Rushing the Goal (Assassins #8)

by Toni Aleo

  Benji laughed. “Have you ever heard that you attract more bees with honey than vinegar?”

  Holding his gaze, her lip quirked. “Good thing I don’t like honey…or bees.”

  “Guess so,” he agreed, her eyes darkening in color. “But either way, it was really nice to meet you. When I woke up this morning, I really didn’t think I’d meet someone like you.”

  “One of a kind,” she said with a wink, her lips quirking once more, almost like she was going to laugh. Instead, she waved. “See ya around.”

  “Look forward to it.”

  And he did.

  She was sassy and she was suffering from resting bitch face, but maybe all she needed was someone to make her smile. Someone to make her laugh. As she walked away, she looked back, her eyes playful before replying to whatever Angie had said. All Benji could do was watch her walk. Her ass was killer and his palms itched to touch it. He wondered if she knew he was thinking of holding her ass because she glared before rolling her eyes.

  When a hand came crashing down on his shoulder, he looked over to meet Vaughn’s profile.

  “She turned me down. Called me an idgit.”

  “Idgit?”

  “Yeah, she’s an angry one. Stay away from her,” he said, shaking his head, but when he glanced back at Benji, he let his head fall back. “Shit, you like her?”

  Benji shrugged. “She’s different.”

  “Yeah, mean as a possum!”

  “A possum?”

  Vaughn’s eyes widened. “Yeah, dude. Mean. Those things are mean. She’s mean.”

  Shaking his head, Benji grinned. “No, she just acts mean to keep people away.”

  “Yeah, so stay away.”

  “Don’t know if I can.”

  Letting out a long breath, Vaughn shook his head as Benji watched her untie Angie’s skates. He wasn’t sure if what he was saying was true, but a part of him really believed he wanted to know Lucy. Past the snark. Past the angry persona.

  The real Lucy Sinclair.

  “It won’t end well,” Vaughn warned.

  Benji knew that.

  So that meant one thing.

  It couldn’t end.

  “Benji is so cool, Mom, like, really. He was so funny and kept, like, telling me I’m awesome and everything. Everyone loves him. He challenged all of us. And, come on, he plays in the NHL, Mom. He’s, like, the best. But he let all of us win! He’s so cool. Don’t you think he’s cool?”

  “He’s something,” Lucy said under her breath as she pulled out of the parking spot and drove off. Something like hot and supernice. She couldn’t help but watch the guy on the ice. He was huge! And he treated those little girls like they were in tutus with crowns on their heads. He was so attentive. So sweet and she didn’t miss how he kept looking at her. She wasn’t sure why, but it was nice.

  When she actually allowed herself to enjoy it.

  “That’s wonderful, baby,” she said to Angie and she beamed, continuing on about how wonderful Benji Paxton was.

  But as much as Lucy wanted to listen and maybe even agree that Benji was supersweet with the kids, she couldn’t shake the earlier text exchange with Rick.

  Rick: Hey, I’m picking up Angie early Friday. I’ll pick her up from school.

  Lucy: I told you she has hockey on Fridays, that we’ll be about 30 mins late to meet you at Walmart.

  Rick: Okay, well that doesn’t work. Heidi wants to take her to get her hair done.

  Lucy: She doesn’t need her hair done. I just had it cut the other day.

  Rick: No, I mean like some kind of hairdo for the recital.

  Lucy: What recital?

  Rick: The one Saturday morning.

  Lucy: You told me it was two weeks from now.

  Rick: Did I?

  Lucy: Yes. Whatever. Where do I get tickets?

  Rick: They’re sold out.

  Rick: I thought you had already gotten them.

  Lucy: Wow. Okay, so you didn’t get me one, obviously. Whatever, Rick, I’ll figure it out.

  Rick: Yeah, okay, so I’ll pick her up from school?

  Lucy: No, you won’t. You can get her at 7 at Walmart like we planned.

  Rick: Are you serious?

  Lucy: Yeah, I am.

  Rick: You’re so damn childish.

  But Lucy ignored him.

