The Wall of Winnipeg and Me - Mariana Zapata Page 0,142

an amazing body that was finally my friend.

That thought had me smiling into the beloved hoodie he had on. “This is nice,” I admitted in a whisper.

The chest under my face tightened as much as those refined muscles could possibly get.

The hug only lasted possibly five seconds total before I drew back, but I was grinning like a total idiot, and I might have even been blushing because the moment was so monumentally epic, it felt like I’d won a gold medal. Then I remembered the team had lost their game and I dug into my front pocket for one of the slightly melted peppermint patties I’d snuck into the stadium. I had planned on eating it, but when I found the pass with my ticket, I ate one, saving the other for the big guy.

Holding the small plastic wrapped candy out, I raised my eyebrows.

He raised his eyebrows right back and plucked the chocolate from my palm, tearing it open and sticking it in his mouth, the wrapper disappearing into the pocket of his jacket.

I watched him as he chewed it slowly and asked, “Do you have to do anything else?”

The Wall of Winnipeg shook his head, his attention totally focused on me, instead of the people around us.

My face went a little warm, unsure of how I felt with him and being the center of that intense stare. “You want to go home?”

“Yes.”

“Will you drive me to get my car? I parked in the normal people’s lot—”

“I’ll give you a ride.”

“I don’t know if they’ll let you drive into the parking lot…” I trailed off when he gave me that ‘you’re an idiot, Van’ look. I really wanted to stick my finger in his nose. “Right. Of course they’ll let you in. Give me a ride then.”

Aiden silently agreed, steering me with a tilt of his head toward the exit.

We’d taken maybe two steps when I spotted a familiar face standing at the entrance to the family room. I rolled back my shoulders as we approached the Three Hundreds’ wide receiver. I saw the moment he spotted Aiden and then happened to glance to see me next to him. The smile that came over his face was downright unsettling, and it pissed me off.

“Good game, man,” Christian Delgado said to Aiden even as his gaze stayed locked on me. “Hi, Vanessa.”

“Hi, Christian,” I greeted him back, my voice flat, totally unenthusiastic.

“How you doing?”

“Fine, thank you, and you?” I seriously sounded like Lurch from “The Addams Family.”

The handsy fucker winked. He freaking winked at me even as Aiden played my oversized shadow. “Great, honey.”

Honey? Really?

A weight landed on my shoulder. Out of my peripheral vision, a wrist was draped there, long fingers hanging loosely. I kept the look on my face blank as we passed him and headed toward the tunnel.

I finally glanced up at Aiden once we were far enough away from the family room and Christian. “Sorry about springing that hug on you, but I knew people were watching and it would have looked strange if we didn’t.”

He kept his attention forward with a dismissive shake of his head. “How’d it go in there?”

“I had five women I’d never talked to in my life ask how many months along I was. Then three other people told me I’d better plan to have a baby during the offseason unless I wanted the powers that be upset with me.” I raised my eyebrows thinking about those conversations again. I didn’t like people telling me what to do, especially people I didn’t know who were butting into something that wasn’t their business.

“Ignore them.”

“I should,” I sighed, still torn between feeling bad for being a liar and annoyed with the other women for being so damn nosey.

He frowned down at me. “What is it?”

“Nothing.”

Aiden squeezed my shoulder. “What is it?”

I shot him a look that was the closest imitation of his possible. “I feel bad being super friendly with them when this isn’t what they think it is.” I caught the crease between his eyebrows as they deepened. “And who knows what’ll happen in a few months, right?” I lowered my voice, knowing how confidential this information was.

His nod was slow, not necessarily wary but something else completely; something I couldn’t identify. “You couldn’t live in different state than me,” he said out loud like this wasn’t something he should stay quiet about.

I glanced around the walkway we were going down, just to make sure no one had popped up out