Page 40 of Actions and Reactions (All It Takes #5)

Silas

The way Annie grips my arm tightly enough to cut off circulation as soon as Vinny turns around to go to the locker room puts me on alert.

“What? Are you okay?”

“Holy mother of God , that man is fine , Silas!” She slaps my shoulder for good measure while she keeps staring at Vinny’s ass.

I can’t say I blame her, his white Pirates sweatpants do nothing to hide the perfection of that ass.

“I told you he was,” I remind her, thankful that she didn’t speak too loudly because the last thing I need is for Vinny to realize he’s God’s gift to all humans attracted to males.

“I know, but damn.”

“You also saw him when I showed you all those hockey clips.”

“But he was wearing all those bulky things and had a helmet on. That was nothing compared to the real thing.” She shakes her head as if to focus again, and turns to me now that Vinny’s out of sight. “And you just brought him over and haven’t told me what happened when you went to his place.”

Now that accusing tone, I know.

“We talked. We’re... together,” I confess, and I can’t believe I’m blushing yet fucking again.

“I gleaned that from the kisses and the easy way you two are around each other, but give me the details, Silas.”

I start walking toward the far hallway so we can go see if Gab’s free, but I begin.

“Well actually, my aunt Lyla was there and she let me in.”

“We’re going to talk about all those details you skipped too by the way, but go on.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t tell you that either, sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Tell me about this morning.”

So I do. While we walk slowly around the rink, I know I’ve got her full attention, which feels really nice of course.

What I notice the most, though, is how good it feels to be back here.

There are frames all over the place of the guys on the ice, the team holding the Stanley Cup over their heads, and some of Bear’s best saves as well.

I actually love it .

And I just love it.

That’s something I never thought would be possible six months ago. Of course, I still think life’s unfair for how I lost my chance to be a hockey player, and I think I’ll always wonder what it would’ve been like, but I don’t hate hockey.

It’s as miraculous as my timing, since I finish the story just as we get to Abigail’s desk outside Gab’s office.

“Silas, you’re back!” She’s around her desk and going for a hug in just a couple of seconds, and it takes me by surprise since she’s never hugged me before, but I return it either way. “Gab told me to let you in as soon as you got here.”

“She knows I’m back?” I ask and pull back.

“She had a long breakfast with Lyla,” she explains.

“Ah.” I nod, not needing any more information. Gab loves her gossip, and honestly so does Lyla, but I don’t mind that they’re gossipping about me since I trust both of them completely.

Annie, though, she squeaks and starts looking around.

More patient and understanding than most, Abigail smiles at Annie.

“Lyla’s not here.”

“Sorry.” Annie winces.

“It’s fine, honey.” Then she offers Annie a hand to shake and I introduce them. “You can go right in.”

“Thanks.” I open the door for Annie and Gab’s head snaps up.

“You’re here,” she cheers, and like Abigail, she rounds her desk and comes over for a hug. “Oh, Jesus, I’ve missed you.”

“You have?” I ask, confused.

“Sandy’s a good person, and fun, but she’s not you and half the marketing team has been helping her out. But besides that, I like our chats.”

“I actually missed you too, Gab.” And that’s the truth. “And the work,” I admit. “I got maybe too good at staring at a wall and thinking about my life, so I can’t wait to dive back in.”

“ Pfft .” She waves a hand around. “You can get back to it tomorrow and put poor Sandy out of her misery.”

“I’ll do that.” I step back and gesture to Annie. “Gab, this is Annie. She was in New Hope with me and we became friends there, and now she’s moved to Vegas. Annie, this is Gab Darnell. Please call her Gab or she’ll get cranky.”

“I really will,” Gab adds and shakes Annie’s hand. My friend just stares, starstruck. Even people who don’t know anything about hockey or football know who Gab Darnell is. She’s a legend in multiple industries. “I’m glad you made a new friend.”

“Me too.”

Gab stares at Annie for a long moment, like she’s seeing something other than her dark eyes and careful smile.

