Page 131 of Hockey Boy
“Lennox,” Hannah hisses over her shoulder.
“This is hardly the time,” Sara mutters.
“Don’t get your panties in a wad. I’m sure Saint Brooks’s bat signal is going off as we speak. And you.” I point at Hannah. “You write stalker romances. You know this is hot.”
“I don’t write stalker romances. I write men who are obsessed.”
Tilting my head, I blink at her.
With a sigh, she slumps against the seat. “Fine, stalker romances can be hot. Real-life kidnappings are not.”
Sara moves closer to Hannah. “Wait, you write books?”
“Oh my god, that isn’t what’s important right now! What is wrong with the two of you? We’ve been kidnapped. They probably want ransom money because she’s a Kennedy. Or maybe because you’re both marrying Langfields. It’s all well and good for you. No one kills the ones worth money. But me?—”
I can’t help but giggle. If they don’t realize that the boys are our kidnappers, I’m not going to ruin it.
“Why are you laughing?” Sara demands, her brow creasing in confusion.
I arch a brow at her. She has to know. Even if she didn’t immediately recognize Brooks’s body, there’s no way he didn’t whisper something in her ear to let her know she was safe. He’d never scare her.
“I laugh at inappropriate times. You know this about me.”
As the van comes to a smooth stop, I tap my Manolo Blahniks in anticipation. I can’t wait to see what Aiden has up his sleeve.
The van door swings open, startling us. I almost feel bad when Hannah grips my hand with all her strength.
“You girls ready for your surprise?” Aiden asks, his smooth voice sending a shiver down my spine.
“Oh my god,” Hannah screams. “I am going to kill you guys.” She shoves me off her. “And you? Youknew?”
There’s no use trying to temper my laughter as I scoot down the leather seats.
When I’m close enough, Aiden pulls me into his arms and settles my feet on the ground. The cold immediately hits me like an arctic blast. “Come here, Princess. I’ve got a blanket for you.”
I feel bad leaving Sara and Brooks to placate a fuming Hannah, but when Daniel and Camden head in her direction, I relax and let Aiden lead me to the front of the van. Hannah has a major crush on Daniel. There’s no way she’ll stay mad once she realizes he’s here.
Aiden pulls a pink chenille blanket from the floorboard and wraps it around me, then pulls me to his chest. “You all right?”
“You know I am.”My cheeks hurt from smiling. “You kidnapped me,” I whisper.
Aiden presses a kiss to my lips. “My kinky girl loves it, doesn’t she?”
I angle back and clutch his lapels. “I’m so wet.”
“Come on, Lex.” He spins me around, then grasps my hand. “Walk with me.”
“Don’t you want to take me home and benefit from how turned on you’ve made me?” I tease.
He tugs me to his side and drapes an arm over my shoulders, leading me away from the group. For the first time, I take in our surroundings. “Where are we?”
“You don’t recognize it?” he muses.
I focus harder, noting the trees on either side of us and the heavy moon that hangs above us. None of it registers until we get to a clearing, and the carousel comes into view.
“Aiden,” I whisper, emotion making it come out as a rasp.
“In two days, we’ll be married at the courthouse, but I wanted to do something a little more fitting for you and me. Tonight we had the party, and tomorrow, I have to play, and—” He takes a deep breath. “Lex, you deserve the wedding you imagined for us. Even if marriage isn’t what you want, I’d like to stand in front of that tree over there and pledge my love for you, and then I’d like to take a ride on the carousel together. Just like you planned.”