The Hardest Hit

by Teague, AS

  From the moment she’d opened the door and saw me standing beside Griff, Mel had her guard up. She wasn’t interested in my excuses, but when the magnitude of what I’d just told her sank in, the icy glare she’d kept aimed in my direction softened into one of sad resignation.

  “Well,” she said just as the waitress returned with our drinks, “congratulations?”

  I shook my head. “I guess. As hard as it is to believe, Shay and I had never really discussed children. We’d been together for years, on and off, but the subject of a family never really came up. But here we are… and those boys are coming in a few weeks, so like it or not, it’s time to step up.”

  “Did you say boys? Like more than one?”

  “Twins.”

  “Two babies.” She blinked. “Two surprise babies. At once. Wow.”

  The irony of that hadn’t escaped me either. “That was pretty much my reaction too.”

  The shock wore off and she nodded. “You’re doing what’s right. Just like your friend is stepping up to the plate with Brooke.”

  I chuckled. “Baseball reference, huh? You couldn’t have come up with one more appropriate?”

  She smiled, the first fucking smile she’d cracked all day, and my chest squeezed. It was brilliant, her teeth white and lips perfectly curved upward. I wanted to say something else to make her smile stay in its place, but the conversation we were having didn’t lend itself to jokes and laughter.

  “Eh, football’s alright, I guess. I do pull for the Falcons from time to time.”

  I clutched my chest dramatically. “You wound me.”

  Her grin faded into a sad smile, and I knew that we were done playing around. “Looks like the stars aren’t going to align for us after all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, after our night together, we weren’t able to make a time work. And now, you’re going to be busy with your kids and your girlfriend.”

  I shook my head. “No. I will be there as much as I can for my boys. But there is nothing between Shay and me. There hasn’t been for a long time.”

  “Let’s head back to the house. I’m sure that Griff and Brooke have settled whatever it was that we didn’t need to be around for.” She finished her drink and stood.

  “So that’s it, then? There’s nothing left to talk about?”

  Mel came around the table and ran a hand down my arm. “Aiden, I accept your apology. I was pissed about being stood up, but in your position, I don’t know that I would have done it differently either. But we are at very different places in our lives. And you’re about to take on a responsibility that’s going to consume any free time you’ve got. This just isn’t the right time.”

  I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lips. “It doesn’t have to consume all of my free time.”

  “I wouldn’t respect you if it didn’t.” She lifted a shoulder. “We live on nearly opposite sides of the country. Even if we tried to see each other, the distance alone would make it impossible.”

  It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I wanted her to tell me that we could still explore whatever the chemistry was between us. That we would find a way to make time for each other.

  She grinned. “Besides. You’re about to take over the world of sports with your talent. The last thing you need is some old cougar distracting you.”

  She was so fucking wrong. I would have given anything to have her as a distraction from the real world, from the pressures of football and the reality of my life being turned upside down. But she was also right. This just wasn’t the time for us.

  “You think the time will ever be right?”

  She grabbed her purse and slung it on her shoulder as I threw some money on the table for our drinks. “Maybe. Maybe not. But we could always leave the door open.”

  I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to my side. “How do you propose we do that?”

  She tipped her chin to look up at me. “Don’t stop asking me questions.”

  Chapter Three

  Mel

  Seven Years Later

  Oh shit.

  Oh shit.

  Aiden spotted me, and our eyes connected across the room. He grinned, and I knew he was going to come talk to me. I glanced around, hoping that there was an emergency exit I could slip out of before he made his way over to where I was sipping a glass of wine, but I was trapped.

  Over the last seven years, I’d seen Aiden quite a bit. There had been no avoiding him; our lives were interwoven. My best friend had a child with his best friend; they both played in the professional football league.

  I saw him at parties, at football events, at birthdays.

  We’d tried to see each other in the beginning, but it never worked out between football and children and my career. That hadn’t stopped him from occasionally texting me random questions about nothing in particular.

  He had kept the door open, just like he’d promised he would.

  But that door needed to be closed, because all it was doing was letting out cold air on a hot summer day.

  “What are you doing back here alone?” Aiden asked as he dropped into the chair next to mine.

  I sighed and looked around the crowded room. There were people everywhere, toasts being made, drinks being poured, and money being lost over cards and dice.

  “I loved Vegas when we were here the first time, but I’m too old for this now.”

  “You’re not too old for anything.” He smiled, and my stomach flipped.

  Even now, all these years later, that damn smile got me.

  “Can you believe it’s been seven years since we met here?”

  Aiden’s head swung from side to side. “Not even a little bit. How ya been, Mel?”

  “Busy. Like always. You?” It was our biggest hang-up. We were both just too consumed in our own lives to have time for each other.

  “Busy. Like always,” he parroted back to me.

  “The kids?” Sitting across from him felt as awkward as it was thrilling.

  His grin grew wider. “Good. Growing too fast.”

