Page 34 of Hot for the Hockey Player
Raina and I both shook our head.
“Dani told me the other day.I had no idea.”My heart ached, not only for my cousin, but for her daughter as well.That had to be so scary and stressful for both of them.Not to mention exhausting.Parenting neurotypical children with no serious mental health issues was fatiguing enough.I couldn’t imagine having to parent a child with such debilitating anxiety.The self-harming stuff was frightening too.
“I’m glad they’re finally getting her help,” Naomi replied.
I started cutting up the lettuce for the Caesar salad, and like I knew they would, my cousins jumped in to help without even being asked.Naomi got to work on the garlic bread, while Raina found my recipe card for Caesar dressing and started rummaging through my fridge for the ingredients.
We were done in no time and opening up a new bottle of wine while we waited for the lasagna to cook.“Where are Austin, Honor, and Marco?”I asked as the three of us sat down at the dining room table with our wine and watched Maverick and Damon play hockey on the PlayStation.
“Marco is downstairs finishing his required reading for the night,” Raina said.“Much to his chagrin.But it’s a non-negotiable if he wants to play video games.”
“Honor is doing the same, since they’re in the same class,” Naomi added.“And Austin is …” She shrugged.“I rarely know where that feral child is.I think he said he was going to go practice his Hacky Sack in the yard.But it’s dark now, so who the hell knows.”
As if summoned by the simple mention of his name, Austin appeared through the front door.His cheeks were extra rosy and his green eyes bright.His sister was right behind him, as well as Raina’s son, Marco.
“And there they are.”Raina smirked.
The oven timer for the lasagna went off and I got up to go check on it.The top was a perfect golden-brown canvas of bubbly, melted cheese.My mouth watered a little as I used my mitts to pull it out of the oven.It would still need to rest for a bit so I wouldn’t be scooping out lasagna soup from the pan, but it was cooked through.I set it on top of the stove to rest.
Marco and Austin already had their shoes off and were joining Damon and Maverick in the living room.They grabbed the other two controllers, and soon, all four guys were engrossed in a pretend game of high-stakes hockey.
When I rejoined my cousins, Honor had disappeared to find Laurel.
“He’s so great with the kids,” Naomi remarked, her voice lower, but not low enough because Maverick craned his neck around to throw a big smile at all of us.
Then he waved.“Hi!I’m Mav!”
“Hi, Mav!”Naomi and Raina said at the same time, amusement in their voices.
They faced me again, their eyes aglow.
“That would befun,” Naomi said, whispering now so Maverickdidn’thear her.“Like a ride at Disneyland.Not something you want to be on forever, but fun for a little while.”
I glared at her.“Shut.It.”
She snorted and sipped her wine, her green eyes glittering over the rim of her glass.
Raina stayed quiet, which was unlike her.I turned to our youngest cousin, who was in the best, happiest, most fulfilling relationship of her life.“Nothing to say?”
Sincerity glimmered back at me and she shook her head as she sipped her wine.“While I agree with Nay that it—hewould be a funride, I also know you’re not someone who doesfun.You’re Gabrielle.You’re levelheaded.You’re cerebral, and nothing you do is ever impulsive or justbecause.You meal plan, outfit plan, and everything else plan your entire week.So, while I think throwing caution to the wind can work for some people, I’m not sure it would work for you.I think you would end up stressing yourself sick over making a choice that went against the very grain of your existence.”
My jaw dropped.
So did Naomi’s.
“Who the hell are you and what have you done with my cousin?”Naomi finally asked.
Raina rolled her yellow-green cat eyes.“Jagger left one of his psychology textbooks open and I might have read a couple of chapters the other day.It’s actually really interesting stuff.”
She was right.I also hated that she was right.
I was not and never had been an impulsive person.Even the one “relationship” I had after my divorce was entered into with every single one of my expectations and boundaries laid out clearly in bullet point form.Mind you, he was also prelaw and basically looked at my “contract” as foreplay, but it worked for us.
While I hated my married life, it was predictable.Until the atomic bomb of the century dropped, and Cyrus’ heinous crimes came to light.Now, I couldn’t deal with the unexpected.Secrets were like poisonous vines, wrapping around everything, choking out life and light.
Knowledge was power, and call me power hungry, or a control freak, but if I knew what was coming, I could prepare for it.I could get myself and my family ready to fight or flee.
“Disneyland is overrated anyway,” Naomi finally said.“I like six flags better.”
