The Hardest Hit

by Teague, AS

  He sighed. “Let me guess. They’re only orange and yellow.”

  “You got it.”

  “She’s a giver, that one.” He dropped his gym bag by the door and tiptoed over to where Brooke was snoozing, bending to give her a light kiss on the head. His lips lingered at her temple for a moment, and I turned away, the moment too intimate for me to intrude on. Plus, my heart squeezed a bit as I thought about how lucky Brooke was that she had someone who loved her the way Griff did.

  “I can’t believe she couldn’t even stay awake for Hugh and Zac,” I told him as I turned the TV off.

  “They don’t have my dimple.” He flashed a smile and winked.

  I rolled my eyes. “So humble.”

  “Hey, Mel?” Griff said.

  “Hm?”

  “Aiden’s in town. He wants to see you.”

  “Don’t care,” I said simply, pushing to my feet. I slid past him to grab my purse from the table in the hall.

  Griff made a noise that told me he didn’t believe me. “Well, I told him that I’d let you know. Now that I have, I’m going to bed.”

  Aiden and Griff were as tight as Brooke and I. I knew that he was only relaying the message for him, but that didn’t mean I had any interest in talking about Aiden any longer than necessary. “Night, Griff.”

  “Night, Mel,” Griff whispered as he scooped his wife into his arms and began to carry her down the hall.

  I slipped through the door and closed it behind me, making sure to lock it on my way out.

  Chapter Six

  Aiden

  I saw her across the room, her smile wide, her wild hair flying as she laughed at something her best friend said. That smile was the entire reason I’d come tonight. I knew she would be here, and I hadn’t heard a word from her in four months. Not since I’d fucked up in Vegas. It wasn’t from lack of trying though. I’d texted her often, every time I was in town. She’d just ignored them all.

  Every time I saw her, it was like it was the first time. She was the brightest spot in the room, her laughter electrifying the space around her, her smile drawing everyone within a ten-foot radius to her.

  Too bad that when she spotted me, that smile would vanish and the light would dim as though a switch were flipped.

  I stood a moment longer, shoulder propped against the wall, and watched her as she threw her head back and laughed again, this time at something my boy Griff said.

  “You look like a creeper,” Quinn murmured as he stopped beside me, bottle of water in one hand.

  I smirked. “Takes one to know one.”

  He scoffed. “What are we? Ten years old? That’s the best you could come up with?” His gaze traveled across the room and then cut back to where I was still staring at Mel. “She still avoiding you?”

  I took the bottle of water he offered and tipped it to my lips. “Like I have herpes.”

  Quinn shrugged his shoulder. “Don’t blame her.”

  I groaned. “You don’t understand.”

  “Of course, I do. I understand that you’re an idiot.” Griff looked to where we were chatting and raised his chin. Mel followed his gaze, her smile disappearing just like I knew it would when our eyes met.

  “Uh oh. Looks like she spotted you.” Quinn chuckled, and I fought the urge to punch him in the arm. “You better go do some groveling.”

  I would have to do a hell of a lot more than just groveling if I wanted Melanie Holstein to give me the time of day… again.

  Quinn sauntered away, leaving me alone with nothing but Mel’s glare for company. I tipped the water bottle up again and took a swallow before sucking in a deep breath and then giving her a wink.

  If I thought she was glaring at me before, the look she shot me was pure laser beams. Destination? My heart. If she could, I knew that she’d gladly watch it explode. So, I did what any man who was obviously not welcome would do. I shoved off the column I’d been leaning against and made my way across the room, Mel’s disgusted expression never leaving her face. In fact, the closer I got to where she was standing with Brooke and Griff, the deeper the frown lines became.

  “Mel,” I breathed. “You are looking good tonight.”

  Brooke stifled a giggle and cleared her throat. “Mel, I need a drink. Want anything? No? Okay. Come on, Griff, let’s go say hey to the other guys.”

