When we reluctantly pull away, her face is flushed, and she has this dreamy look in her eyes. All I can do is stare at her as my heart skips a beat and my stomach does somersaults, my minddrawing up our future, wedding bells, babies, my home filled with her things.Our home.
Jessie clears his throat at our side. “Incoming,” he says in a hushed voice. I quickly take a step away from Aubrey as my daydream comes to an end.
“Hey, Coach.” Greyson comes up to us, holding his wife’s hand. “You keeping this one in line around my sister?” He nods his head toward my friend.
Jessie snorts and I give him a glare, telling him to shut up. Deciding to ignore Greyson’s comment, I smile at the newly married couple. “Congratulations again, guys, it was a beautiful wedding. When are you planning the honeymoon?”
“Oh, not right away. With the babies coming soon, I think we’ll put the honeymoon on hold for the first year.” Emma smiles at her husband as she places a hand over her belly.
We chitchat for a little while, and eventually they wander off to see other people. Jessie goes off to mingle with whichever single woman he can find while I chat with a few of my players but never wander too far away from my Angel, keeping her in my line of sight and catching her eyes every few minutes with a smile.
Finally, the five-minute warning is given, and everyone gathers around in the open-spaced living room. I stand at the back of the group as does Aubrey. She peers at me from the side; her thumbnail stuck between her teeth as the nerves begin to surface.There’s no way I can’t kiss her at midnight, I just can’t.
When one minute is left on the clock, I begin to take sidesteps toward her, making sure no one is paying attention. At fifteen seconds, I’m at her side, taking her hand in mine. “Ready to make a run for it?” I ask quickly.
“Yes,” she answers without missing a beat, a blush settling on her cheeks.
“TEN!”everyone shouts as they turn to each other, preparing for their kiss. I tighten my hold on Aubrey’s hand and turn for the closest hallway.
“NINE!... EIGHT!”I pull the first door open, but it’s a linen closet and not big enough to fit us. Cursing myself, I quickly shut it and rush off to the next door.
“SEVEN!... SIX!”Practically ripping the door off its hinges, I pull her into the room and smack the door closed behind us.
“FIVE!... FOUR!... THREE!”I press her back against the door, holding her face between my palms, my lips a hair’s breadth away from hers, my body becoming one with hers.
“Two…” I whisper, caressing her lips with mine.
“One…” she breathes against me as I kiss her with everything I have, a promise of a lifetime filled with love through every kiss.
When we have no choice but to come up for air, I rest my forehead against hers, needing a moment to catch my breath and stop my head from spinning. “Happy New Year, Aubrey.”
“Happy New Year, Shane.”
Chapter nine
Aubrey
Welcome home.
~ One Week Later ~
It’s finally date night, my first date ever … and I’m freaking out. So much so that I’m sweating everywhere—I’ve changed my outfit thirty times and still can’t make up my mind. When I asked Shane what we were doing, he said not to worry about it and to dress however I wanted.
That does not help AT ALL!
I’ve been stressing out so much that I practically had a meltdown half an hour ago and called Emma, telling her I was going to cancel my date with Shane. She told me I was going to do no such thing before making me do some breathing exercises and told me she was on her way. But she’s still not here, and the clock is ticking down.
Finally, after a few more minutes, my buzzer goes off and I race to the door, pressing the button on the intercom to let her in, then wait by the door in nothing but my robe. A minute later, she pushes the door to my condo open and strides in with three garment bags over her arm and a suitcase.
“I brought dresses and shoes. We should be able to find you something in here.”I could kiss her right now.Em and I happen to be almost identical in size, whether it’s clothes or shoes, although her breasts are a teensy bit larger than mine, but it’s usually not enough to show in dresses.
“How did you manage to get all of these past my brother?” I ask as I take everything from her and head into my room.
“I didn’t. I told him you were going on a date and couldn’t find anything nice to wear,” she says, out of breath as she sits down on my bed with a huff. “Jesus, don’t ever have two kids at once. I swear I feel like I can’t breathe after walking for two seconds.”
“Emma! You told Grey about my date!?” I feel the panic rising again, and now I’m picturing my brother showing up to see who my date is.
Oh God, this can’t be good. I need to cancel right now!
