Rushing the Goal
Page 76

Lucy grinned. “I see that. Hey, Benji.”
He was wearing his thick, dark-rimmed glasses, his hair falling against them as his lips curved. “Ms. Sinclair.”
“Silly, her name is Lucy!” Angie giggled, leaning into him. “Isn’t she pretty today?”
“Angela,” Lucy warned, but Autumn was beaming.
“You are looking extra beautiful today,” she agreed and Lucy glared.
“Mom!”
Benji just grinned, though, his eyes bright as Lucy met his heated gaze. “I think you are completely right, Hart. Prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. Besides you, of course,” he said, tickling her, and she dissolved into laughter on the ground. Glancing at her mother, Lucy found that she and River were laughing too. Why did this feel normal to her?
Shit, what was happening?
Picking her up by her jersey, Benji put Angie on her feet and then fixed her jersey. “All right, Hart, ready to win?”
“Yes!”
“Remember, play deep, right by the goal. Rebounds, you got them, right?”
“Yup!”
Benji tapped her helmet. “That’s my girl. Go kick some butt.”
Angie nodded quickly before dragging her bag with her toward where Shea was waiting for her. Looking back at Lucy, Benji smiled and her lips quirked as her mother held her hand out.
“Well, my goodness, you are wonderful with her. I’m Angie’s grandma, Autumn, and this is my fiancé, River.”
Benji reached for her hand, shaking it. “She’s a great kid, lucky to meet her. But wait, did you say grandma? You mean aunt, right?”
Oh, her mom ate that right on up. Lucy rolled her eyes as he shook River’s hand. “Man, it’s wonderful to meet you. I really admire your game, mirror some of my play on yours.”
Oh, yeah. Lucy had forgotten River was kind of a big deal—being a Stanley Cup winner from the Bruins and all. Grinning ear to ear, River nodded. “Yeah, Paxton, right? You play opposite to Sinclair.”
Benji nodded. “Yes, sir.”
When they started to talk hockey, her mother leaned to her. “He’s amazing.”
“Mom, stop.”
“You should get on that.”
“Mom, please.”
“Lucy, he likes you. He keeps staring at you.”
“Please, Mom, stop,” Lucy begged but Autumn just grinned.
“Want me to ask him out for you?”
“Sweet Lord in heaven,” she muttered before clapping her hands together. “I’m gonna go sit down.”
Benji looked over at her and grinned. His eyes bored into hers, letting her know he’d be where they said they’d meet. But she had just left him not three hours ago. Surely, they weren’t still meeting. “I’ll meet you guys up there. I gotta make a stop.”
“Okay,” she said as she started to walk away with her family. But when she looked back at him, he waggled his brows.
Damn it. How was she supposed to get away?
Stopping at the bathroom, she waved her family off. “I gotta pee real quick.”
They kept going, by the grace of God. She was convinced Baylor or her mom would decide they had to use the restroom. Her heart was pounding, and she was about to giggle because of how absurd this was. But they started around the rink for the home bleachers. Lucy waited, ready to take off. God, this was stupid. Closing her eyes, she felt so silly but at the same time, so damn giddy. Fighting back her grin, she made a beeline for behind the bleachers, praying no one saw her.
But when she found Benji leaning against the wall, looking all sexy and carefree, she all of a sudden didn’t care who saw her. Reaching for her, he brought her in close, holding her tightly in his arms. As he moved his nose along her jaw, she melted in his arms while his heart crashed into hers. “I almost thought you wouldn’t want to see me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, hush. I told you last night, or, er, this morning, that all that doesn’t change anything.”
Pulling back, he looked down at her, his thumbs moving lazily along her cheekbones. “Still, I was worried.”
“Well, don’t be.”
“Okay,” he said roughly and she smiled. “Are you okay? You seem nervous.”
Was she? She was. Crap. “I hate lying to my family. To Angie. She asked me where I was last night.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Please. I came speeding over, literally.”
He chuckled against her lips, but then he stopped, his eyes searching hers. God, she loved his eyes. They were so beautiful, so compellingly gray. Kissing her nose, he asked, “What else?” She made a face and he smiled. “Tell me.”
“I’m worried Rick won’t show up. She really wants him here.”
He nodded, his grin dropping. “Have you texted him?”
“Not yet,” she said, lacing her hands behind his neck. “I’m a little occupied at the moment.”
His lips curved, his eyes darkening as he leaned closer. “Oh yeah, we have some kissing to do.”
“We do.”
“You look really hot,” he murmured against her lips, his hands falling to her ass as she sucked in a breath.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Angie says you stare at me.”
“Oh, I do.”
“Do you?”
“Every chance I get,” he murmured before taking her mouth with his. Her eyes fell shut as her heart pounded into her ribs. When she leaned into him, he deepened the kiss, his tongue moving against hers with heated need. She couldn’t just kiss this guy. No, she had to consume him. Or he was consuming her, whatever, lots of consuming was going on, and it was freaking fantastic. When his hand squeezed her ass, his hard cock pressing into her stomach, she pulled back.