Page 54 of Pucking Off-Sides With My Brother's Best Friend

The guy fumbles for words, clearly uncomfortable under my scrutiny. Good. Suffer, I think to myself. “No one important. I was just updating Aurora on a mutual friend of ours,” he stammers before looking around.

I nod curtly, satisfied that the guy knows not to fuck with me or Aurora. “Well, Aurora and I have plans,” I state firmly, my tone leaving no room for argument. “It was nice to meet you, but probably time for you to go.”

The guy mumbles an apology and quickly retreats towards the parking lot. I silently watch him go, waiting until he’s out of earshot before turning to Aurora.

“Are you okay?” I ask softly. It isn’t often that we have random people coming to the arena when it’s not a game day, but it does sometimes happen.

Aurora smiles before wrapping an arm around my waist. “I’m okay. You do have perfect timing though. Brian just wasn’t taking no for an answer.”

I frown at that bit of information. “Dude looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure if you knew him or if he was some rando that wandered in when security was on a break.”

Aurora shakes her head, biting down on her bottom lip. Her eyes dart away, and her shoulders tense, contradicting the ‘I’m okay’she gave me earlier. I clench my jaw, fighting the urge to push, to make her open up. She has no idea how badly I want her to trust me, to feel safe enough to spill everything. When that guy cornered her, I stepped in without a second thought, instinct driving me to stand between them. It wasn’t for show—I acted because I couldn’t stand seeing her like that. This possessiveness is not a front. It’s real.

I want Aurora to be mine. But I don’t know if I deserve her.

“Can we just go home?” Aurora asks before leaning her forehead against my chest. The move has me wanting to bundle her up and hide her away. I drop a quick kiss on her head before agreeing. It’s not until I’m in my own car following hers out of the parking lot that I realize we’ve been holding hands the whole time we walked to our cars.

Chapter twenty-four

Aurora

My hands shake asI pull into the driveway. Everything’s been going so well, and I thought I was finally turning a corner whenlifedecided to rear its little head.

I mean, how the hell did my ex’s brother, , figure out where I was? I have no clue.

I keep my social media locked down tight, instead focusing on social media for the team. It would take a lot of effort to find me given I’ve deleted my old handles the day I gave back the ring.

‘He really misses you and wants to know what he can do to fix things.’That’s what Brian said. His words achingly sincere and yet, I know better, I didn’t believe them for a second. I tried for months, hell years, to fix things between us.

But the only thing that seemed to happen… things got worse. No, we are done. Completely. I’ve moved on, happily.

Until now.

Now, I feel afloat and out of control again. Everything seems too bright— too loud. It all grates on my nerves.

A knock on my window has me jumping and I turn to see Aiden standing beside my door with a concerned look on his face. I gaze at him for a moment before I make a move to get out of my car. He steps back but stays hovering as if he needs to protect me from something.

Hell, he probably needs to protect me from myself at this point.

I don’t understand where my head is at, but all I know is I need to think about anything else other than the past.

Before I can second guess myself, I close the car door and grab Aiden’s wrist pulling him towards the house.

“Aurora? Are you alright?”

I shake my head not wanting to talk. Talking meant thinking, and I’m opposed to anything that has to do with thinking right now.

Holding his wrist tightly, I work the front door open. When the lock clicks, I push it open, pulling Aiden in and slamming the door closed without thinking. No thoughts are needed as I leadAiden to the couch, pushing him onto it. Following him down, I straddle his lap, covering his questions with my lips.

Aiden’s hands shoot up, gripping and squeezing my hips, making me groan.

“Aurora, why are you so insist-?”

“No, no talking now?” Aiden raises an eyebrow.

“Is wanting to talk such abadthing?”

“It is when I want to fuck you, and you’re being annoying about it,” I huff out.

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