The Wall of Winnipeg and Me (20 page)

Before he could say anything else—or not say anything else—I hauled ass upstairs and into Zac’s room, internally cringing at the mess he’d made since he began locking himself in, and the smell, it was bad. Real bad.

Grabbing the corner of the wrinkled comforter on the bed and his pillow, I ran down the stairs and found Aiden standing next to the couch talking to Zac in a low voice and…

Was he patting the armrest?

“Here.” I handed over the pillow.

Aiden took it, his attention still on Zac, and set it alongside the armrest I’m pretty sure he’d been petting a second ago. “Lay down,” he ordered the drunk one in a quiet, no-nonsense voice that obviously left no room for argument to even someone who was mostly out of it.

Sure enough, Zac lay down without opening his eyes. His arms crossed over his chest, one shoulder cocooned into the couch cushions. I tossed the comforter over his long body and smiled at Aiden who was still standing over the couch, looking extremely, ridiculously serious at what was essentially us tucking a grown man in.

Zac made some funny kind of puttering sound that made his lips flutter, and I snorted. “He looks like a little kid, doesn’t he?” I whispered.

“He acts like a little kid,” Aiden grunted, shaking his head in total disapproval.

“What is he going to do now?” I found myself blurting the question out.

The big guy hummed. “What he should do is quit acting like the world has ended and get back to training so another team will pick him up later on in the season,” he stated. “What he’s going to do—I don’t know. If he waits too long, it’ll hurt his chances of getting another opportunity in the future. Every day we get older and our bodies can’t…” Aiden tipped his chin to the side and cast me a long look. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“That’s a good idea. I think he’ll listen to you.”

“He’d probably listen to you more.”

That had me frowning at him at the same time I shoved my glasses further up my nose. “You think?”

His attention didn’t stray from the couch as he answered. “I know.”

I didn’t necessarily believe that was true, but okay. “I’ll try, I guess. The worse he’ll do is not listen to me, and it wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.”

That had his head turning. “Are you talking about me?”

I pressed my lips together. “I wasn’t talking about you, but…”

“But?”

I kept my gaze on the wall away from Aiden. “You haven’t listened to me before, if you want to get technical.”

Aiden didn’t respond.

“A lot of times,” I added in a mutter.

Nothing. Okay.

I tipped my head toward the kitchen. “I was going to make a sandwich before I went to bed. Do you want one?”

“What kind?” he asked, like I’d offer him a turkey club.

“
S
o how’s it going
, living in sin?”

I gave an awkward laugh, shaking the wok in my hand at the same time. Uncomfortable laughs were what you got when you felt guilty. I still hadn’t told Diana that Aiden and I had gone to Las Vegas.

It was a damn miracle. She usually knew I started my period ten minutes after I did. We liked to celebrate another month of not being pregnant.

I could only think about two other things I’d ever lied to her about. Apparently, I liked to live life on the edge because I knew I was in for a reckoning the likes of which I’d never seen when she found out the truth. Because, at this point, I was in too deep and there was no way in hell I was going to admit what I’d done.

The biggest problem with lying to your closest friend was finding the right line to straddle. Enough truth to be believable but not enough of a lie so they could notice you were full of shit, which was exactly what I needed to find, so I went with diverting her attention by going for middle ground. “It’s going fine.”

“Fine? That’s it?”

“Yeah. Fine.” What the hell else could I say? While things between Aiden and I were better than they ever were, nothing amazing had happened. He lived his life and I lived mine. He was a busy guy; I’d always known that and nothing had changed. “The most exciting thing I’ve found out was that Aiden gets his groceries delivered
once a week
, and that he hired some lady who lives in Washington to answer his e-mails. Crazy stuff, huh?”

She went “hmm,” paused, and then asked, “Why does it feel like you’re lying to me?”

She could already tell. What the hell? And why was I surprised? “Because you’re crazy?” I offered, making a face into the phone in panic.

“Doubtful.”

“It’s more like a fact, but anyway, there’s nothing
to
tell you. We don’t see each other that much. The most he does is wave at me.” Sometimes he talked to me, but we didn’t have to be technical, did we?

“B-o-r-i-n-g.”

I groaned. “S-o-r-r-y.”

“Really? You don’t have anything juicy to tell me?”

“Nope.” I’d already worked for him for two years, if there was something bad to tell her, I couldn’t have told her anyway. I’d signed a non-disclosure agreement.

The disgruntled sound out of her mouth made me grin. “Fine. Are you going to El Paso this weekend after all?” she asked, already moving on, knowing if I hadn’t already told her something, I probably wouldn’t.

“Yes,” I confirmed with only the smallest bit of anxiety going through my stomach.

I was going to El Paso for my mom’s birthday.

Did I know I was more than likely going to regret taking the trip hours after I got there? Yes. Nine times out of ten, that had been the case.

