The disbelief in his friend’s voice told Aiden just how shocking what he’d done was. “Shut the fuck up, man.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I had to do it. It wasn’t going to end otherwise.”
“Right, right,” Dave said placidly. “Then again, you could’ve left your tongue in your own mouth.”
“And you can keep your teeth in your own mouth if you drop it right now.” Because yes, he could have, and he didn’t appreciate Dave pointing it out.
Dave just shrugged, clearly aware that the threat lacked any intent. “All I’m saying is, this may be the best hockey game I’ve ever been to.” He leaned back in his seat and turned his full attention back to the ice.
Aiden drained his beer and willed his blood to cool down. Goddamn Bree. What a petty way to get revenge on him for not taking her up on her offer to end a show night at her place maybe six months ago. He vaguely recalled the event, but he’d been exhausted from a long day on a job site after his dad had forgotten to tell him the client expected the work done by the end of the week, and he’d just wanted to pack up his kit and get home. Apparently being rejected by the town player was a personal slight. And God, poor Thea getting dragged into all that. What was he going to say to her the next time he saw her?Sorry I had to kiss you to get our faces off the big screen. I think they would’ve paused the game until we made out in public.
An apology then, after which they’d never talk about it again. Except kissing Thea had been…fun. She’d tasted good, and the skin at the nape of her neck was soft. So was her hair. So were her lips.
The crowd erupted as the Anchors scored again, and Aiden willed himself to believe that the goal was responsible for his kicked-up heart rate. But that was a lie. His brain wouldn’t stop replaying that moment when she’d sighed and tugged him closer to give him full access to her mouth. He couldn’t remember the last kiss that woke him up this much.
Which was ridiculous. This wasThea. The little girl next door who lost her dad but carried on without losing her sparkle. He was just suffering from a couple of months without sex, that was all. He drained the rest of his beer and crumpled the empty plastic cup, slowly becoming aware of the curious stares from the Brick Babes section. When he finally glanced over, the redhead who’d been sitting next to Thea sent him a knowing wink. What the hell did that evenmean? Did they really think that kiss-cam display had meant something? He sent her a carefully calibrated smile: friendly, self-deprecating, not at all a come-on. He didn’t need any other pissed-off women lurking in the vicinity right now.
Mercifully, the clock eventually counted down to zero on that last eternal period, the Anchors skated to a 2–0 victory, and Aiden was free to leave the stadium. He pulled on his coat and followed Dave up the stairs to join the throngs of people packed together like sardines as they shuffled for the exits. He kept his head down to avoid any additional speculative looks but managed to collect three separate slaps on the back from random dudes passing by before he and Dave made it to the safety of the car.
“Jesus, has nobody in this town ever seen a kiss cam before?” He slammed his seat belt into place, cursing when he caught the web of his left hand in the buckle.
Dave flipped on his headlights and inched his van into the massive line of vehicles waiting to leave the lot. “Iknew it was all fake, but you still almost had me convinced.” He slammed on the brakes to avoid the taillights of the suddenly stopped car in front of them.
Aiden groaned and flopped back against the bucket seat, rubbing his thumb over the pinched skin. “I don’t care how cold it is, I can walk home.”
“Your call,” Dave said. “I’m not the one who basically announced his engagement to the whole town.”
He straightened in alarm. “Come on, nobody thinks that.”
“That Aiden Murdoch was on a date with a woman he willingly kissed in public?” Dave shrugged and yawned, it being ten p.m. and miles past his bedtime. “You might as well have.”
“Shit. You don’t think Thea thinks…” He pulled out his phone and stared at it, not sure how to even craft a text that covered what he needed to cover. What did you say to the woman who managed to turn you on in the middle of a hockey arena? He tucked his phone back into his pocket with a growl.
Yeah. Definitelydefinitelynever talking about it again.
Seven
On Monday, the kiss-cam incident was all anybody wanted to talk about.
The morning started off normally enough. Aiden met his attorney friend Daniel Walden at the gym as soon as its doors opened at six a.m. As usual, their conversation was sparse as they warmed up and worked their way to heavier and heavier weights on their bench press. But Daniel took him by surprise while Aiden was gasping for breath on the bench between sets.
“So who’s the lucky girl?”
“What…,” he wheezed, “the hell… do you mean?”
“The girl at the hockey game.” Daniel smiled smugly at him and added another plate on each side of the bar while Aiden gaped at him. “Shove over.”
He pulled himself to his feet and moved on autopilot to the other side of the bench to spot his friend. Possibly hisformerfriend, depending on how this conversation went. “It was nothing.”
“That’s not what Tessa heard from a friend of a friend who was there.” As he spoke, he hefted the weight up and down with no visible effort while Aiden ground his teeth at the mention of Daniel’s just-the-facts girlfriend. If that’s what she was telling people, it must’ve passed her rigorous truth test.
“Jesus,” he groaned.
“I’m hurt, man.” Daniel racked the weight and popped right up. “Thought I’d be one of the first people you’d tell when you fell in love.” Aiden’s only answer was a growl, and Daniel took a laughing step back with his hands raised. “Hey, I’m not the one who goes on and on about domesticity being a trap.”
“Because it is,” Aiden shot back, although his response was more a habit at this point than actual strong feelings. He’d been railing against settling down for so long that this jokey anticommitment patter was part of his repertoire. “Thea’s just an old friend.”
He glared at Daniel, who shrugged and grabbed a towel to wipe down the bench. “If you say so. I’ll tell Tessa she got it wrong.” He glanced at his phone. “Gotta run. See you tomorrow after work for cardio?”
Aiden grumbled his assent and wrapped up his own workout shortly afterward. He raced through his post-workout cleanup so he was able to stroll into the Murdoch Construction break room at seven thirty a.m. on the dot, where the dozen employees gathered to guzzle coffee and wait for the day’s work assignments all burst into hoots and kissy noises.