  She knew he did that on purpose, and she was done talking to him. She was so over him it wasn’t even funny, and like always, he had ruined her whole night. Thankfully, she was able to call Jude’s wife, Claire, who was one of the directors of the dance studio, and she took care of them. Even got tickets for her mom, River, Jayden, and Baylor. It was fucking avoidable, but then with Rick Hart, nothing was avoidable. He was an asshole, but she’d be damned if she was not going to be there for her baby at her fall recital. Angie didn’t even like dance, but whatever.

  If Rick wanted his reign as King of the Dicks to continue, that was cool, she’d deal.

  As long as Angie was happy, that was all she cared about. The moment Angie wasn’t, though, crazy Lucy was coming out.

  “Don’t you think Benji is, like, superawesome, Mom?”

  Looking in the mirror, Lucy smiled. Benji probably thought she was thirty shades of crazy. She shouldn’t have been so snarky with him, but she couldn’t help it. Her life was one bad day after another lately, and dealing with Rick really fucked with her. It wasn’t Benji’s fault, though, and she’d apologize.

  When she got around to it.

  “He was nice.”

  “Right? So funny. Did you see him almost die when he got on the ice?”

  Lucy snorted. “I did, I laughed.”

  “Me too! I laughed so hard and told him it was ice, that it’s slippery. He gave me that look you do.”

  That’s my smartass, Lucy thought with a grin as she turned onto the interstate. “I would have said the same thing.”

  “Right? I knew you would!”

  Smiling, Lucy went into the other lane as silence fell on the car while she drove. As the car went from dark to darker from the street lights, Lucy realized she was dog tired and ready to hit the hay. It had been a long day, and she was still so angry with Jayden. She also didn’t like how she felt about Benji. He was too nice, but then, he didn’t give off that creeper vibe. Just a nice guy, which was odd. She didn’t even think those guys existed. And the ones who did were married.

  She almost thought Angie was asleep until she said, “Hey, Mom, I have to go to Dad’s this weekend, don’t I?”

  Clearing her throat, Lucy nodded. “Yeah, baby.”

  “Ugh, I don’t like going over there.”

  Her heart broke a bit as she met her baby’s eyes. “I know, baby, but Dad wants to see you too.”

  Angie shrugged. “All he cares about are Heidi and Nina.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “’Cause he doesn’t ever want to go to anything I like. It’s only what they want.”

  “I’ll talk to him,” Lucy announced, because that was not fucking okay.

  “No, don’t. Y’all will just fight and I don’t want that,” Angie said sadly. “I just miss Grandma—and River.”

  Of course she did. They had been living with her mom since she left Rick. “We can go see them when I pick you up on Sunday, okay?”

  Angie nodded, looking out the window. “What about Jude and Claire, and Jace and Avery and Ashlyn? I miss them too.”

  Another problem with having such a close-knit family, they all missed each other so much. “Well, we are going to Florida after Christmas and staying with Jace and Avery and baby Ashlyn. And Jude and Claire are coming for Christmas and I think at the end of January, if Jude doesn’t get invited to the All-Star Game.”

  “Which he probably will. He’s, like, the best.”

  Lucy laughed. “Please don’t tell him that.”

  Angie giggled. “Mom! You know it’s true.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Lucy agreed with a smile and Angie grinned back at her jus
t as her phone started ringing.

  Jayden’s ringtone.

  “Ooooooh, he’s in so much trouble,” Angie sang as Lucy nodded in agreement, hitting answer on her steering wheel.

  “Jayden Mitchell.”

  “Should I duck when I see you next?” he asked wryly.

  “I would.”

  “Okay, listen, I’m sorry. I’m a coward, but I thought you wouldn’t take her if I wasn’t gonna be there.”

  She made a face. “Whatever. I’d take her no matter what. You don’t need to apologize to me, you need to apologize to her. She was nervous. You know how she can get.”

  He made a sound of defeat and cleared his throat. “Angie, baby, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, Jay,” she giggled. “Mommy was soooo mad!”

  He chuckled. “I know. I’m a jerk. Do you forgive me?”

  “Of course!”

  “Lucy?”

  “I am thinking of a long list of bad words that I could include with no, but Angie’s in the car.”

  “Thank God,” he breathed and Lucy smiled. “But really, I’m sorry.”

  “Whatever.”

  “I love youuuuu,” he sang and Lucy smiled.