But
it was her fiftieth birthday, and her husband was planning a party for her. She’d love to see me there, he’d said to me. Lay on the guilt-trip, why didn’t he? I talked to her once a month. I figured that wasn’t too shabby to begin with considering everything.

From the way he’d made me feel, one call every four weeks wasn’t good enough. At least enough for me to feel obligated to go, even though my gut said it was a stupid idea.

“Where are you staying?”

“At a hotel,” I responded. I could stay with my mom if I wanted to, but I didn’t. The last time I’d stayed with her had ended terribly. There was also my two oldest sisters, but I’d rather camp out under a bridge than do that. Finally, there were my foster parents who I was planning on dropping by and visiting while I was in town, but I didn’t want to impose on them.

“Is Oscar going?” she asked about my little brother.

“No. He already started school.”

“Are you going by yourself?”

“Of course I’m going by myself,” I answered before thinking about just what I was saying.

Wasn’t the Three Hundreds’ bye week coming up? That was the week they got off a season to let the players rest. Should I go by myself? Would it be a good idea to take Aiden around my mom? My sisters? That idea had me cringing.

But I could have him around to break the news. Now that idea seemed like the only one that could have convinced me. There was no chance of my family members telling Diana or her family, so I wasn’t worried about it getting around that way. “Actually, maybe I won’t.”

The nosey broad took a swift intake of breath. “Really?”

“I might ask Aiden, so keep your mouth shut.”

“I will.” She was such a damn liar. I didn’t believe her at all. I didn’t believe she hadn’t told at least her brother that I was living with Aiden, but since no one had accused me of being a prostitute yet, I had started believing she’d actually kept her mouth shut for once in her life about
why
I’d moved in with him. She knew it was illegal, and we’d always joked that if one of us went to jail, we would both go, so we could pretend to be each other’s lovers.

The opening and closing of the garage door let me know someone was home. “I’ll tell everyone about your porn bookmarks if you don’t,” I threatened her with a snicker.

“I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

You never forget accidentally coming across your friend’s—predominantly man on man—porn bookmark folder, no matter how hard you try. “No.”

“Like you’ve never seen gay porn,” she sniped bitterly. “You think Susie might be at your mom’s?

And just like that, my nice, fine day was kicked in the shin. I bit the inside of my cheek and reached up to push my glasses further up my nose. “I don’t know. I talked to my mom a few days ago, but she didn’t mention anything.”

Not that my mom would.

If I did see Susie, chances were high it wasn’t going to end well. It never had. Even people I didn’t know who knew about our situation, were well aware that was a fact. We were like two magnets constantly repelling the other.

Damn it. I knew Diana was just trying to be helpful, but simply thinking about Susie made my head start hurting.

“I don’t think you should go by yourself or with Aiden, for the record.”

That wasn’t surprising. I just wished she wouldn’t have brought up Susie. “I know.”

“But you’re still going?”

I’d already given my word I would. How could I take it back? “Yes.”

She didn’t approve and it was evident over the phone.

“I want to finish eating so I can get back to work. I’ll text you later. Give the demons a hug from me next time you see them, and tell Drigo I haven’t forgotten he still has the DVDs I let him borrow a month ago,” I said to her, rubbing at one of my throbbing temples.

“I will. I’m babysitting them tomorrow. I’ll let you know when I’m off next week so I can do your hair again, ‘kay?”

We hung up just as the door that connected the garage to the kitchen opened and Aiden came in, his duffel in hand.

“Hi,” I said, turning off the stove.

“Hi, Vanessa.” Aiden dropped his bag on the floor by the door and then made his way toward where I was standing, his nostrils flaring at the smell of lentils, chopped vegetables, and sundried tomatoes mixing together. “Smells good.”

I gave him a side-look, only letting what seemed to be an extra-large shirt on his double-extra-large frame distract me for a second. “There’s enough for both of us, if you have a normal, human-sized meal instead of a Hulk-sized one.”

He sniffed, and I think it was more at my comment than to actually smell the food again. “Thank you,” he said, making his way toward the sink to wash his hands. He seemed to hesitate at the island for a minute before taking two plates down from the cupboard and setting them on the counter by the side of my hip.

When the timer for the noodles went off, I drained them, splitting up half the pot on two plates and leaving the other half in the pot. I scooped up the stir-fry and placed it on top of the noodles as Aiden put two red apples side by side in the spot he usually ate at.

We sat down to eat. Each of us just sitting there, not on our phones or computer or anything. Just… sitting there.

“Has Zac come down?” he suddenly asked.

“Once. He came out of his room around noon, but that’s it.” It had been almost a week since he’d been let go from the team, and apart from the day we’d gone out, he hadn’t left his room more than he needed to, which was solely for meals. He didn’t want to talk to anyone or do anything, and I wasn’t sure what to do, if I should even do something.

Aiden made a “hmm” noise.

