Page 34 of Actions and Reactions
“This is freaking me out a bit, Si,” I admit in a whisper.
Again, he only stares and blinks slowly at me.
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re acting like you’re not really here,” I protest, shuffling a bit closer. With the glare of the screen still on his face I can see the dark circles under his eyes, and I wonder if he’s even slept since yesterday. “You still have a migraine?” I ask when he doesn’t say anything back.
“No, I just don’t feel like moving.”
Like it’s that simple, I think with a mental eye roll.
But I really don’t know what to do here.
Suddenly he moves, though, and he... throws the duvet over my body as if he’s trapping me here next to him. I would never mind being trapped anywhere with him, so in a very sick way—at least I can admit that—I actually love that he does it.
“Come here and look at this.” He’s sounding more animated now, as he brings his phone closer so I can see too. “I found this guy who combines different colors of kinetic sand, and he has like three thousand different videos. All I can think about is where is he getting all that sandfrom? And how does he have so many colors? And what does he do with it once they’re mixed?”
I listen to him ramble about it for hours. Not only that but basically every other thing he’s seen on his phone in the last day.
I manage to wrap my arms around him at some point so he’s using my shoulder as a pillow, and I comb my fingers through his hair. I use slow motions, so hopefully it’s soothing, and eventually he falls asleep.
I’m not really tired, so I stare down at him. At his soft cheeks that have more than a little stubble on them. At his long dark lashes lying on his face like it’s a perfect piece of art.
I love him more in that moment than I ever have before, and I already loved him more than I thought possible yesterday.
When we were talking to my friends at a wedding, holding hands.
It was perfect, and we’ve been working our way through this, haven’t we?
The forgiveness part was dealt with and our relationship blossomed in the usual way, I think. Now we’re here, where maybe things will get tough for a while, but we can get through anything, the two of us. There’s something wrong, obviously, and even though I know I don’t have all the tools to deal with it, I still know that whatever it is, we’ll get past it.
Everything has to be fine, right?
And after that strange evening,everythingisfine.
Our lives go back to normal. Si gets up every day and goes to work. He spends two days of the week at home, but that’s normal for people who don’t have strange schedules like hockey players.
Si gets all the praise he deserves for spearheading the remodel of our facilities, and once the whole project is complete, he’s the staff’s favorite person in the world.
Laney got an actual functioning office, all the other trainers also have an area for their snacks, the gyms are actuallyinsane, and Jeff’s new equipment rooms made him shed a tear or two with how perfect they are—our PTs are over the moon too. The tape-watching theatre has amazing new recliners as well, and yeah, our locker rooms are a dream come true.
And everything is so much more efficient, that we instantly get used to how things are now—where our new sweaters are, the damn towels, our skates, sticks... it all just makes sense.
Of course Si isn’t an actual designer, but he does know hockey even if he avoids the subject like the plague. He knows what we need at the rink and at the arena. Most importantly, though, he put the right people to work on it all, and I can see the glint in Gab’s eye when everything is unveiled that means she has big plans for Si.
I couldn’t be happier for him, truly.
By the time the second week of September arrives, andwe’re having our last practice before our first pre-season game, well...I can’t say the team is as good as it was last season, since Santa and Charlie really were big losses, but morale is high as hell. Which is why it catches me off guard when my phone starts going off in my cubbie just as I’m lacing up my skates.
I recognize the chime, so I reach for it right away.
I have a Google alert set up for everyone in the team and everyone in my family, and I’m not really surprised when I see it’s my cousin’s name splashed over countless articles. It was his birthday yesterday, and I hate that my mind automatically goes to a scenario where he might have relapsed and caused all kinds of drunken havoc around LA.
The blood drains from my face when I see the picture of him kissing some dude in what looks like your typical hotel hallway.This can’t be good for him.
Fucking trashy tabloids, always wanting a piece of Wolf and Hawk. It’s a level of cruelty that I’ve never seen anywhere else in the world.
Worried more than I would be if this were a picture of Hawk, I’m about to hurry out of the locker room, but Laney’s coming in right then.
