiden has been almost a different man.
He’s had more than his usual boyish confidence. He’s been more energetic when he leaves for practice or games. And he certainly celebrates wins harder.
There is near frozen water sloshing on my basement floor but my body warms as I remember a few of our post-win nights lately. He pours everything into our sex life and it’s as draining as it is exhilarating.
And even though he’s added responsibility at work he’s been an attentive boyfriend. He asks about my day. He remembers important meetings I’ve had. Which is why I know he'd drop everything and come over here to help but I can't ask that of him.
So instead, Wes is here surveying the damage with me. Luckily, it was a basement pipe so most of my stuff is fine but this is going to be a big fix I hadn’t planned on doing. At least not yet.
"Here me out," Wes says and he turns me to him by grabbing my shoulders. "Why don't you start the renovations? Maybe this was your sign to get going."
"But where am I going to live while they work? I haven't figured out those details yet."
"How about with the sexy hockey player you're dating?"
