Risky Business (19 page)

Bomb Squad was on fire. The Albion Kegerators didn't stand a chance, not with the Wounded Veterans International executives in the stands and Bomb Squad pumped up about a possible post-game announcement.

Allison jumped to her feet when Will scored a goal early in the second period. Yes, it was by accident after the puck deflected off his stick, but still. The look on his face was priceless.

The first time Theo was sent to the penalty box, he glanced her way and gave her a brief eyebrow raise of acknowledgement. As they were throughout every game, his eyes were filled with aggression and focus, with testosterone rolling off his body as thick as his sweat. She could still see a glimmer of the man who'd kissed her so slowly they melted into each other, but more than that, she saw the bear who threatened to devour her that first night. She saw the man who'd kissed her that second time in the kitchen, harder and deeper, with tongue, pushing his body against hers, letting her feel his arousal.

A tendril of desire coiled inside her. She needed an orgasm with someone other than herself, and fast, but she needed so much more than that. She needed Theo's huge hands, that soft mouth. She wanted to crawl inside that anti-hero complex of his that she had a tenderness for and learn all his secrets.

She took a sip of beer, trying to cool down before she combusted right there at the scorekeeper's table. Goddamn. How could she be so ready for something, yet so unprepared to handle it? Then again, would she ever be ready? How, exactly, did one prepare, mentally, to sleep with a man like Theo—if that was, indeed, where they were headed? It was enough to make her light-headed. Over the rim of her beer cup, she watched him push out of the penalty box, releasing her breath in a slow stream.

“Are you ready to talk about it yet?” Harper twirled a pen in one hand like a baton, looking amused.

“Nothing's happening.”

Presley chortled. “Okay, well, whatever is not happening between you two has my blessing, for what that's worth.”

Theo had been right about the post-game announcement. Not a minute after the third period ended and Bomb Squad won, Duke's voice had come over a loudspeaker, asking people to stay in their seats. The WVI executives stepped forward and gave the good news. The Project: Hope Exhibition Game was coming to Destiny Falls, with Bomb Squad representing American veterans against the Russians.

Allison didn't think she'd ever heard such a small crowd cheer so loudly. Katie wailed, hating the hoots and whistles that had woken her up, but she just had to hang in there because there was no way Allison was going to leave in the midst of such joy. Theo sought her out during the team pileup mid-ice. The smile he flashed her was so genuine and boyish that she laughed and gave him a thumbs-up.

She could only imagine the locker room celebration as she drove Chelsea and Katie home.

“That was something else,” Chelsea said. “I've never cared much for sports, but I think I could easily turn into a hockey fan if I lived here.”

“I've got to ask. Are you leaving soon? I'm getting a weird vibe from you today.”

Chelsea sighed. “No plans to leave, but I do need to talk to you about something that I hope isn't a big deal. Let's get Katie in her crib.”

The party at Locks was in full swing by the time Allison pulled into Cloud Nine's parking lot. Katie was in a deep sleep and didn't rouse when Allison put her down in her crib. Another hockey night miracle.

Chelsea met her at the bottom of the stairs.

Allison had been brainstorming the possible topics Chelsea might need to talk with her about, and though she would have bet money that Chelsea was going to tell her she was leaving, she'd already confirmed that she wasn't, which gave Allison only one other solid idea. “Is this because of Harper finding out that you slept with Brandon? You don't have to feel bad. Harper and Brandon were totally screwed up before you got involved.”

“No, it's not that. I was worried at first tonight, but you and Harper made it clear during the game that I wasn't overstepping boundaries. But it is about last night, when I partied with Brandon.”

She didn't see where Chelsea was going with this, but she knew that no matter what her sister had done, whatever trouble she'd caused or was in, Allison would be there for her. She took Chelsea's hand and led her to the couch. “You can talk to me. I promise not to judge you.”

It was the kind of parent she wanted to be. The kind that her teenage daughter could come to and share her secrets with without fearing scorn.