“I don’t know what to say to him, or if I should do something,” I admitted. I wasn’t good at consoling people. I really wasn’t. Some people knew what to say in all types of situations, knew what words were needed, and they used them perfectly. Me? I usually just settled for an “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t good with words even though I did want to do something for Zac. I just didn’t know what.

The big guy raised his shoulder. “Give him some time,” he suggested.

Mr. Congeniality right here was trying to give me advice on what I should do? Did that mean I should do the opposite?

“Yeah, I guess I will,” I said, before my conversation with Diana came back to me. “Umm, I’m going to El Paso for a few days this weekend. Remember I told you?” I stabbed at a few pieces of pasta scattered around the plate. “It’s my mom’s birthday.”

He shifted in his stool, the side of his knee touching mine. “Okay.”

There was no reason for me to feel awkward. None. If he said he’d go, great. If he didn’t want to go, it wasn’t a big deal. “I was thinking… maybe you could come with me. I haven’t told her we got married, and I would rather tell her in person than let them find out some other way.” I fidgeted in my seat and slanted him a look out of the corner of my eye.

Aiden simply forked some food into his mouth, chewing slowly.

I scratched at my ear. “If you want.” Then I added, “It’s just for the weekend.”

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Why had I even bothered saying anything?

Aiden scratched at his jaw with the end of the fork in his hand. He twisted his lower body in his seat, his knee hitting the side of my leg again before he said, “I’d need to be back Sunday night.”

I almost had to do a double take. “Really?”

He shrugged down at his food, super casual, or at least as casual as someone his size could be. Honestly, I was surprised he could fit that butt onto one stool. I was even more surprised the stool’s legs hadn’t given out yet under his weight. “Yeah,” was his reply.

“Oh… okay. I was planning on leaving Friday. It’s an eight hour drive.”

That had his face swinging to me, his expression going from blank to disturbed in a second flat. “You want to drive there?”

I nodded.

He stared at me for a second longer before reaching into his pocket, pulling out his black leather wallet, and then holding a silver credit card out in my direction. “Buy two tickets and rent a car. I don’t do long road trips.”

Did I know he didn’t like riding in a car for longer than absolutely necessary? Yes, but I wanted to cross my eyes anyway. If I didn’t have to do an eight-hour road trip, I wasn’t going to, especially not if I wasn’t paying for it.

He couldn’t be considered my sugar daddy if we were legally married, right?

Shoving the thought aside, I took the card from him hesitantly. “Are you sure?”

He didn’t hold back his eye roll. “Get an afternoon flight, they usually let us out around three.” He eyeballed me from the side. “Don’t rent one of those tiny economy cars either just to save money.”

Yeah, his bossiness was bringing back not the best of memories. I nodded anyway and held his card between my fingers, hesitating. “Is this supposed to be a test?” I asked hesitantly.

Back to being busy eating, it took him a second to answer before he turned to me with a furrow between those thick eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”

“Is this a test?” I wiggled his credit card. “To see if I’ll spend your money or offer to pay for my own ticket.”

That full bottom lip of his dropped just a little, his eyelids hanging low. Then he shook his head slowly, so slowly I knew he was exasperated… or he thought I was a complete idiot. One or the other. Maybe both. “Don’t be dumb. I wouldn’t offer to pay for the tickets if I didn’t want to. You know me better than that.”

He had me there. I shrugged. “Okay. All right.” Sheesh. “I just wanted to be sure because if you want to pay for them, I’m not going to tell you no.”

“Just buy the tickets and rent the car.” He got up with his plate in hand and walked around to the sink before adding, “Where are we staying?”

“I was planning on staying at a hotel.”

“Good. What are you going to tell your family?”

I scratched at the back of my neck before picking at my food. “Just my mom. I don’t—my sisters don’t need to know. Either way, no one’s finding out the truth. They don’t know I’m living with you. I figured—” Shit. What? Was I expecting my mom to not remember who I worked for? Of course she remembered.
Now
. Ten years ago, she didn’t remember half the time that she’d given birth to me and I relied on her. That was an easier truth to consider than the idea that she loved drinking more than she loved her kids.

I needed to stop. I needed to stop five seconds ago. Everything in my life had worked out for the better. I had no reason to complain. My life was better than fine. Way better.

With that reminder, I cleared my throat and pasted a playful tone to my words. “If she asks, I’ll just tell her I quit and you came after me. You realized how madly in love with me you were—”

Honest to God, he snorted.

I put my hand on top of the table and extended my middle finger at him even though I smiled. “—and you can’t live without me, so we eloped. I figured I should stick with at least a partial truth so it doesn’t get too complicated. You got a problem with that?”

Aiden shook his head, the corners of his mouth pulled tight in a smirk that eased my soul a little more.
Everything in my life had worked out
. “No.”

Jackass. I couldn’t help but snicker. “You’ll take one for the team then, so that can be the story we tell everyone who finds out?”

“What team?” he asked.