  Mel pulled her gaze from me and squinted at Brooke as she pulled Griff away by the arm. Brooke didn’t seem to care that her best friend was plotting her demise for leaving her alone with me and winked at me before successfully dragging her husband away and leaving me alone with the one person in the entire room who didn’t want to talk to me.

  “I always look good, Aiden,” Mel snapped when she turned back to me.

  I reached a hand out to grab one of her curls, but she slapped it away. I held my hands up in surrender. “You haven’t answered any of my texts.”

  She feigned surprise. “You’ve texted me? I haven’t gotten anything from you.”

  It was a lie and we both knew it. “Yes, you have.” Once again, I tried to touch her, my fingers itching to touch her somewhere, anywhere.

  I brushed a fingertip along her arm, the skin pebbling at the contact. “See? You don’t hate me.”

  She nodded. “Yes. I do.”

  I took a step toward her, caging her in. “No, Mel. You don’t. Why have you been avoiding me for the last four months?”

  Her body was nearly flush against mine, and the proximity of her breasts to my chest made my heart pound. It had been too long since we’d last been this close, and I wanted desperately to pull her to me and crash my lips to hers. But I knew that if I did, I’d just push her even further away.

  For seven years, we’d had a love-hate relationship that leaned more toward the hate part of that than it did the love. But I couldn’t blame her for the way she always glared at me these days.

  Mel’s perfectly manicured hand came to rest on my chest, directly over where my heart was galloping, and I knew she could feel the way my body reacted to her, but I didn’t care. With a not-so-gentle shove, she pushed away from me. “It’s the same old song and dance, Aiden. And unfortunately for you, I didn’t wear my dancing shoes tonight. If you’ll excuse me, I think I see Trav across the room.”

  She stepped out of my grasp, leaving me staring at the wall.

  Fuck.

  I pressed my lips together and got my shit together before plastering my famous shit-eating grin on my face and turning.

  I hated these fucking football parties. I’d been in the league long enough that I didn’t feel like it was necessary for me to attend them anymore, but my agent insisted, so I sucked it up and went. But I wasn’t required to attend this one. I chose to be here because I knew that this may be my only chance to see Mel. But if she wasn’t going to talk to me, then I would be heading home to see my boys as soon as I finished making the rounds.

  I’d smile. I’d talk shop. I’d kiss ass. And then I would go the fuck home where I didn’t have to be that guy who everyone thought I was.

  “Coach!” I called when my gaze connected with the head coach of the Bears.

  He held a tumbler of amber liquid up. “Aiden Shaw. Hell of a game last Sunday. You get better every week.”

  I stuck out a hand and shook his. “Hard to improve upon perfection.”

  He threw his head back and roared with laughter. “You never were modest, were you?”

  I lifted a shoulder. “No need to be modest when you have the talent that I do.”

  He put the glass to his lips and took a pull of what I was sure was a hundred-dollar drink. “Your contract’s up this year. Think they’ll put a franchise tag on you?”

  I knew without a doubt that the Packers would do everything it took to keep me as their star quarterback. My agent had already been talking about negotiating the highest contract in league history, but I wasn’t sure that Wisconsin was where I wanted to be anymore.

  We’d won two Super Bowls, I’d been named leag
ue MVP for the last three years, and I’d broken all of the team’s records. I didn’t know what else there was for me to achieve where I was.

  But I was loyal. And the city of Green Bay had embraced me, the fans all chanted my name, and the community was a big part of my success. I didn’t know if I could leave it behind.

  So, I’d stayed and extended my contract twice and continued to build my legacy with the team that had drafted me in the first round.

  “Coach, you know that they aren’t letting me go anywhere.” I grinned.

  He shook his head. “That’s too bad. I’d love the opportunity to coach you.”

  “You know my talent doesn’t need coaching.” I forced my grin even wider and tipped my chin. “Looks like one of the guys over there is trying to get my attention. Good talking to you. Good luck with next week’s game.”

  He chuckled. “You’re smooth, Shaw. I’ll give you that.”