“Brandon and I saw Theo at Walmart buying Katie's fever medicine. We'd stopped in to buy protection.”

Allison blinked, trying to wrap her head around the idea that Theo was involved in that story, that their lives had somehow intersected at a store ten miles away in the middle of the night during a rain storm. “Go on.”

“I was lit. I'd had a smoke of the good stuff at my show, and then Brandon started buying me drinks. I was toasted, big-time.”

“I still don't see . . .”

Chelsea wrung her hands. “I invited Theo to join me and Brandon. I came on to him a little. A lot.”

Not what Allison was expecting. She dropped her gaze to the floor. “Oh,” she croaked.

There was no reason to be jealous. No reason to be mad. Nothing had happened. Last night, after Theo had bought the medicine, he returned to the car, drove her home, and kissed her. She'd sworn that pity had nothing to do with that kiss, but he'd just fielded an advance by her drugged up, drunk sister. He never breathed a word about it.

She couldn't fault him for that. It was the gentlemanly course of action. If anything, it made her like him all the more. It was sweet, and not at all vindictive, as he'd wanted to make her believe he was when she first came to Destiny Falls. He could have thrown that juicy bit of information about Chelsea in Allison's face, given how angry he was with her for taking over ownership of Cloud Nine. But he hadn't. So why was she upset?

“I asked you to not to sleep with him.”

“I know. I didn't understand that you and he had something . . . I thought he hated you. He was making your life miserable and I wanted to make him uncomfortable. I knew he'd never say yes to my proposition because he's not that kind of man, but still. I'm so sorry.”

“There was no harm done.” She'd keep telling herself that until she believed it.

Chelsea nodded. “I hoped there wasn't, which was why I needed you to know.” She opened her arms and hugged Allison tight.

Allison closed her eyes, girding herself, then hugged Chelsea back. “I'm glad you told me. And I'm really glad nothing happened.”

“Things are going to be weird between him and me forever.”

“Were they normal before?”

Chelsea snorted. “Yeah, right. He thinks I'm a loser. He hates me as much as I thought he hated you.”

“You're not a loser, and I bet Theo doesn't hate you. But even if he does, I don't. I'm glad you're here.”

“Will you go to Locks already? Go have fun while I keep an eye on Katie. It'll help me feel less guilty.”

Allison stopped in her room to freshen up her hair and makeup, still feeling out of sorts, though she couldn't put her finger on why. Chelsea was in the shower when Allison emerged from her room, so she grabbed her coat, stuffed a credit card, ID, and cash into her pocket, and headed off across the commons to the beckoning golden glow of the tavern.

Halfway across the grass, it hit her, why she felt so lousy about what had happened that night between Chelsea, Brandon, and Theo. It wasn't because Chelsea had betrayed her, because she hadn't, really.

What bothered her the most, what kept the knot in her stomach feeling tight and achy was that there was one person left out of Chelsea's story—Allison. Life was happening around her and she was missing out. She was afraid of cutting loose, afraid she'd forgotten how. Chelsea lived so boldly. So stupidly sometimes, too, but boldly, which is something Allison had never been accused of being—until she'd taken over ownership of Cloud Nine. Even then, no one, not even her, had thought about it as an act of boldness. Just stupidity. Just a cause of future regret. Nobody had thought she could do this job, including her.

That wasn't bold. That was meek. That was her sitting in a car while a man took care of her baby's needs by buying fever medicine and her sister had wild, casual sex with the town playboy. She'd kissed a man that night, too, but she couldn't stop thinking about what it meant, and whether or not she was ready. It had scared her, so much so that she'd told him as much. That wasn't living boldly.

She'd never lived without a plan. Call it a product of nearly drowning, but it was imprinted on her soul that life was as fluid and dangerous as water. That, without a solid plan, you would drown. She grew up believing that the world happened to her, that she was a victim of forces greater than herself.

