“Yeah, but do you have someone who can cover next week?” Benji asked, hopeful they would be good to the girls.
“Yeah, I’ll call in some help. No biggie. Girls are going to miss you guys, though,” Shea said as he started to skate toward the group. They followed along with him, and for once, Benji didn’t want to go on the road. Usually, he didn’t care, but he felt like he had things to do here.
Really, he didn’t, but he wished he did.
When they reached the area where the girls were getting water by the benches, Benji saw that Angie was standing by herself, moving a puck back and forth. Before he could head over there, Shea’s voice filled the rink.
“Coaches Vaughn and Benji are leaving us for some away games. So let’s take a moment and wish them good luck on the road!”
All the girls clapped and cheered for them, a chant of “Go Assassins” beginning, and the guys grinned. The girls were a good group, and Benji was going to miss them. But when he looked over to Angie, she looked sad as she went back to playing with the puck. Skating over to where she was, he leaned against the boards and watched as she moved it in and out of her legs mindlessly, messing up, but he didn’t think she cared. As the chants died down, Benji cleared his throat.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
She looked up, her little face twisting in confusion. She was sweaty, her cheeks red, but the frustration was in her eyes. He wasn’t sure what a seven-year-old had to be frustrated about, but he sure as hell didn’t think she needed to be. “What’s that mean?”
He grinned. “Means ‘what’s up?’”
“Nothing,” she said simply, shooting the puck against the boards with a little more aggression than needed.
He smiled. “Nothing, or you don’t want to talk about it? Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, fine,” she said and then let out a breath.
“Do you not want to talk to me?” he asked because—who was he? He was just her coach. “That’s completely okay.”
She looked up at him once more and then shook her head. “It’s not that. It’s just I’m worried about my mom.”
His heart started to race as he came off the boards. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, I just think she’s mad because my dad is coming here to get me early.”
“Early?”
She nodded. “Yeah, he should be here soon. I have to watch for when he comes.”
“Oh,” he said, and he wasn’t sure why his heart dropped a bit. “Well, I’m sure she’s not mad at you.”
“No, I know,” she said, letting out a long breath. “I just hate that she gets upset. She’s always mad.”
“I doubt that.”
“Well, not at me, but at everything else. It just sucks. My dad is mean to her, and I tell him to be nice, but he just ignores me. He told her he wanted her to pull me from hockey, but Mom said no. So he screamed at her until she hung up— Oh, crap, he’s here.”
Benji looked in the direction Angie had turned. Sure enough, a man was standing there, looking out at the ice. He was average height, lanky, and maybe it was because Benji thought he was a bag of dicks, but he wasn’t very good-looking. Lucy picked this dude to make a kid with? Praise God that Angie was a mini Lucy.
“I gotta go,” Angie grumbled as she grabbed her water. “Have a good road trip. Sucks you’re leaving.”
“Yeah. Come on, I’ll go with you. I need to talk to your mom anyway,” he said as she started to skate away. “Adler, Angie’s gotta go. I’ll be back.”
“Yeah, see you later, Hart. Have a good weekend.”
She waved at Shea and then the rest of the team. “Bye, you too.”
Benji opened the door for her, and she walked out. When he looked up, he saw Lucy walking toward them, her eyes full of annoyance. But still, she was so pretty.
Her long, brown hair was down, straight along her shoulders, but with a little curl at the end. She had it pinned to the side, out of her eyes, which were done up to enhance the color. The red dress she wore was tight across her breasts but flared out at her hips, her legs clad in dark tights and boots to her knees. She was wearing some kind of blanket looking thing that he had noticed was popular in fashion now, but that wasn’t what had him gawking at her.
No, it was the red of her lips.
So shiny and so plump.
Lord Almighty.
But she wasn’t looking at him, her gaze only on Angie. “Baby, your dad is here.”
“I know,” Angie grumbled, handing her mom her water and stick.
“Hey, Angie,” the guy said, coming to them as Benji shut the door behind him. The guy looked up at Benji and his brows came together before dragging his gaze back to Angie. “Ready?”
“I gotta get my equipment off. Give me a minute,” Angie said before walking over to where her bag was. Benji watched her for a moment, and when she looked up, he smiled.
“You good, Angie?”
She nodded, a little smile on her lips. “Yeah, thanks, Benji.”
“Anytime,” he said, watching as Lucy came over to help her. Sitting down, she helped her undress and Benji knew he should have gone back on the ice, but he wanted to make sure they were okay.