In the middle of me taking in the soft fragrance coming off of him, he put his arms around me. Gently, gently, gently. One arm went around the top of my shoulders and the other one directly below it. He tightened his embrace and brought me in an inch closer into the cocoon of his massive body.

I tried not to freeze. He was hugging me. He was hugging me.

Something settled at the top of my head and I knew, I just freaking knew, it was his chin.

It was probably the second best hug I’d ever gotten in my life; only beat by the one my foster dad had given me when he visited me in the hospital right after Susie had hit me with her car. He’d been the first person to show up, the first person to come into my room after I’d woken up, and I’d lost it. And he’d given me a hug and let me grieve for the death of the rocky relationship I’d had with her.

But this was a completely different kind of hug.

While Zac wasn’t a small man by any means and my little brother was six foot four, I’d never been hugged by someone as large as Aiden. I liked it. I liked it a whole lot. His bicep, pressed over my ear, seemed to muffle the noise of the people talking in the background. It was like being swallowed up by a tornado. A big, muscular, warm tornado with an amazing body that was going to watch out for you for the next few years of your life, even when you weren’t on the best terms.

A big, muscular, warm tornado with 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 of nowhere with a recording device in hand. “You want to talk about this now?”

“Why not?” the man who lied only every blue moon asked with a hunch of his shoulders.

Seeing no one around, I shrugged under his wrist. “Because maybe you don’t want everyone to know?”

“I don’t care, Van. I’m always going to do what’s best for me. If anyone’s surprised by that, it’s their fault.”

The fact that I’d kept my plan to quit a secret for two months didn’t make me feel guilty. At all. I always knew Aiden of all people would understand what I’d done if he put some thought into it.

“You’re fine moving?” he asked.

“I knew what I was getting myself into with you, big guy. I’m not going to suddenly back out on you. You told me you weren’t totally happy here. This is your dream.” I knew his contract was almost over. I knew even after he signed with a team, there was always the chance he could be traded. I was prepared for that reality; I’d made sure of it. Sure there was Diana, but continents could separate my best friend and me, and we’d still find a way to talk every day. Distance wouldn’t do anything to our friendship. I’d survived not being her neighbor since I was fourteen. Plus, I was never moving back to El Paso. Ever.

On the other hand, my brother had his own life. We saw each other as much as we could, but with him in school and playing basketball, it wasn’t often enough. After his game in Denton, it would more than likely be another month or two until I saw him again.

I was okay with that because I knew he was fine. He was doing what he loved. It was with that thought, standing next to this man who clung onto his dream with every finger and toe, that I stopped walking. So did he.

Aiden’s expression was carefully muted, but I wanted to make sure he understood. “I can work anywhere, and anyway, I’m here for you, not the team. Do whatever you need to do.”

The expression on his face turned a little funny.

“We’ll figure it out, but don’t worry about me,” I tried my best to reassure him. I wasn’t sure why he thought I would change my mind or back out on him or do whatever it was that he thought I would. I’d thought about this long and hard before I’d agreed to marry him. An athletic career wasn’t a guaranteed thing even if he was in the best shape of his life.

Something so bright could be blown out in no time.

I smiled up at him and asked, “Are you hungry?” I blinked. “Stupid question. You’re always hungry. I’ll make something at the house.”

“You haven’t eaten?”

“I ate before I came to the game, but that was hours ago.”

“You need to make sure you’re eating enough with all the running,” he threw in, making me almost trip. “What did you do today?”

“Nothing. I stayed at home.”

“What about your friend you’re always talking to? She lives here, doesn’t she?”

“Diana? She went to her parents’ house yesterday.”

“In El Paso?”

“No. They moved to San Antonio a few years ago.”

“You didn’t want to go with her?”

“I’m not used to making a big stink about Thanksgiving. I’d rather get some work done and make some money.”

Was that a half smile that came over Aiden’s mouth? I’m pretty sure it was.

“I like Halloween and Christmas. That’s all,” I explained a little more in detail. Eyeing that fraction of a smile, I made myself ask the question I’d been thinking of the last few days since the nearby grocery store had begun carrying Christmas trees. “Hey, would it bother you if I put up a tree for the holidays?” And decorations, but I kept that to myself.

I had prepared myself for him to say no.

But he didn’t say no as he guided me through the parking lot toward his Range Rover, parked in the closest spot in the lot because he was one of the first people to get to the stadium. “If it makes you happy, it wouldn’t bother me.”

I snapped my head up to look at him. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He snuck me a glance. “Stop acting like you’re shocked. You really think I would tell you no?”