Adrian was one of a kind.
And that made every other man in the world…
Well…not Adrian.
Which meant, as far as I was concerned, there was no harm in two best friends fulfilling each other’s dreams when the rest of the world came up short.
I bounded over the couch to face him. “What rule is there that prevents a woman from finding her own happiness in unconventional ways?”
Adrian warded me away with the hockey stick. “Unconventional is one thing. This is…”
“What?”
“Risky.”
“How?”
“To us.”
I’d never heard anything so silly in my life. I braved the stick and marched toward the man, poking his chest with my perfectly manicured finger.
Of course, the motion wasn’t anywhere near threatening when even my tippy-toes only brought me up to his chin.
“A little platonic procreation poses no risk to our friendship,” I said. “And you wanna know why?”
“Why? You think we’ll have sex with our clothes on and the lights off?”
“If that’s what it takes.” I shrugged. “Adrian, it’s sweet that you’re looking out for me, but I know what I want. A baby. And you’ll be a perfect father.”
“And what if you find a man out there, fall in love, but everything’s complicated because of our fucked-up family?”
“Like you wouldn’t chase off any guy who was interested in me.”
Adrian bristled. “I only did that once.”
“Twice.”
“Who?”
“William and Lucas.”
He made a face. “Who?”
“I dated them a while ago.”
He wagged the stick at me. “And if I can’t remember them hanging around, then how important were they to you?”
Damn it. He was right. William had taken me to a showing of the Nutcracker three Christmases ago, and Lucas…
He might have been the coffee date. Or maybe he was the steakhouse guy who sent his dinner back three times because he didn’t know the definition of medium rare.
I nibbled my lip. “Hmm. See? Proves my point. I won’t get involved with anyone who can’t handle what we have. Face it, Captain. We are each other’s emotional baggage.”
“So why can’t your airline lose that instead of my suitcase?”
He wasn’t ruining this for me. I threatened him with kindness. “Fine. You are like my favorite t-shirt.”
“No.” He pointed at me. “Your favorite t-shirt is my favorite t-shirt that you stole.”
“Just my point. I wear it on cold nights when I wanna feel cozy. It’s oversized and heavy and worn out in a few places, but it’s my favorite. And I’ll never give it back, even if something flasher comes along…say something officially licensed and in a frosty blue and white?”
“I already bought you my jersey,” he smirked.
“Why would I need a jersey when I could just wrap myself up in you?”
Adrian relented and welcomed my hug. His arms enveloped me, and I shrugged into his chest, my cheek on the hard muscles packed beneath his workout shirt.
I’d forgotten how perfect his arms felt. Comforting. No matter where we traveled, no matter what time we landed, no matter what work or games separated us, his hug was always waiting for me.
“You realize…” I peeked up at him. “Our friendship is way better than any Disney-esque true love.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. We make our own fun—usually in another hemisphere where we don’t know the exchange rate.”
“A lot of people have fun together.” He frowned. “Even fewer do it lost in an Indonesian rainforest.”
“And it’s not just fun. It’s all the bad times too.”
“That rainforest was pretty bad. Remember where you found the leech?”
His hands circled me tight, holding me at my waist. Reassuring.
I liked it.
Liked his strength. His comfort. The deep hum of his words reverberating from his chest.
I even took a deep breath and savored his masculine scent—something nostalgic and aged. It wasn’t a new or modern sort of fruit and citrus, but an old-fashioned whiskey, spice, and tobacco. It was a great smell that clung to the blankets on the couch and would waft up days after he had gone.
“Hopefully, we don’t have many more bad times,” he said.
“Even if we do, we can make it through. We’ve done it before—even survived last season. And it was because we were together.”
His fingers teased over my curves. Familiar. Playful. But he held my hips, keeping me still.
The power in his hands shocked me. His massive palms engulfed both of my sides.
A sweet tingle surprised me, the sudden flutter of something heated and new which teased from deep within my core.
Uh-oh.
That was…unexpectedly wonderful.
“I hope you realize…” Adrian was never good with the mushy stuff. Said it’d been beaten out of him via sticks and fists. “I wouldn’t have recovered as fast from that injury without you being there.”
I swallowed. For whatever reason, it was more difficult than usual.
“Someone had to bring you the ice packs,” I said.
“It was more than that.”
Oh, if only he knew. If only he remembered.
Whatever they’d put in that anesthesia had really taken him for a loop. The things he’d said…
The things he’d wanted…
“Just goes to show you what a good idea this could be,” I said. “We’ve made plenty of promises to be together when life gets tough—anything from moving across the country to injuries to airline furloughs…” I smiled. “But this? This is a promise we could make to each other when times are good. A lifetime of happiness and excitement and adventure with a baby. And we’d get to experience it together.”
Adrian didn’t let me go. “It’s one hell of an adventure to have the baby. It’s something else entirely to make one. Are you sure you could handle it?”
I squirmed, squeezing my thighs together. Why was that area so damned sensitive? Just a little pinch of my hips, and I needed Adrian’s strength to keep me standing.
Not what either of us needed in the middle of the Forge’s player lounge.
“Your place or mine, Captain?” I smirked.
“You think it’d be that easy?”
“I kinda hoped that it’d be hard, actually.”
“Not gonna have a problem there.” Adrian’s chuckle was dry. “But we’ve never even kissed, Clover.”
“So?” I peered up at him. “That’s easily remedied.”
The awareness flooded his expression. His brows furrowed. “You want me to kiss you?”
“Sure.”
“Now?”
I glanced over the yet-empty room. A few shouts echoed from the weight room, the clanging of bars against metal. The guys weren’t expected on the ice yet, and no one had bothered rummaging through the spread for breakfast. For the moment, we were alone.
“Start the season off right,” I said. “Consider it good luck before you head out onto the ice.”