The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

by Mariana Zapata

  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?”

  And suddenly, I felt like an asshole. “Maybe.”

  Those brown eyes rolled. “I don’t care about Christmas, but if you want to do something, go for it. You don’t have to ask. It’s your house too.”

  Looking up at him, I didn’t know where the knot in my throat came from, but it took a long time for it to go away.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I didn’t know who he was trying to fool, because he wasn’t fooling anyone.

  The black knit beanie he had pulled down to nearly his eyebrows wasn’t hiding anything. Neither were the sunglasses he’d left on even after we got out of the car. Sure his hoodie mostly hid just how developed those big muscles underneath it were, but a nearly three-hundred-pound man wasn’t exactly inconspicuous.

  It was like dressing an elephant in camouflage.

  In this case, it was a sports superstar going into a college-level basketball game trying to be as inconspicuous as possible with the most minimal effort. That was the thing about Aiden, he never really went out of his way to go incognito. He just preferred being a hermit at home to avoid being spotted. Hence why I’d been hired. I understood. I really did. He valued his privacy, and in my heart, I knew he would be the exact same way if he weren’t famous.

  Yet here he was, walking into a basketball stadium with me in Denton, Texas, where there was going to be at least a few hundred people in attendance, all to watch my little brother play.

  When I’d gotten up early that morning, the day after Thanksgiving, the last thing I expected was to find Aiden awake at the breakfast nook. Usually the day after a game, he slept like the dead and even went as crazy as to get an extra two or three hours more of snooze time. With the Three Hundreds’ game falling on Thanksgiving Thursday, the team gave the staff and players the rest of the weekend off.

  But there he’d been at nine in the morning, in the kitchen, in his pajamas, eating an apple, looking just as surprised to see me awake as I was to see him. After dinner
the night before, we’d watched two episodes of “Dragonball Z,” and then Aiden had tromped upstairs to hit the sack.

  “Where are you going?” he had blatantly asked that morning.

  “My little brother has a game,” I answered him as I made my way toward the fridge to make breakfast.

  Holding the apple up to his face, his features went pensive. “What kind of a game?”

  It was then that I realized I had never told him. “He plays college basketball for Louisiana.”

  The Wall of Winnipeg blinked. “What position?”

  “Point guard.” I wasn’t sure why, but I suddenly asked, “Do you want to come? It’s only an hour away.”

  “I was planning on resting today…” He kind of trailed off and shrugged. “What time do you want to leave?”

  Yeah, I’d been dumbstruck for a second.

  It had only taken me the entire drive to decide that maybe I should have left him home. It wasn’t like I cared if fans came up to him or anything—he was what he was—but I hadn’t taken into consideration that he might not enjoy being gawked at for hours if anyone recognized him.

  And why wouldn’t anyone recognize him? He was the face of a professional NFO team in Texas. Even people who didn’t watch football knew who he was with the big-name endorsements he had.

  I then reminded myself that Aiden was always well aware of the pros and cons to the decisions he made. Always. He was a big boy and he made his own choices, so screw it. If he wanted to tag along, who was I to say no? I kept my mouth closed and my advice to myself.

  And so, hours after my invitation, we were at the coliseum where the university held their games. Finally getting a chance to watch my little brother play for the first time this season, I was pretty excited both to see the team’s starting point guard and to have The Wall of Winnipeg tagging along when he was usually content to stay home.

  After picking up the tickets I’d bought on the way from will-call—I had originally only purchased one—we made it through security without any issues. In no time at all, we found our section and Aiden gestured me to go ahead of him down the stairs.

  The stadium wasn’t anywhere near being packed. Considering it was the day after Thanksgiving, most of the North Texas’s students were probably with their families, doing things other than going to a basketball game. There were only a couple handfuls of Louisiana colors in the stands. It suddenly explained why we’d gotten such good seats at the last minute.

  By the time we sat down, the game hadn’t started yet, but it was almost time for the players to come out. I smiled over at Aiden when he was seated next to me, the side of his denim-clad knee touching mine. I reached over and patted his thigh. I mean, I’d sat on his lap. He’d slept in the same bed as me. I’d given him a hug. What was a little pat in comparison? “Thank you for coming.”

  His careful expression slowly melted into a flat one. His words were clear cut. “Shut up.”

  I stared at him for all of two seconds before grinning and touching his thigh again with a snort. “What? I can tell you thank you as much as I want.”

  “Don’t.”

  I ignored his comment. “I’m glad you came. Doing things with someone else is a lot more fun than being alone, even if you’re telling me to shut up. I appreciate it. So sue me.”

  Aiden made an exasperated sound. “I’m going to find the bathroom. I’ll be back.”

  I gave him a thumbs-up before he got to his feet, which earned me an annoyed look, and then he disappeared up the stairs. I sat there drumming my fingers on my kneecaps waiting for the players to come out of the locker rooms. Someone tapped on my shoulder from behind, and I glanced back to see three guys in their early twenties sitting forward, eager expressions splashed all over their faces.

  “Hi,” I said a little uncertainly, wondering what was going on.

  One guy elbowed the other one, and the third cleared his throat as he scratched behind his ear. If there was one thing I knew, it was people who felt awkward, and these guys were it.

  “Is that Graves?” the one in the middle who had gotten the elbow asked.

  Shit.

