Rushing the Goal
Page 78

“Your brother and Lucy’s boyfriend,” Autumn said simply, jerking back and forth with the play.
“What? Boyfriend?” Jude asked. “Like someone she likes when she doesn’t have to?”
“Like a real boy? Man? Manboy? Wait, what happened?” Jace asked, also from the iPad, and Baylor snickered.
“Mom, Benji is not my boyfriend!” Lucy complained, but it was like no one was listening because just then, Angie scored.
“That’s my niece!”
Benji high-fived Jayden as they both hollered for Angie, who had just scored one sick-ass wrister.
“I taught her that!” Jayden yelled up at his family but they all rolled their eyes, and he was pretty sure he heard one of the Sinclairs on the iPad call him an idiot.
But in all reality, he was pretty sure he taught Angie that last week.
Not that he was going to say that.
“That’s right, babe! Good job!” he said, pumping his fist when Angie looked back at them.
“Amazing! Good work,” Benji urged as Angie grinned, skating back to the bench. As the play started back up, they stood in silence as they watched. Shea was loud, animated, and the girls loved him.
But that Elli Adler, she was the loudest one out there.
“That’s my baby! Hit ’em! Get it, girl!” she yelled in her thick, country accent that had them laughing.
“Our boss is nuts.”
“She sure is,” Benji agreed as they looked back on the ice just as Angie got on. When she went behind the goal, getting the puck to send it back out, she grinned at them before heading to where she needed to be.
“She likes you,” Jayden said, folding his arms over his chest as the whistle blew for offsides. “A lot.”
“She’s a cool kid.”
“No, I meant Lucy,” he said, chuckling. “I guess I never really paid attention but, dude, she’s smiling up there.”
He looked up to where Lucy was sitting, doing her damnedest not to look at him, and she was smiling. Did he do that? Chuckling, he shook his head at her bare lips. He hadn’t even noticed her lipstick was smeared when she was walking away. He was too busy trying to get his desire under control. That girl drove him mad, and he sure as hell didn’t feel the lipstick on himself. It was embarrassing, and he was really starting to believe Lucy when she said she had only bad luck.
It was kind of funny.
But he was pretty sure he was the only one laughing.
Bringing his gaze from hers, he looked at Jayden. “Yeah, that’s my goal, at least.”
Jayden nodded. “Good. She needs that, and so does Angie.”
Benji looked out on the ice where Angie was lined up for the puck. She was breathing hard, her eyes on the puck. She was ready to go. He felt like a proud father, but he wasn’t her father, he couldn’t forget that. No, her dad was douche dude from doucheville.
“Where is the bag of dicks?” he found himself asking, his blood suddenly boiling. How dare he miss his kid’s game? Angie deserved way better.
“Fuck if I know. I hate that dude,” Jayden said, looking around, and then he paused. “Ah, he’s sitting on the visitors’ side.”
Benji glanced to where he was looking, and there was Rick with a pretty blonde and a girl the same size as Angie, playing on her iPad. “Is that his wife and kid?”
“Yeah,” Jayden said, his voice laced with acid.
That bothered him. The little girl looked Angie’s age. Maybe older. He almost asked, but then Angie got the puck, a breakaway. She rushed down the ice, leaving everyone in her dust.
“Deke, deke, shoot,” Jayden yelled and Benji scoffed.
“She’s seven, dude!”
But Angie did what her uncle said. She deked left, then right, pulling the goalie completely out before lifting the puck into the goal with ease. As she threw her arms up, Benji was screaming so loud, he was sure he was going to lose his voice. Lucy was too, waving her arms and jumping up and down as Angie grinned big, turning to give him and Jayden a thumbs-up. They both gave her a thumbs-up, and she skated away with a grin nothing could touch.
“Hell yeah!” Jayden yelled and Benji was pumped. But when he glanced at Rick to see if he was cheering too, he found he wasn’t cheering. No, he wasn’t even watching.
His fury-filled gaze was on Benji.
Narrowing his eyes, Benji looked away as the buzzer rang and the game was over. The home side was cheering loudly as the girls all wrapped around each other, hugging tightly, and Shea fist-pumped from the bench. “Let’s go over there,” Jayden said, and together they headed over, reaching Shea as he was cheering the girls on.
“Great passing, great puck control, and, Hart! That breakaway, amazing! I’m so proud of you girls. You did awesome. Now, all together. Ready? On three. One, two,” he hollered, and then together everyone said, “Glittery Butterflies!”
Jayden chuckled and said under his breath, “Ha, who would have thought that big Shea Adler would be coaching a team called the Glittery Butterflies?”
“I sure as hell did,” Benji said between laughs, but when Adler glanced back at them, they both stopped laughing. “Great game, Coach!”
“Yeah, I hear y’all,” he said dryly, but a grin pulled at his lips as Angie came toward them, waddling in her skates.
“Okay, that was awesome!” she decided, and Benji shook her by her shoulders.
“Awesome? That was freaking amazing! You’re so fantastic!” he cheered and she beamed as he undid her helmet.