Page 59 of Wrap Around
Maybe the apple was the first true act of love.
What Silas gave me all those years ago wasn't corruption, it was an awakening. No matter what happened next, there's beauty in that. I'm seeing it now, watching Silas come with his eyes wide open in wonder. His flushed face, heavy breaths, and the feeling of his orgasm against my skin is beautiful. And I'm thankful that I get to be the one to give him this. To show him a new world. To give him a bite of the apple.
CHAPTER 23
SILAS
The team is on fire tonight, living up to our name. We close out the year with a shutout. 5-0 on home ice against our biggest rivals. It's easily the best game of the year and might be the best game I've ever played in my life.
Every play is smooth and solid, the whole team clicking like we share a collective mind.
Brent is a brick wall from start to finish, swatting pucks out of the air like it's no effort at all. The only time he looks even the slightest bit challenged is towards the end of the first, when one of Abbotsford's wingers breaks free on a power play and fires a bullet that ricochets off Brent's pad. Another guy snaps up the rebound and shoots for the far side of the net in a quick, seamless hit.
It all happens so fast, a blur of motion that I would have missed if I'd blinked, but Brent drops into a split in a superhuman feat of agility. My groin aches just watching, but he makes the save and the arena erupts. It's the kind of save that will live on the highlight reels for weeks. Even Coach Dempsey is pumping his fists, practically hauling Brent off the ice when the period ends a few minutes later.
The first line is buzzing. Valdez barely lets the puck into our zone and makes a diving block in the first period that has the crowd on its feet. Landon wins almost every face-off he takes and scores his first hat trick of the season early in the second period.
Our line is in sync like never before, like we've been body-snatched by better versions of ourselves. In the third, Franks clears the puck at the blue line with a perfect, clean hit. The player he leveled slams into the boards so hard the sound echoes like thunder. The fans are on their feet, stomping and screaming as I collect the puck and send it directly into Ives' lane. He takes off on a breakaway, barely glancing back. Before Abbotsford even looks up from their D-man still crumpled into the boards, he launches the puck. It slices through the air, passing an inch from their goalie's face, and slams into the back of the net.
Later in the period, we're already up by four when Gideon intercepts a pass in our zone and takes off like an Olympic speed skater. He's moving so fast even I almost struggle to keep up. He charges down the left side, cuts wide, and snaps a pass through two defenders straight to me. I don't even think, just swing. The puck hits my stick right on the tape at exactly the right moment. The lamp lights up for the fifth time, and our goal song plays so loud I feel the bass through the ice under my feet.
When I circle back to the bench, he's there too. Neither of us says a word, but we're grinning ear to ear. His glove brushes mine as we pass, and I feel it through the thick padding.
Coach Dempsey’s face is red and sweaty from yelling, but for once it's the good kind. The excited kind. He's clapping guys on the shoulder, grinning like he forgot he usually plays the tough guy.
When the final horn sounds, I stand there for a second, taking in the roar of the crowd, the scrape of blades as the team rushes the ice– shouting, cheering, and thumping each other on the back. Gideon catches my eye from the other side of the crowd ofcelebrating players, and I wonder if he feels it too. This feels like more than just a great game and perfect win. It feels like our new beginning has bled onto the ice.
The New Year's Eve party is in full swing by the time Gideon and I arrive. We ordered takeout and ate dinner back at the house with Lily and Adaline. After we did an early bedtime countdown to the New Year that we found on the internet, Lily shooed us out the door. She's not interested in going out anywhere, but insisted that we had to go to the party, not just because it's being thrown by team members, but also because it's our first chance to ring in the New Year “the right way”. Never mind that we're unlikely to be able to kiss at midnight, considering we’ll be surrounded by our team and who knows how many other people. It's too early to be going public with this, especially considering I'm still married. It might create a scandal, and none of us wants our home lives overshadowing the game. We haven't even discussed if that's something we want to do eventually. I think I'd want to, but I'd also be okay with keeping it just between us for as long as Gideon wants.
I'm getting way ahead of myself.
We arrived together, which gets enough attention. Gideon and I have worked to get to the point where we could be in the same room without there being any outbursts or obvious glaring, but we only succeeded recently. We were different people when we showed up to morning skate this morning, and again for tonight's game. It's obvious enough that the team notices, considering how many people stared when we gave each other the most awkward bro-hug of all time after the game.
"Why is everyone staring?"
I smirk over at him. "You don't look like you want to murder me."
He grunts, and I can tell he's trying to hold a laugh inside.
Leif Franks lives alone in this big house on the outskirts of town. He has no close neighbors either, so it makes it a perfect place to throw a party without having to worry about noise complaints.
Gideon and I do a quick lap around the house to greet everyone, with the intention of only staying until the midnight countdown. He's coming back to my house after that, mostly because he thinks he'll be more likely tobehaveif we aren't completely alone in the house. There hasn't been enough time to talk about anything, especially after what happened in the showers earlier today. I avoided the virgin conversation by pretending I had some errands to run before the game.I'm embarrassed, okay?Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am.
There's a bonfire in the yard and large outdoor space heaters around the massive, paved patio that bleeds into a raised deck surrounding an above ground pool. Considering how cold it is here, I can't imagine that thing gets more than a couple weeks’ worth of use in the summer. The hot tub, which is on the far side of the patio near a sliding glass door, clearly gets more use. It's lit up, steamy and bubbling, although no one is in it yet.
Inside, the furniture has been pushed to the outside of the open space. A lot of people are sitting on the couch and chairs that are pushed against the wall, but a few people have started dancing in the open space. There's a bunch of snacks, pizza, chips, and finger foods, on the dining table pushed to the opposite side. There's a keg and dozens of liquor bottles on the kitchen island, people milling about to mix themselves drinks. That's where we find Franks, who is filling a tray with a ton of plastic shot glasses. Gideon grabs us both a beer while we talk with him for a few minutes, and he passes us shots before he leaves to distribute the rest. I look down at the tiny cup warily. I'm not much of a drinker, but I shrug, and Gideon and I take the shots. He laughsat the face I make as the alcohol burns a path to my stomach. It leaves a pleasant warmth behind, at least.
We get distracted by a familiar popular song being shrieked from down a hallway, and find a den set up with various video games. A few people are sitting down to play Call of Duty or something similar. The noise is coming from the five people standing around another television set, playing Rock Band. Arnie Michaels, one of the older and more respectable members of the team, is doing an interesting Mick Jagger impression that I hope someone is recording. We split up for a little while, Gideon following Franks back inside to help him with something while I hang out with Ives, watching some of our other teammates play beer pong. I've never played before, so he's explaining the rules.
After a while, Gideon rejoins us and we team up for a round. I'm terrible, so Landon and his latest puck bunny absolutely destroy us. Which means I've had quite a bit more to drink than planned. I'm not super drunk, but I'm definitely buzzed. I blame that happy, loose feeling for the idea to drag Gideon onto the now very loud, crowded dance floor. Although he seems stone cold sober, Gideon actually lets me. He doesn't even seem worried about dancing with me in front of everyone, although we have more space between us than I'd like.
It's dark, loud, and crowded enough that I forget where we are. I lose myself in the moment, dancing and laughing. Before I know it, I'm sweating and thirsty, and Gideon and I have moved closer together, all but pressed up against each other.
He leans close to my ear. "If you don't stop looking at me like that, everyone's going to know our business. You're making me want to maul you in public."
I smirk. "Tempting."
Gideon groans, his head falling back for a moment before hereturns to my space, his hand settling on my hip. "You really want everyone to watch me get on my knees for you?"
