Page 99 of Actions and Reactions
And speaking of . ..
“I wanted to introduce Annie to the guys and get them to behave around her with some clever threats if that’s okay, Gab. She’s still figuring things out, but while she does, I want her to be comfortable coming to work with me.”
“Yeah, sure. I can do the threatening, I really feel like threatening someone, but you know the guys don’t need it to behave, right?”
“Let me do it,” I plead. “And if they don’t get in line you can step in, yeah? And of course I know, otherwise I wouldn’t have even brought her. I just want to make sure they’re extra careful.” I turn to look at Annie and explain. “They can be a rowdy bunch but never mean or dangerous, at least not off the ice, I swear.”
Annie nods at me with a small, nervous smile, and then we turn to Gab in unison.
“Fine,” she sighs. “They should be in the theatre right now, which is better than on the damn ice, so let’s go do that, then we can put our heads together and make a plan for what Annie will do with her life. We’ve got a few hours before practice is over, and I bet we can figure it out.”
I have to laugh again. No problem is too big for the likes of Gab Darnell.
I smirkdown at my phone, pleased with how things went with the team, and delighted at Vinny’s reaction.
I can’t freaking wait until he’s done with practice.
That genuine impatience tells me I’ve healed more thanI thought, because right now, finding an empty room for him to ravish me in is more important—alotmore important—than hockey.
“I don’t wanna know what all that’s about.” Gab waves a hand at my face in the elevator.
“It’s his Vinny smile,” Annie informs her,superhelpfully.
“So you two are back, then?” Her small smile tells me she’s happy about it.
“We are.” I pretend I’m not blushing—a-fucking-gain.
“Good.” And that’s all that needs to be said.
We spend the next two and a half hours brainstorming about what Annie can do, and Gab asks her question after question. I already knew Annie was majoring in communications, but something lights up in my brain when she talks about a workshop she did with her college’s radio station.
“What about podcasts?”
“What about them?” Gab asks, locked into the conversation.
“I’m just thinking out loud here, but you could enroll into a course or back into college and get back to work on getting your degree while you work on a podcast and get firsthand experience. I’m remembering those times when I was teaching you and Consuelo everything about hockey. That could be a cool hook, someone teaching Annie—who knows nothing about hockey—everything about it. Maybe when the playoffs start.”
“And you have an idea for who that someone could be?”Gab muses. “Santa and Charlie?” The tilt of her head tells me she doesn’t think this is a terrible idea.
“No, I was thinking about Dad and Hulk.”
“But they already have a show.”
“They’re gonna cancel their contracts,” I tell her, knowing it’s going to stay between us. “They’re sick of the network’s handling of information about the players’ lives as entertainment for the masses.”
“I get that, but I bet they could convince Eagle’s stepdad to give them a slot in his network if they want.”
“They won’t do that.” I shake my head. “Dad and Hulk don’t want Michael to think they’re using him or anything.”
Gab hums thoughtfully, and all the while Annie watches us, chewing on her bottom lip.
“What do you think?” I ask her.
“I’d have to learn a lot pretty quickly, but I have a vague idea of podcast production. I wouldn’t be able to produce it by myself, obviously. When do playoffs even start?” The way she asks... I have to laugh because I think she’s not even sure what the playoffs are. Which is exactly what I’d like for this.
“Late April, so we have more than four months. But you could do a segment with them and help out with the production. I think Dad and Hulk would love this idea, and they’d love to have full control in a way they never have. Besides, you can do it all from here while they’re in LA.”
“Before we get into that, why don’t you call your Dad and Hulk and ask them if this would be something they’d like. And Annie and I can research what programs would fitfor her to get back to school.” As a true mom would, she gives Annie a stern look. “You’re going back to school.”