  A cheer erupted across the room. Griff had done something, and Trav, Shane, and Quinn were all shouting and clapping him on the back. “They’re having a good time, huh?”

  Aiden followed my gaze. “Yeah, it’s like they‘re back in college all over again. Except now, one of them is married.”

  Griff and Brooke were doing something they should have done a long time ago, and I’d been thrilled to be a part of it, but now that the festivities were winding down, or rather just cranking up, I was tired and ready to head back to the hotel room.

  “What are you thinking about?” Aiden interrupted my thoughts.

  “Nothing.”

  He smirked. “You were twisting a curl around your fingers. That means you were deep in thought. Tell me a secret.”

  My hand that was, in fact, in my hair stilled. “How would you know what I look like when I’m deep in thought?”

  Aiden shook his head. “Nope. You tell me the secret first, then I’ll tell you mine.”

  I swallowed a small sip of my wine and eyed him skeptically. “How many drinks have you had?”

  He looked at his rocks glass. “A few.” Leaning forward, he dropped his voice. “C’mon, Mel. For old times’ sake… tell me a secret.”

  I didn’t want to start this with him again. I didn’t want to start anything with him again. Mainly because I so desperately wanted something with him.

  Over the years, when he’d send a text, it had been both exhilarating and painful to hear from him out of the blue. I’d kept up with his career, had known that he’d risen to the top of the league as a quarterback for the Packers. Brooke had told me what a good father he was, so I’d known that we’d made the right decision to go on with our lives separately. But that hadn’t stopped me from thinking about him more than I should have, from playing the “what-if” game with myself and always answering his messages to keep that door open.

  “
I don’t want to tell you a secret, Aiden.”

  He frowned before finishing off his drink. “Okay. I’ll go first.”

  He lifted his glass, and a waitress materialized at his side, her large chest at eye level. To his credit, his penetrating blue gaze never left mine and he didn’t so much as blink when the busty blonde eagerly took his drink order and scurried off to fill it for him.

  She was back in less than a second, and while he graciously pressed a large bill into her hand for her troubles, he didn’t even blink until she disappeared from sight.

  He took a large swallow, and I teased, “Be careful. You know what they say about too much whiskey…”

  I trailed off when his head fell back as he laughed a little too loudly. “Well, for starters, this is bourbon, not whiskey. But you’ve got a good memory. I do too, you know.”

  When it came to Aiden Shaw, I remembered a lot of things. “It’s easy to remember the things that make you laugh.”

  His face grew serious, and then he took another swig of the amber liquor before sucking in a deep breath. As though he were building the courage to say whatever it was on his mind, he took one final sip and then leaned across the table toward me. “I miss you, Mel.”

  My heart flipped. But I shook my head and pushed the anticipation of what he would say next out of my mind. “You don’t miss me. What is there to miss?”

  He reached toward me, his hand stopping midway. “You were the fucking girl that got away, you know that? You were the one who just slipped right through my stupid fingers. If I were a receiver, I would have been fired the moment I let you go.”

  My mouth fell open, but I clamped my jaw shut quickly and quipped, “Jesus, Aiden, you’re drunk.”

  He waved a hand at me, trying to convince me that he wasn’t drunk but doing the exact opposite. It was the exaggerated wave of a drunk person. “No. I’m fiiiiiiine.”

  I popped an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re fiiiiiine?”

  “Okay. Maybe just a little drunk.” He took another sip of his drink and then flagged the waitress over. She didn’t even have a chance to speak before he asked for another round and then sent her on her way.

  “You really need another drink?”

  “Probably not. You know what I need?” he said, his words surprisingly clear. “You. Or that time machine that I told you I built.” He leaned in close and whispered, “Spoiler alert, that wasn’t true. I don’t have a time machine. If I did, I would have used that thing a long time ago.”

  “Me? You need me?” I hoped that my voice was even, but the way his eyes lit told me that it wasn’t and that he knew exactly how his words affected me.

  He nodded. “Melanie, I don’t think you know how fucking into you I was. Shit, still am.”

  “I’m sure I have an idea…” I murmured.

  I knew exactly how into me he was, because it was precisely the same amount that I was into him. Maybe a little less. But our lives were just so different. “Aiden.” I reached out and covered his hand with mine. He wasted no time pulling it from beneath mine and then grasping my fingers in his, holding my hand tight.

  “Tell me you didn’t feel it. Hell, tell me you don’t feel it right fucking now. Are your fingers tingling? Cause mine are. I mean, Jesus, look at you. You’re every guy’s fantasy. Beautiful, but not arrogant. Smart as fuck and career driven, but you’ve got a sense of humor that rivals any comedian I’ve ever seen. And damn if your ability to match me tit for tat doesn’t turn me on. I swear I could go on and on about how perfect you are in every way.”

  “Please don’t,” I interrupted.