  “I love you too, but I’m still mad.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. But please tell me you didn’t hit my boy, BP?”

  “BP?” Lucy asked confused.

  “Benji Paxton? He showed, right?”

  “Oh yeah! He was soooooooooooo awesome, Jayden! He’s coming Wednesday too,” Angie cheered and Jayden laughed.

  “Cool dude, huh?”

  “I don’t know. Who volunteers to coach a bunch of girls? Seems a little unusual to me.”

  “He’s a really great guy. I seriously only had to call, and he didn’t even question me. Just said he’d be there,” Jayden said, which didn’t change Lucy’s mind. She didn’t like him. Or maybe, she didn’t like that she thought he was hot. Or nice.

  Man, she was fucked in the head.

  “Can’t he just be nice, Mom?” Angie asked and Lucy shrugged. She wouldn’t allow herself to tell her daughter that no man was like that unless they were disgusting perverts.

  “Or a child molester,” she said under her breath, and Jayden sucked in a breath.

  “Seriously, Luce?”

  “What?” she asked innocently and Angie made a face. “It was a joke.”

  “What’d she say?” Angie asked.

  “Nothing,” they said at the same time.

  “But a really, really cool dude. Supernice, and that’s awesome that he wants to keep helping. He’s kind of a hermit.”

  “A hermit?”

  “Yeah, he doesn’t get out much. He’s quiet.”

  “No, he’s not. He was superfunny,” Angie complained and Jayden chuckled.

  “Weirdoooo,” Lucy sang and Angie glared.

  “Mom!”

  “Sorry,” she said, rolling her eyes. Apparently everyone was a fan of Benji, but she was not and she needed a topic change. “So how’s Baylor?”

  Sucking in a breath, Jayden let it out slowly. “Not good. They are pretty sure she’ll need another surgery, and even then, they aren’t sure if she’ll be fixed. She cried the whole way home. Coach is trying to convince her to retire from the NHL. That he can get her a job at Bellevue as a girls’ coach or even a guys’ coach.”

  Lucy shook her head, her heart dropping for her sister-in-law. Baylor’s dad, who was marrying their mom, was the coach at Bellevue University. He had been saying he’d get her a job for the last year. No one wanted to see Baylor get hurt anymore. It was getting really scary. “Yeah, what are you thinking?”

  He didn’t answer right away, but when he did, the emotion was thick in his throat. “I don’t know how many more times I can take watching my wife get hurt on the ice. I’m so worried about her that it’s affecting my game.”

  Exactly, she thought as she cleared her throat. “You tell her that?”

  “Not yet. She’s sleeping right now. I’ll talk to her in the morning.”

  “Okay, tell her that, though, Jay. Promise me.”

  He paused and she knew he didn’t want to. Baylor was proud and didn’t take well to not being the best, but it had gone too far. She was getting hurt more than she was playing. As awesome as it was that she was in the NHL, it just wasn’t worth it. She was in constant pain and it was taking a toll on their relationship. They both knew that. “Yeah, I promise.”

  “Thanks,” Lucy said softly.

  “I’ll text you if she doesn’t kill me.”

  “I was gonna request that,” Lucy laughed and he chuckled. He sounded so tired and that worried her. He was a fix-it kind of guy. Always worried about everyone else and not himself. He’d run himself into the ground before he would let anyone down. He was just a really all-around great guy like that. She did well helping raise him.

  Clearing his throat, he said, “So, this weekend is the recital? Eleven?”

  Her worry for her brother disappeared as white-hot anger came back. Stupid Rick. “Yup. Rick just decided to tell me today. Thankfully, our sister-in-law helps run that place.”

  “What are you talking about?” Angie asked.

  “Your dance recital.”

  Meeting her gaze, Angie made a face. “I thought that was in two weeks.”

  Fucking douche.

  Jayden muttered something along the same lines as Lucy shook her head. “Nope, this weekend.”

  “Hm. Okay,” she said simply and Lucy rolled her eyes.

  “Okay, well, we are almost home. Call me tomorrow. Get some sleep, Jay.”

  “I sound tired?”

  “You do.”

  He laughed as Lucy smiled. “All right, love you guys.”