“What are your plans now you’ve moved here, Annie?” Gab asks as she steps back. We all move in unison to the lounge area she has set up in her office .

“I’m not a hundred percent sure,” Annie says in a quieter voice, the admiration in her eyes still there.

“Sit down, sweetie, and tell me what I can say that will make me seem human to you.” The teasing smile she offers Annie is a lot softer than any she’s ever pointed at me before. Even when I was in the freaking hospital.

“I don’t think those words exist,” Annie tells her and finally sits down.

“Well, I can tell you I just had a conversation with Knox, who has a nickname I refuse to repeat out loud.”

I snicker at that, and though I think I know where this is going, I can’t wait to hear Gab say it.

“You see, Annie, I have two beautiful, perfect daughters who have broken my heart at least a million times—that’s the parent gig, so it’s fine—but I finally get them to come spend Christmas at home after years of them being gone and me having to go hunt them down to have a nice family holiday, and now I find out one of my players, one of the men I pay millions to to skate around and play with a puck and a stick, wants to date one of my precious babies.

“Added to that, he wants to win her over while she’s here on holiday for the limited time I thought I would have her to myself.

Then I call my daughters, and with my sneaky ways, I find out my Lucy also happens to have a bit of a crush on Knox.

And the worst thing of all, Annie, is that that little shit is actually a very good boy.

He’s damn good at his job, responsible, kind, funny, and also adorable.

Or as adorable as a six-foot-two muscled sports dude can be, I suppose. ”

Gab pauses to sigh, and I see Annie is as mesmerized as me.

“So why did he come talk to you?” I demand, then scoff. “To ask for permission or some shit like that?”

“No.” Gab shakes her head and lies sideways on the couch like her world has just ended. “I would’ve hit him over the head if he had. But the asshole came up here, informed me— informed me —about his intentions, and scurried away like a little cockroach.”

I burst out laughing then.

She’s such a drama queen.

“I don’t think that story helped you seem more normal,” Annie murmurs, but she sounds more like herself, so I think it did work. “Actually, you seem more like a unicorn than before.”

“I do like unicorns,” Gab mumbles, still lying sideways on the couch.

“Who doesn’t?” I wonder.

“Psychopaths,” Annie says decisively. “But I can tell you’re a good mom.”

“Thanks, sweetie.”

“My mom is awful.” The way she says it, like a fact—which I know it is—breaks my heart. Enough that I reach over slowly and pat her shoulder.

She tracks my hand as it inches closer but doesn’t shy away, flinch, or frown. Instead she smiles gratefully at me, and that feels like I just won a million bucks.

When I turn back to look at her, I realize Gab didn’t miss a thing .

“You don’t like your momma?” She doesn’t sound judgemental as she asks, just sad. “I can be your surrogate mom, sweetie. My babies are all grown up and have left me.” The whine is a bit pathetic, though.

Annie looks struck, and then her eyes start to fill up. I feel like I should intervene, but at the same time, I know she can handle this by herself. She’s a lot tougher than anyone gives her credit for, herself included.

“Thanks,” her whisper is barely audible, but then I can see her pull herself together. “What I went through...” She trails off, then turns to me. I can see she’s hesitant on what to say, and I have no clue what to do, but I tell her the truth.

“You can say as little or as much as you want. Gab won’t tell anyone and she won’t judge you at all.”

Annie nods and takes a deep breath.

“My parents think I overreacted, that I should’ve kept my head down and not said anything, but I almost killed the guy who raped me, and they basically want nothing to do with me.

I had a scholarship, so the school paid for my treatment, but I didn’t want to go back after.

.. after everything, and I definitely didn’t want to move back home. ”

I see something new come into Gab’s eyes as she slowly sits up, a hardness that seems almost otherworldly.

“You give me his name and I’ll destroy his life,” she mutters darkly.

Surprisingly, Annie chuckles. “I took care of that, as much as I could.” Then she sighs and relaxes a bit in her seat. “I just want to put it all behind me.”

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.”