Page 26 of Pucking Off-Sides With My Brother's Best Friend

Aiden nods as he reaches for a second. “She’s not wrong. I’m starving.”

Katarina quickly grabs one, as do I, and we give each other a look as the guys descend on the sugary confections like vultures, picking things clean until only icing remains.

“Those were so good,” Jax says as he licks his fingers. A beep comes from his pocket. “Fuck, I better get ready. Meeting up with a friend of mine to really celebrate tonight’s win.”

I wrinkle my nose. “Oh gross. I didn’t want to know any of that.”

He wags his eyebrows at me. “What? Ladies love us goalies. We know how to get down and dirty.”

With an outraged cry, I swat him away, pushing him toward his bedroom. “Absolutely not. I don’t want to know about any of that. Get lost.”

Katarina laughs as she watches us. “I should get going, too. This week was a long one, and I just want to sleep for like ten to twelve hours straight.”

I nod. “I know how you feel. Lunch tomorrow?”

“Better make it dinner.”

Once Katarina leaves and Jax has gone off to wherever he plans on going, I’m startled to realize that leaves Aiden and me alone together. I steady myself by cleaning up the kitchen and wiping down the counters until the surfaces are shiny. There’s nothing left for me to do.

I walk over to the couch where Aiden is stretched out, hand on the bare skin of his stomach, thanks to his shirt riding up.

I try to pull my gaze away from that strip of skin, but it’s hard when all I want to do is brush my own fingers there and see if it’s as soft as it looks.

“Aren’t you going out too?” I ask, hoping my voice doesn’t betray the sudden dryness in my throat.

Aiden glances up at me, his eyes holding mine.

“Nah. Tonight I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing.” He pauses, then adds, “You’re more than welcome to join me.”

My heart races. It’s an innocent invitation, I tell myself. Just ‘friends’ hanging out. But as I look at him, remembering the way he moved on the ice, the way he lifted me in celebration, I just don’t know.

I’m in total surprise. This is the first time Aiden’s really encouraged my presence—usually he acts annoyed. Still, I don’t trust myself to hang out with him and still remain sane.

I thank him for the offer but decline and flee to my bedroom, hoping like hell that I can fall asleep without dreaming about being wrapped in his arms… or worse.

Chapter thirteen

Aiden

First win under ourbelts, and I should be out celebrating with the boys. But I passed, telling them some bullshit about being tired. Now I’m wide awake, replaying a different kind of score in my head, hoping for another stolen moment with Aurora—the softness of her tequila-flavored lips replaying on a loop, like some highlight reel I can’t turn off.

This is a whole new kind of penalty box, only I’m not sure I want out.

Excitement from the game is still coursing through my veins as I turn over in bed again. I’ve spent most of the evening flopped on the couch watching shit TV. Going out hasn’t really appealed to me, lately though I know quite a few of the guys did. Hell, even Jax is out celebrating in his own way with some chick he’s supertight-lipped about for whatever reason. I don’t know what his deal is when it comes to that, but I’m not going to press, I figure when he’s ready to talk about it, he will.

And that leads me to another issue. Being cooped up in the same house with her when my brain is still insistent on reminding me just how soft her lips were pressed against mine and the soft sounds she made against me. She hasn’t come to me asking for an explanation of what happened, so I can only assume she doesn’t remember it. I tried to talk to her at the stadium, but we missed each other.

I’m not sure whether to be upset about that or not. On one hand, I wouldn’t mind a repeat, no matter how much of a bad idea it is to mix business with pleasure. I mean, being on the same team as Jax is technically doing that, but there’s no reason for the two of us to ever have an issue. Unless he finds out about me fucking around with his baby sister.

I roll over to my back and stare up at the ceiling. It’s dark, with only the barest amount of moonlight filtering in from my blinds. The house is quiet, with only a slight creak here and there from it settling. When a louder creak reaches my ears,

I freeze. It sounds like footsteps. They’re too light to be Jax’s. Knowing him, he’d probably just stomp in loud as fuck and wake up the whole house. No, these are light. I slide out of bed and make my way to my bedroom door.

The footsteps pass the bathroom and head into the kitchen as I slowly open my door and follow. The light above the stove illuminates the area enough for me to see that it’s Aurora. I letout a sigh of relief as I watch her from the shadows. She leans down, pulling out a couple of Tupperware containers. When she finds the one she’s looking for, she softly puts the others back under the cabinet. She turns slightly before I can call out, and my eyes zoom in on the cupcake in her hand. Not wanting to startle her or seem like a creep, I knock softly on the doorframe, announcing my entrance.

“So, looks like you were holding out on us with the cupcakes.”

Aurora whirls around, her elbow almost smacking into my chin as she flails. “Aiden. What are you doing up so late at night?”

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