  “Love you,” they both said and Lucy hung up as she pulled onto the street her apartment was on. Letting out a long breath, Lucy was pretty sure she could hear her bed calling her name. She wouldn’t keep it waiting much longer. She was ready to fall face first into the happiness of her bed.

  She parked and reached for her purse, but before she could get out, Angie wrapped her arms around Lucy’s neck and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Mommy.”

  Relaxing as her lips curved, Lucy leaned into her daughter’s head. “I love you too, honey. Did you have fun tonight?”

  “I did. I love hockey so much and Coach Adler is so awesome and Benji was so much fun.”

  “Good, I’m glad.”

  “You should be nice to him.”

  “I am,” Lucy said, looking over at her.

  But Angie gave her a deadpan look. “You think he’s weird.”

  She shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I’m not nice.”

  “Mom, come on, just give him a chance. He’s supercool. I think you’d love him.”

  Looking into her daughter’s sweet green eyes, Lucy couldn’t bring herself to tell her that she’d never love anyone again. How could she? Nope, she’d let her baby think that there were good, loving men out there, but Lucy knew the truth.

  But she said, “I’ll try.”

  “Don’t try, do,” Angie said, using her words against her. “He really is great. Really.”

  “Okay,” she agreed and Angie must have been pleased with that answer because she kissed her on the cheek loudly before getting out of the car. As Lucy gathered her things, she pushed the door open and couldn’t help but think about the fact that Benji made one hell of an impression on her sweet girl. That should mean something to her. Should impress her, but it didn’t.

  Not really.

  Okay. Maybe a little.

  But it didn’t matter.

  Because Benji Paxton wasn’t the guy for her.

  Hell, no man was.

  Leaning against the boards, Benji watched as the Stars rushed the puck into the Assassins’ zone. Their offense was on fire, their passes were lethal, and that damn Seguin kid was a superstar. Within seconds and without anyone really noticing, he top-shelved it, hitting the top of the net over the head of Odder, the
Assassins’ goalie.

  Goal.

  Fuck.

  Leaning back, Benji shook his head, taking a long pull of Gatorade. The Assassins needed more depth in their defense. Their defense was made of all kids, except for Benji, Sinclair, Karson King, and Jordie Thomas. Coach had paired Benji with Sinclair, and then King and Thomas were together, so the other line was kids from the AHL. They needed some power in the back because, even though they were stacked in the offense department and they had a great goalie, there had to be someone to help Odder out.

  At least, he thought so.

  Letting out a long breath, he looked up at the Jumbotron and saw they were one down with seven minutes left.

  “Time to do work,” he said with conviction to the guys around him, Vaughn on one side and Sinclair on the other.

  “Yup,” Vaughn agreed, basically bouncing on the bench.

  “Let’s do this,” Sinclair said just as Coach called out their line, twenty seconds after the puck dropped. Going over the boards, he rushed to where the puck was left for him behind the goal. As Benji’s boys set up, Tate tapped his stick to the ice in hopes of riling up the boys. The crowd was loud; they loved their team and Benji loved them. Time to make them proud.

  Carrying the puck out, Benji shot it up, hard, down the middle to where Erik Titov was waiting. But when he went to pass it to Vaughn, who was basically in the net with the Stars’ goalie, one of the Stars blocked the pass. Passing it up to another player, he took it, racing down the middle and catching the Assassins on a two-on-one.

  Benji was the one.

  “Fucking hell,” he yelled as Sinclair pushed hard to get back down. He wouldn’t make it. The Stars player passed it to the other one, and he looked as if he was going to shoot. So Benji dropped down, stretching his body completely out in the hopes that, if he did pass it, Benji would block it. Praying to God above, he closed his eyes, hoping he didn’t get hit in the mouth.

  Dude did shoot, and it didn’t hit Benji in the mouth.

  But it hurt.

  Right in the spot below his ribs where his pads weren’t protecting.

  Gasping for breath, he popped up just as Sinclair came in, taking the puck and passing it back up. Going straight for the bench, Benji tried to watch as their offense did work, but he missed when they scored the tying goal. The arena went nuts, as did the bench while Benji sat down, the pain still very much stinging in his chest. As Anderson skated, tapping his glove to everyone, he pointed to Benji.