  “Who?” I smiled sweetly, using my best dumb-girl eyes along with it.

  “Aiden Graves,” the friend said, like that would help if I really had no idea who that was.

  Was I supposed to admit it was him? Or continue playing like I’d never heard of Aiden? A part of me wanted to go with the latter, but if someone caught a really good look of him and confirmed that it was him…

  Well, Aiden wasn’t the type to run away from anything.

  So I dropped the doe eyes and nodded. “Yeah. Our secret.”

  From the way they reeled back, they were either shocked or they didn’t believe me. All three of them blinked for a second before suddenly snapping out of it.

  “It’s really him?” One of them whispered.

  The one in the middle muttered, “Holy fuck,” before going a little pale.

  “He’s even bigger in person,” the one on the right muttered, turning in his seat to look around like Aiden would have magically reappeared in just a couple of minutes.

  The guy was right though. Pictures didn’t do him justice. Hell, I was used to seeing Aiden up close and personal all the time, and I still hadn’t become desensitized to him.

  “What is he doing here?” the one on the left asked.

  It was a fair question. Aiden had gone to college in Wisconsin. “My brother plays for Louisiana,” I explained, deciding to go with the truth again. I mean, I couldn’t really pull off a lie well anyway.

  “Are you his girlfriend?”

  The guy in the middle hit his friend on the right with his forearm. “Don’t be a fucking idiot. Obviously she’s his girlfriend, dumbass.”

  “You’re both dumbasses,” Lefty stated. “He got married. I saw it online.” A hesitant look came over his face as he glanced at me. “Didn’t you?”

  Shit. Well, I did this to myself. In for a penny, in for a pound. My face got all red and hot even though I was trying to will it not to. “Yep.”

  “I’m not surprised. I love your hair.” Righty smiled.

  Yeah, my face went a little hotter and I shifted in my seat, conscious that I was two weeks past when I needed to do something with the fading teal color in my hair or just color over it. “Oh, thanks.”

  “Dude, would you shut the fuck up? Graves can eat you if he doesn’t kill you,” his friend, the guy in the middle, whisper-hissed.

  I took that as my cue to turn around and face forward. They kept arguing behind me in whispers. Should I have played dumb?

  Sometime later, in the middle of a little girl singing the National Anthem, Aiden’s big-ass butt plopped down into the seat next to mine. I tucked my elbows in to give him more room just as he handed over a souvenir cup filled with what I had a feeling was going to be Dr. Pepper. He had a bottle of water in his other hand.

  I leaned over and patted the top of his hand. “Thank you, big guy.”

  He made sure to meet my eyes before leaning into me in return; his tongue poking at the inside of his cheek. “You don’t have to thank me all the time.”

  “Shut up.” I used his line on him, earning me a head shake and a flash of a tiny grin in return from the man whose face was about four inches away from mine. Just as he started to pull away, I tugged on his hoodie sleeve so he could come closer.

  He did. Aiden was so close the side of his bristly jaw brushed the tip of my nose. I didn’t jerk back, but I stayed in place, letting that wonderful clean scent coming off his skin fill my nostrils. “Those guys sitting behind us recognized you,” I whispered.

  Aiden shifted his face just enough so that his mouth brushed my earlobe. “Did they say anything to you?” That gritty, deep voice seemed to go straight to the center of my chest.

  It took everything in me not to shiver as his breath hit the sensitive spot on my neck. “They asked if you were you and I said yes.” I had to swallow as another soft puff
of breath hit my neck. “And they know we’re… you know… together.”

  He didn’t react.

  “I didn’t know what to say. Sorry,” I whispered.

  That had him pulling back just enough to give me a dry look. “Vanessa—”

  I beat him to it. “Shut up.”

  “I was going to tell you to stop saying sorry, but that works too.”

  Did he just smile at me? Did he just smile smugly at me? I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure, but I was going to take it as a yes. Yes, he had just smiled at me playfully.

  And that had me blinking once. My heart beating twice. “In that case…”

  “Shut up,” he finished for me.

  I burst out laughing as I reached into my purse and pulled out a red apple I had hidden under my scarf to get it through security, and handed it over. “What a good boy. If you behave, I might have a smashed up Vega bar in my pocket for you.”

  I didn’t know what it said about me that I carried snacks around for him, but whatever. He was like my puppy I had to make sure ate enough. You know, a massive puppy that made my insides feel discombobulated from time to time. Yeah, discombobulated. It was that bad.

  He took the apple from me and reclined into his seat just as the teams’ centers approached the middle of the court for tip-off. How the hell had I missed the players getting on the court? I took off my jacket, rolled back my shoulders, and prepared to cheer on my brother.

  “Which one is he?”

  I pointed at the six-foot-three, pale-skinned idiot who I used to put on dresses for fun when we were younger. “Number thirty.”

  “He’s taller than I thought he’d be,” Aiden noted absently.

  “I think his dad was tall.”

  Aiden glanced at me briefly. “You don’t have the same one?”

  “No. At least, I’m pretty sure we don’t. I’ve never met mine as far as I know.” And by that I meant, I’d never had any man pick me up and tell me I was his as a kid. My little brother’s dad hadn’t paid much attention to me when he’d been around. When I saw Aiden out of the corner of my eye, I noticed his face was tight. His jaw jutting. “What is it?”