  It wasn’t like I didn’t know that he’d been attracted to me all those years ago. And if we were being perfectly honest, it wasn’t like I didn’t know that it was more than just a mutual attraction that we’d shared. If it had purely been a physical reaction we’d had to each other, we would have slept together and moved on. But it was so much more. We’d never slept together, not once, and yet he was still the man whose face I saw on the back of my eyelids when I was alone in my bed at night. He was the man whose cologne I could still smell in the summertime, the man whose grin still haunted my dreams, seven years later.

  I shook my head. “You’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re saying. Tomorrow, you’re going to wake up and regret it all.”

  “I believe it was the great philosopher Plato who once said, ‘A drunk tongue speaks the truth.’”

  A sharp burst of laughter erupted from my lips. “Plato didn’t say that.”

  “Well, it was someone famous, I’m sure. Whoever it was, they weren’t wrong.”

  “Jesus, you’ve got a serious case of word vomit going on.”

  He leaned into me, and I caught a whiff of that very cologne that I hadn’t ever been able to forget. He smelled incredible. “Nope. I’ve got a serious case of needing Mel going on.”

  “Dear Lord, Aiden. I think maybe it’s time for you to call it a night and head back to your hotel room.”

  “Is that an invitation?” His tongue darted out, wetting his lower lip, and I swear to God, the look that he gave me nearly made me come.

  I pulled myself together and swallowed hard. “Not even close.”

  He arched a brow and tipped his glass toward mine. “Is it wishful thinking to hope that you’re just drunk enough to say ‘Fuck it’ and come up to my room with me?”

  I held up the half full glass of wine and said, “This is literally my first glass.”

  “Fuck,” he murmured. “Does that mean no?”

  I grinned. “That is exactly what that means. I am most definitely not drunk.”

  “Ah, not drunk, but maybe still interested in a night cap in my hotel suite?”

  God damn, I was going to regret this in the morning. I was going to regret this probably for the rest of my life. But I was going to do it anyway.

  “You’re a thirty-year-old football superstar, and me? Well, I’m just—”

  “The most unbelievably sexy woman I’ve ever known. The woman of my fucking dreams. This electricity between us, why can’t you give this spark a chance to grow?” He dropped his lips to my ear. “Because, Mel… if that spark had been given just the tiniest bit of oxygen, it would have grown into a full-blown forest fire, one that would have never been extinguished.”

  Just like all those years ago, he pulled back and winked, but this time, his large hand was stroking my thigh and I couldn’t stop the shiver that it sent down my spine. And just like all those fucking years ago, that single wink, coupled with the smooth talk of an even sexier man, sealed my fate.

  I would be going to the hotel suite with Aiden Shaw that night.

  And this time, there was nothing that was going to get in the way of what should have happened the first time we were in Vegas.

  I drained my wine glass and pushed to my feet, Aiden’s hand falling away from my leg. “Well, Mister Quarterback, the ball’s been snapped.” I came around the back of his chair and bent until my lips were at his ear. “What play are you going to run to ensure that you score tonight?”

  Chapter Four

  Aiden

  It was like déjà vu. I was alone in a hotel room with the most stunning woman I’d ever seen and we’d just spent the last hour laughing and drinking and taking jabs at each other.

  It was easy, the conversation between Mel and me, just like it had been that first night. Ever since the day when I stood her up though, ‘easy’ was not a word I would use to describe our relationship.

  She’d told me to keep the door open, and even though I hadn’t done a very good job at it, I’d tried. She’d been right when she said that it would be hard for me to balance football and my boys and try to have a relationship with a woman across the country, and even though I always made it a point to text her, it wasn’t nearly as often as it should have been.

  But, the pull between us was undeniable. She felt it. I felt it. The entire damn world probably felt it.

  I p
eered at her over the rim of my rocks glass, watching as her brown eyes sparkled back in my direction.

  “What are you thinking about?” Mel asked, the corner of her full lips tipped up in a lazy smile. She put the wine glass to her mouth and took a small sip. I watched as the slender column of her throat worked when she swallowed and imagined my tongue tracing the hollow of her neck as she writhed beneath me.

  “Just remembering the first time I ever saw you,” I purred.

  She rolled her eyes. “You ever give anyone a real answer?”

  I dropped my glass to the table and slid further down the couch to where she was tucked into the corner. She was out of arm’s reach, and I needed to touch her. “That was a real answer. I was remembering the way you held your head high, like you knew you were the most gorgeous person in that casino.” I stroked a fingertip along her arm, and her skin pebbled. “I remember the way it felt when your eyes met mine. Like I’d suddenly been thrust into outer space and there was no oxygen to be had.”

  She pressed her lips together as I continued. “I remember the way my chest tightened as I watched you strut over to where I was playing craps with my boys. And I remember praying to every God that I could think of that you were as interested in me as I was in you. Then you put your hand on my forearm”—I dropped my gaze to where my own hand rested on her arm and then glanced back up—“and you said, ‘See something you like?’ and I knew right then and fucking there I was a goner.”