Page 74 of Actions and Reactions
“Your Dad’s nervous, Vinny. Don’t be mean to him,” she tells me without looking up from the counter where she’s kneading some dough for something that will more than likely kill my diet, but I know it’ll be worth it.
“You know we have to give him some shit for this, Corinne,” I defend us. “I mean, it’s Alaina Newman,” I cry out.
“I know,” she mumbles.
“Have you met her?” I whisper urgently, and at first she doesn’t answer but I know the instant she looks up. “Oh my God, you’ve totally met her. What’s she like?”
I pull out one of the stools from under the counter and sit, ready to hear all about it.
“She’s a real nice lady, Vinny, that’s all you need to know. And I think she likes your Dad a lot.” I know there’s more she’s not saying, so again I wait her out, and sure enough not five seconds later she takes a step so she’s right in front of me and leans on the counter to whisper. “I heard your Mom and Dad talking the other day about her, and your Mom was squealing like a schoolgirl over every detail your Dad was spilling, so I think he’s really excited about this.” Her smile is so big, I think she looks like a schoolgirl, but I keep that to myself.
“I mean, he hasn’t really dated anyone since the divorce, right?” I ask, because honestly, Corinne would know more about that than me.
“No.” She shakes her head hard, two times. “No one.”
“All right, I’ll tell Lex we can’t give him too much shit, at least not in front of her.”
“Good boy.” She almost pats my hand but stops herself, looks around and grabs a spatula, pats my hand with that, then throws it into the sink. “Now go fix your hair or something.”
My hair is super short and doesn’t really move, so I have no clue what she’s talking about, but I do go to Lex’s room, rip his phone right from his hand, put it in my pocket, then run away to the living room. “We’re playing Madden untilthey get here,” I shout behind me and hear his thundering steps—way faster than they used to be.
Fuck, he really is growing a lot.
“Your Dad’sbeen teaching me all about hockey,” Ally—as she asked us to call her—tells me and Lex when we walk into the dining room.
“She’s getting the hang of it,” Dad says, and I can hear the nerves in his voice.
“I think I am,” she says with a growing smile when she turns to look at Dad holding a chair for her, and I’m happy to see that she takes his hand right away when he sits next to her.
Corey sits on her other side, and I see he has a small smile as he looks over at Dad and Ally. I was happy when he hugged Dad as a greeting. I wouldn’t want him giving him shit, even if I would understand it.
“We watched replays of the playoffs from last season,” she continues and looks right at me.
Fuck, that is one powerful gaze.
She has relatively normal eyes—hazel, not too big—but I don’t know what it is about them that makes everyone in the world get lost in them.
“So you got to seeEaglein action,” Lex says teasingly.
“What does that mean?” Corey asks, his tone is more subdued than Lex’s—but he’s also not shy, which is good, we’ll probably get along fine. But seeing Dad with hisgirlfriend is just making me nervous now because he looks so fucking happy.
I want to help him stay that way.
“Eagle is my nickname,” I tell him, and grab my napkin to put it on my thighs, then send Lex a significant look to do the same, which he hurries to do—I’m glad to see I’m still the big brother in some areas.
“Like Ruko is Hulk,” Ally tells her son.
“Oh, right. Do they give everyone nicknames?”
“I’ve only been on two teams,” I explain. “But I think it’s a pretty universal thing, yes.”
“Do you choose your nickname or...?” He trails off and I have to swallow hard so I don’t automatically burst into tears. That would definitely embarrass Dad, but damn, it’s been a long time since I’ve thought of the day I got my nickname.
“It’s different for everyone. Some get them when they’re really young, like our goalie, Bear. He kinda looks like a bear, but he got his nickname because he’s a Momma Bear and always takes care of everyone—even back in high school. Jules, our captain, had another nickname I believe, but when they named him captain of the Pirates, he became Picard, and when new guys get to the team we ask them if they like their nickname, and if they don’t we give them a new one.”
“So it’s a pretty big deal, huh?” he asks, and that’s when Corinne comes in with the big salad bowl. I really appreciate the way Ally greets her, asks her how she is, and then introduces Corey to her.
“It’s how you’re known across the league,” I tell Corey when Corinne walks back out. “I think there are more than a few people back home who don’t even know my name is Ivan.” I chuckle at that.