What would happen if she took ownership of the forces? If instead of feeling wronged by Lowell, wronged by water and the universe, and feeling like she never stopped playing defense against the forces trying to drown her, she took control of the situation? What if she went after Theo instead of letting Theo happen to her?

She pivoted in the middle of the grassy commons, shifting her course so that she walked to the edge of the canal—the exact spot where Theo had pulled her overboard on her first night in Destiny Falls.

It was time to make friends with her demons—her fears, her flaws, and her insecurities. Not that she expected to be totally fine with water, because some notions never let go of a person completely, but she could shake hands with the fear and let it know it didn't control her anymore.

What would her life be like if she believed in herself as a business owner? What if she stopped thinking that her deep, lifelong connection to water was akin to suffering? What if she, instead, thought about water as her oldest friend, her constant companion? Her life would be transformed. A wind whipped across the canal and she shivered, imagining the implications.

It was time to stop resisting the press of life against her, stifling her—drowning her—and let it flow through her. Instead of fighting against the forces trying to overpower her, it was time to rest in the confidence that it couldn't overpower her unless she let it. And she wasn't going to let it.

She was going to do everything possible to be a great business owner and mother. She was going to sign herself and Katie up for water acclimation classes. She was going to let Theo know she wanted him. But not at Locks. It was enough tonight to have decided to pursue him. For now, she'd go have a drink or two, hang out with Marlena, Presley, and Olivia, and live. Really live.

No more scrambling for footing, wondering why she kept getting a raw deal. This was the life she had, the life she was going to cultivate in whatever direction it decided to go. It was enough footing, enough security, to know she was going to hang on and enjoy the ride. Above all, she knew she was going to be fine. For the first time in a long time, she actually believed it.

Locks was jumping. She stood just inside the door getting her bearings and looking for her friends. She saw Theo first. He was standing with Will, Liam, and Duke, beers in their hands and Liam gesturing in what looked like a retelling of a play on the ice. Theo raised his eyebrows in a hello, but didn't gesture for her to join his group, which, despite her vow not to flirt with him publicly tonight, she'd been hoping he would.

Not seeing Olivia, Presley, or Marlena yet, she walked to the bar near the line of taps where Harper was pouring a beer.

“You made it. Good. You deserve a little me time.”

She agreed. “I had to take advantage of Chelsea's rare night home.”

“Get you a beer?”

“Yes. Thanks.”

“Make it two.” Theo's arm slid past her shoulder to rest on the bar.

Allison smiled again. “Congratulations on the exhibition game. You get to play against the Russians. A Canadian's dream come true.”

He didn't grin at her joke, which got her wondering why he was so serious when he should be elated. “It's going to be good for this town, good for the guys,” he said.

“It's good for you, too.” In the games she'd watched, she'd witnessed the way he threw himself into the game, heart and soul, one hundred percent. Anyone could see how much he loved to play. He was probably loathe to be in the spotlight, which the exhibition game would thrust him into, but maybe when he heard the cheers of the crowds and got busy whupping on the Russian team, he'd realize it was okay to be exalted sometimes.

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

She nudged him affectionately with her elbow. “It's okay to be happy, you know.”

“Is Katie with Chelsea?” She couldn't decide if his question held a note of judgment or if her imagination was filling that part in.

“My sister has her flaws, but she's a good person and a great aunt to Katie.” She'd been defending Chelsea, insisting that there was more to her than her terrible choices, since they were kids, and she imagined she'd need to for the rest of their lives.

It couldn't have been easy being the Lexingtons' youngest child after Allison's near drowning. Chelsea had been four years old to Allison's seven. Though Allison didn't have a memory of how their parents had treated any of the siblings during the difficult weeks that followed, because she was so young and sick with health complications from the accident, but if the way they'd doted on and hovered over Allison until the day she got married was any indication, then it was no wonder Chelsea acted out to get attention.

“I didn't say she wasn't.”

“She thinks you hate her.” She hesitated, then decided she hated the feeling of leaving things unspoken and added, “Especially after what happened in Walmart.”