The Wall of Winnipeg and Me - Mariana Zapata Page 0,137
Dallas because I was planning on seeing my little brother who was playing a game nearby on Friday. I figured on Thanksgiving Day, I could get ahead on doing some T-shirt designs I’d been inspired to do instead.
Aiden: There’s no one to go with you?
Me: < -- Forever Alone -- >
Aiden: < Forever Annoying >
Me: You’d miss me if I was gone, sunshine.
I’d barely hit ‘send’ when I cursed, then sent him another message.
Me: Thanks for the ticket.
He didn’t respond, but when I got out of the shower that night and found something in the team’s colors wrapped in clear plastic on my bed, I stared at it. And when I ripped off the packaging and shook it out to see that it was a brand new Three Hundreds jersey with GRAVES written on the back, I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt.
Taking a peek at the clock next to my bed, I saw it wasn’t nine yet and made my way to Aiden’s room, the master bedroom down the hall. His door was closed when I got there, but I knocked, listening for him on the other side.
Sure enough, “Vanessa?”
“It’s Muffin.”
He made a noise I couldn’t distinguish. “Come in.”
I turned the knob and slipped inside, leaving it open behind me. Sitting on the edge of his California king-sized bed, Aiden was busy rubbing a towel over his head. The first thing I noticed was how smooth his jaw was. Without the beard, he looked younger… nicer. I’d only seen him freshly shaved a handful of times in the past since he usually did it at night and it all grew back in while he slept.
“Did the light go out in your room?” The smug-ass dragged a towel over the back of his neck as he asked.
“You’re so funny.” I rolled my eyes so he knew how irritating I thought he was. “Dummy.”
The corner of his full mouth perked up a bit as he tossed his towel into the hamper in the corner of the room.
And it was right then that I realized he was only wearing that little piece of gold resting right by his collarbones and boxer briefs. Gray, form-fitting, made with some kind of spandex, boxer briefs.
My mouth went dry and I averted my eyes to look somewhere else—anywhere else—instead… instead of at those huge thighs I used to see all the time in compression shorts when I would take pictures of him. Or instead of that thick, shadowy bulge tucked along to the left against his leg. I locked my eyes on his dresser. “I, ah, saw the present you left me on my bed,” I noted, grasping for words.
“Uh-huh,” he muttered as I saw him stand up in my peripheral vision and make his way toward the same dresser I was trying to focus on.
What was he doing? I swallowed and peeked at the greatest butt I’d ever seen for one second before looking away again. “I just wanted to say thank you.”
The two bulky muscles lining either side of his neck went up and down. You’d never seen trapezius muscles until you’d seen Aiden’s. “I got it for free, and you needed a new one.”
I glanced at his butt one more time for a second. I was weak. Then I glanced again. So freaking weak. “They gave it to you for free?” My voice sounded strained and why wouldn’t it? I could stop staring at the greatest bubble butt and pair of thighs in the universe. I wanted to bite them. I honestly wanted to bite them.
“It’s the only one I’ve ever asked for. They had to give it to me,” he explained over his shoulder.
His comment warmed me way more than it should have, and it had me focusing on the gold chain around his neck. I wanted to ask him about his parents and why they weren’t figures in his life. I wanted to know if he’d been a pain in the ass when he was a kid. More than anything though, I wanted to find out what was his favorite thing about his grandparents was. But I didn’t. Instead, I asked his back, “Can I ask you something?”
“I said you could.”
We might get along better, but I still wanted to shank him from time to time. Something told me that would never change. “I’ve always wondered, why didn’t you play hockey instead of football?”
He turned that big, damp body around to face me as he slipped heather-gray pajama pants up his