  “I’m a lot of things,” I replied before striding away, the grin fading.

  I stopped to rub elbows with several more of the coaches and players who were milling around the large ballroom and then zeroed my gaze in to where Mel was chatting with one of the linemen on Griff’s team.

  I needed to try to explain why I’d left her in Vegas.

  I needed to remind her that we had something that I knew she had never had with anyone else.

  I needed to hold her again.

  Our eyes collided, and for the second time tonight, she tried to murder me with her gaze. If only she knew that she was damn close to doing just that.

  “Smith,” I murmured as I slid beside them. “I didn’t know you knew Mel.”

  The lineman, who was nearly twice as big as I was, grinned. “I didn’t.” He looked back to where Mel was eyeing me warily and gave her an appreciative glance. “But I do now.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my irritation in check. “Well, I hate to cut your conversation short, but Mel and I have to talk. I’m sure you don’t mind if I steal her away from you, right, Smith?”

  He heard the venom in my voice, but it didn’t faze him in the least. “I dunno, Shaw, we were right in the middle of getting to know each other better.” His eyes roamed over Mel’s body, and I felt my own go tight.

  “Smith, it was really nice talking to you,” Mel said, her voice dry as she cut her eyes to me. “But if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got this nagging cough that I need to get rid of.”

  She turned away from him and, grabbing my bicep, pulled me toward the door of the ballroom. I flexed under her fingertips and smirked when she rolled her eyes at me as I let her drag me out into the crisp night air.

  It was only October, but that didn’t mean anything when you were in Chicago. There were some years when it was warm the entire month and others when the ground would be blanketed in snow.

  I blew out a breath that looked like smoke, and Mel shivered. She was wearing an oversized gray sweater dress that hit her mid-thigh and a pair of black thigh boots that made her long legs look impossibly longer. When I’d spotted her across the room earlier, I couldn’t take my eyes off the narrow scrap of flesh between where the boots ended and the dress began. Her tan skin instantly triggered the memories of all our times together, the sensation of running my hand over her slender legs almost as real as if I were actually doing it.

  I gazed at her now, the dress slouchy enough that you couldn’t make out the shape of her toned body but still impossibly sexy as it dipped low in the back, revealing her smooth skin. A back that I was desperate to trail kisses along.

  “Earth to Aiden,” Mel snapped, her hot pink nails invading my vision. “You done drooling over me yet?”

  I chuckled. I’d never be done drooling over her. I ran a hand across my mouth. “You caught me.”

  She clutched her clutch to her chest and shivered.

  “Want my jacket?” I offered.

  “Nope.” Her lips popped on the ‘p’ sound. She shoved a hand through her hair and sighed. “What do you want?”

  You.

  “Let me take you to dinner. This weekend.”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “I’m busy.”

  I stepped into her space. “Whatever they are, your plans aren’t better than dinner with me.”

  She arched a brow and pursed her lips. “Anything is better than you.”

  Arrow launched. But, lucky for me, I knew that her aim was shit. “You don’t mean that, Melanie.”

  She ran her tongue along her lower lip, and the corner of her mouth tipped up when she saw my nostrils flare. She was toying with me. Two could play that game. I stepped even closer to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her body flush with mine.

  It felt so fucking good that I almost forgot that I wasn’t supposed to let her know how good it felt. “Cancel your plans. Friday night. I’ll fly in.”

  She blinked, long and slow, and I watched as her resolve crumbled. “Aiden. Why do we keep doing this?”

  I brought my lips to her ear. “Give me a chance to explain.”

  I pressed a soft kiss to the hollow space behind her ear. “Friday night.”

  Her body went slack against mine, and I knew that she was done resisting what we both so obviously wanted. “Dinner. At a restaurant. Not a hotel room. Not my house. And nothing more.”

  I traced my tongue along the slender column of her neck before pulling her lobe between my teeth. She shivered as I whispered, “Deal.”

