Page 91 of Actions and Reactions
He worms an arm under me and squeezes me tight enough to make it hard to breathe, but that’s okay. I don’t mind, not at all.
“I missed you so much, Vinny.”
“Me too, Si. So fucking much. Every day.” Then, just as fast as he came at me, he pulls back and looms over me with wide, panicked eyes. “I’m sorry I couldn’t talk about the letter over text, but—” I stop his frantic words with a finger over his lips.
“It’s fine, Vinny, breathe.” He does breathe and I lower my hand and have to sigh. “And okay, I was very nervous for a while there because I had no clue what that response meant, if it was good or bad or what, but I get it.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
It seems like time stops for a moment. I don’t breathe and I don’t think he does either, but then it’s like we’reunfrozen, and he lies back down ridiculously, and cuddles up to me and rests his head on my shoulder.
His feet end up hanging off the end of the bed, since he’s substantially taller than me, but I don’t care. I wrap my arm around him and bring him close so we’re face to face.
“I don’t regret sending you the letter,” I tell him, somewhat hesitantly. I have no clue if what I’m about to say is going to piss him off. “I know it wasn’t ideal, but I was scared I was going to put it off forever and never say it if I didn’t say it then.”
“I guess I can understand that,” he says quietly, but shuffles close enough that our chests are fused together. I feel him shift and know he’s looking up at me. I know how close our lips will be if I look down at him, and the anticipation has butterflies going wild in my belly.
I’ve been waiting so long for this, and I have no idea what he wants, what’s going to happen, but I can’t hold back.
I look down and his green eyes are filled with the love I wouldn’t let myself see before. It feels like what I imagine winning the Stanley Cup would feel like.
“Vinny,” I whisper, and as if we’re magnets, I feel a pull I can’t resist and begin to lean in.
“Wait!” he shouts, and then my arms are empty and he’s rushing to the bathroom.
I hear the faucet turn on, and again I have to smile. He’s brushing his teeth to kiss me.
He’s so cute.
I’m on my back when he returns a few minutes later, and again he throws himself at me.
“Oof,” I grunt. He really just fell that time. “You’re gonna knock the breath?—”
His lips on mine are the best interruption ever. A deep, long kiss that turns teasing when he traps my lower lip between both of his and pulls a little. It turns heated when he bites it, then he soothes the sting with his tongue.
I give it right back, taking advantage of his parted lips to stroke his tongue with mine.
I cover his back with my hands and want him closer, a lot closer, but this isn’t the time, not yet.
For now I just enjoy the fact that he still wants to kiss me, that I have him in my arms, and that this time we’re finally on the same page.
“So what timedo you have to leave?” I ask between bites of pancakes his chef left for him. Lyla isn’t back so we decided to go ahead and eat without her.
“Practice is late today, so after lunch.” He doesn’t even look up to tell me, and this time the reminder of how much he eats because he’s a professional hockey player isn’t grating on me. I just find it adorable if I’m honest. I remember being that hungry, and all I want right now is to make sure he has what he needs, so I give him my third pancake and he eats that too.
“And what’s your mom doing here?” I think that’s aninnocent enough question to get the conversation started. All we’ve talked about till this point really is food.
“She’s been staying here whenever we’re home since you left.” This time I know he’s not looking at me because he’s hesitant and not because he’s so engrossed in his food. “Gab called her,” he adds, voice lower. And then lower still, “The day you had your surgery.”
“Oh, wow.” I don’t know what to say to that.
“She just said I needed my mom cause I’m still a kid, and so she called her.”
“I needed my mom too,” I admit. “Even if I didn’t know it.”
“Yeah.” He sighs heavily and then looks up at me finally. “I love you, Si. I don’t ever want to have to hold that back again.”
I reach for his hand and bring it over to my leg.
