Page 98 of Merry Mayhem
I’m not sure what to say to that, and I’m saved from having to reply by Josh, Max, and Mitchell lifting me and helping me to skate over to one of the benches the hockey teams occupy during games. We sit, and Brewser comes over. Between the retired doctor and the current paramedic, they decide I’m goingto be fine. Someone hands me an ice pack, someone else hands me two ibuprofen and a bottle of water, and Nora wants to know if she can go ahead with the final team for Peppermint Puck-A-Palooza.
I am very happy just to sit on the bench next to Josh and watch Jesse and Brad knock their pucks around the ice for fifteen minutes.
We don’t talk, but Josh does link his pinky with mine on the bench between our thighs.
And I know, then and there, that I need to talk to my sister as soon as possible.
“Are you sure you feel okay?” Josh asks as we skate over to exit the ice fifteen minutes later.
I look up at him. “My head and my hip are fine. But my heart is a little achy.”
His eyes flare with emotion, and his lips part as if he’s about to respond.
But just then I hear, “It’sThea?”
We turn to find Violet blocking our exit.
Her hands are on her hips, and she’s looking at us with an expectant expression.
“Hi. I was just going to come find you,” I say.
“I’ve been here the whole time,” she says, looking from me to Josh and then back. “I saw you two down on the ice.” She looks at Josh. “Why didn’t you tell me that you’re in love with mysister?”
I suck in a little breath and feel Josh stiffen next to me.
Violet rolls her eyes. “Really? Everyone here could tell. I mean, I know you’re a great paramedic and all, but I’m guessing you didn’t look at me like that when you were pulling me out of the car.”
“Pulling you out of a car in a ditch is a whole different situation than checking Thea out on the ice after she fell,” Josh says.
Violet laughs. “Yes. And you have your heart in your throat because the woman you’re in love with fell over and bumped her head. It looks a whole lot different than you, being a professional and helping a patient out of a car accident.”
He opens his mouth to respond again, then shuts it and turns to look at me. “I guess we could just tell her now.”
I look at my sister. “We didn’t mean for this to happen.”
She steps forward and takes my face in her hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“That Istoleyourboyfriendwhile you were in acoma?” I ask her. I reach up and grip her wrists. “Because what the hell kind of sister am I?”
She shakes her head. “God, Thea. Josh and I just met. You weren’t stealing anything.”
“But…”
“But you have always taken care of me, so you couldn’t think of yourself for even a second,” she fills in when I trail off. She gives me a soft smile. “You take care of everyone. It’s probably why you and Josh clicked so quickly. You’re both caretakers.”
That hits me harder than I think Violet even intended. She’s right.
Josh and I have also both made big mistakes in the past that affected the people we love, and we both feel a constant urge to make up for those. But that doesn’t change the fact that we love taking care of people and are really fucking good at it.
“That’s one of the things I love most about him,” I admit.
“I wish you had told me,” Violet says, almost sadly.
I take her hands from my face, but link our fingers. “I knew how important it was for you to have him while you were facing Sam. I don’t want this to be hard on you with Sam here.”
She rolls her eyes. “You being happy is so much more important to me than looking good in front of Sam. Sure, Sam hurt me and broke my heart. I will get over that. You and Josh not being together is not something either of you will get over. You being in love and loved by a guy like Josh?” She looks up at him and smiles. “This is exactly what I want for you, Thea. You deserve this.”
Tears prick at the back of my eyes. “You’re really okay, even with Sam here?”