  Chapter Seven

  Mel

  I spent the last three days cursing myself for agreeing to this date with Aiden. I knew that when I’d seen him at the Bears football party that he would try to pull something like this, and I’d sworn to myself that I wouldn’t let him sweet-talk me into anything again. But here I was, going through my closet like a maniac trying to find something to wear that would both tell him that I didn’t give a fuck what he thought about me and also bring him to his knees, where he belonged. I couldn’t resist his charm, the way I felt when his body was close to mine. I’d never been able to make sense of the intense pull I had to him, and I’d long since given up trying to rationalize it. The fact of the matter was, Aiden Shaw had become my kryptonite.

  Aiden had a weakness for my legs, so I played on that and donned a rust-colored dress that had a plunging V-neckline and a slit up the leg that came dangerously close to being inappropriate. The twist in the middle of the dress gave the fabric just enough interest that it was okay that it didn’t need to hug my curves. I added a necklace that came to rest right between my cleavage and made sure that my hair was wild and free, just the way Aiden liked. Not that he was going to get the chance to push his hands through it tonight.

  I stepped back and looked at myself in the full-length mirror. I looked good. No, I looked incredible. Aiden was going to take one look at me and be ruined for any other woman for the rest of his life.

  I snagged my phone from my nightstand and snapped a picture before sending it to Brooke. Less than two seconds later, she responded.

  Brooke: Holy. FARKING. Hell.

  I giggled. That was exactly the response I was hoping for.

  Me: Think that it says, ‘I hate you but also want you to screw my brains out’???

  The text bubble popped up as she responded, and I took one last minute to check my lipstick, pleased with the matte finish instead of the gloss that I had first considered.

  Brooke: It definitely says ‘Screw my brains out.’ However, the amount of effort you took to look like that does NOT say that you hate him.

  I frowned. She was right.

  Me: Why can’t I hate him?

  I wanted to hate Aiden. I wanted to erase his phone number, change mine, and go into the witness protection program so that he couldn’t ever send me another text message. It had been seven years of this on-and-off relationship that we had, and I was tired of it. But no matter how many times I vowed to myself that I was finally done, I just coul
dn’t resist him.

  Brooke: Because he’s your lobster.

  Brooke and her damn Friends references.

  Me: He is not. I gotta go. He should be here soon.

  Brooke: Make sure you use protection tonight.

  Me: There will be none of that. I told him, dinner in public, and that’s it.

  Brooke: Riiiiiiiiiiight. Love ya.

  Me: You’re an asshole. Love you too.

  I dropped the phone in my clutch and slid the three-inch heels onto my feet. I was tall, five foot ten, but Aiden was taller. It was probably one of the things that I liked the most about that jerk. I could wear heels that made my long legs look incredible and I still didn’t even come close to dwarfing him.

  I made my way down the stairs of the house that had way too much room for just me and went to the kitchen to have a glass of wine. I was pouring the glass when my phone began to buzz from inside my clutch. I fished it out and saw ‘Pecker’ flash across the screen.

  It was incredibly immature of me, but when Brooke’s daughter, Allie, had called Aiden’s team the Peckers instead of Packers, I couldn’t help myself.

  I hit the button to connect the call and put the phone to my ear. “You couldn’t even come to my door? What kind of date is this?”

  There was silence, and then he let out a sigh. “I’m, uh, I’m not there.”

  I set the wine glass down and went to look out the front window. He wasn’t there.

  “Okay, so, how much longer?”

  Another pause. Then he cleared his throat and said, “I’ve got to cancel, Mel.”

  Heat crept up my neck. Of course, he had to cancel. I laughed, the sound full of mirth. “I’d like to be shocked, but unfortunately, I’m not.”

  I should have hung up the phone and finally put our relationship to bed, but I couldn’t stop myself. “What’s your excuse this time? When you bailed on me in Vegas, it was because a friend needed help moving. Let me guess? Your neighbor’s cat is stuck in a tree and the firefighters are all busy?”