If I had ever taken the time to imagine what it would be like to hug Aiden, the reality of it wouldn’t have been disappointing in the least. Despite the fact that his broad shoulders tapered down to a trim waist, it wasn’t that small. It was an illusion based on how muscular and oversized his upper body was.

My hands found each other around the small of his back. My chest met with his abs, and they were just as hard and unyielding as they looked. I pressed the side of my face to the spot right between his pecs, cheek first. His body was warm from the shower he’d taken and he smelled like the clean, gentle scent of his soap.

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.