Rushing the Goal
Page 120
“What the hell?” Sitting down as Jayden sat, Benji looked over at him. “Is your brother singing to me?”
Jayden rolled his eyes, gasping for breath as he took a long pull of water. “He’s an idiot. Sings to people on the ice.”
Jude scoffed at that since he was in earshot, still singing. Benji continued to look puzzled. “What’s he singing? Who sings on the ice?”
“He does. It’s insane, but I think he’s singing the Beach Boys.”
“The Beach Boys?”
“Yeah, he told me he was gonna sing ‘Don’t Hurt My Little Sister’ to you to throw you off your game.”
Benji’s face twisted as he looked out at the ice, Jude skating off as he moved his head to the beat in his mind. “Lucy wasn’t kidding when she said he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, was she?”
Jayden chuckled. “Nope, not even kinda.”
Benji ignored Jude and the game continued, the Assassins down by two. It had been a tough game. They had their backup goalie in, Dylan Alexander, and he was doing fine, but it was easy to see he was rusty from not playing for a while. Leaning on the boards, Benji watched as the Assassins fought into the Kings’ zone, shooting pucks left and right. When one of the Kings’ players cross-checked Jordie into the boards, the bench lost it in protest. Thankfully, the ref saw it and threw his hand up.
Power play.
“Paxton, Sinclair, go,” Coach yelled, and they jumped over, heading to the face-off circle.
When Jude skated by him, grinning like a fool while singing, Benji shook his head. Would Lucy be mad if he pummeled her brother? He wasn’t sure if he cared, because the dude was getting on his nerves. When the puck dropped, though, Jude stopped singing and tried to win it. But Anderson was fast, kicking it back to Benji, who sent it to Jayden, who shot wide. Going around the boards, Benji rushed to get the puck before it went over the line, getting there just in time to send it to Anderson, who sent it to Titov, who shot, but the goalie batted it away. Right onto Jayden’s stick. Instead of shooting, though, he whizzed it to Benji, who was ready for the one-timer, and when the red light flashed, he threw his arms up.
There was Lucy’s goal.
“Fuck yeah!”
As his boys wrapped him up in a hug, he somehow met Jude’s gaze. He was just grinning, nodding his head as he headed to his bench. Benji wasn’t sure what that meant, but he didn’t feel comfortable about it.
But he didn’t have time to worry about Jude because as soon as the next line went out, the Kings scored again—in the end, winning the game. Benji hated losing, hell, everyone did, but it really sucked since it was the Kings, Jude’s team, that had kicked their asses.
Defeated, the Assassins headed back into the locker room. And when he sat, Coach came in with the usual get-your-shit-together speech. When he called Benji out, saying he wasn’t in the game, he was right. Between fucking Jude and the fact he was still thinking about what had happened in AA, he didn’t know what to do. He needed to figure it out. Because things were happening.
Lucy had called her dad once they had gotten in the car and told him to get her a court date. It was only to get the parenting plan revised, but apparently, Rick’s lawyer said they would be asking for full custody. His heart hurt remembering how hard Lucy had cried in his arms. She didn’t want to do this—she didn’t want to put Angie through it, and Benji got that—but Rick was a douche and needed to be put in his place. He knew it would turn out in Lucy’s favor, but he worried about what that would do to Angie if Rick stuck around. He seemed like he already had one foot out the door, only hanging in to hurt Lucy, and that was mind-blowing to Benji.
How do you claim to love someone but be a complete asshole and not want to support what they love? Especially someone as amazing and sweet as Angie. Benji did not believe for a second that she had been bad or mouthy. She was always so good, yeah, a little nutty, but she was a kid and did normal kid stuff. Didn’t Rick want a relationship with his daughter? Or was he too concerned with hurting Lucy because he couldn’t control her? Benji didn’t know, but he sure as hell worried about Lucy’s sanity and Angie’s heart.
It wasn’t fair.
Life wasn’t fair. If it were, Ava and Leary would be alive. But then, would he be where he was now? It was just all such a mindfuck because, while he didn’t wish away his time with Ava and Leary, he couldn’t fathom his life without Lucy and Angie. Maybe this was his normal, though. Maybe this was how his life would always be. Feeling bad for one thing, but happy about another. Could he live with that regret? If it was really regret. He wasn’t sure. But one thing was for sure, he would talk to Lucy about it.
“Paxton, Johansson, you two are up for an interview,” one of the media folks said, and Benji rolled his eyes.
He didn’t like doing interviews.
Vaughn, though, he loved them, but today he looked pissed.
“You good?” Benji asked as they walked together to the hall.
“Don’t want to do this today.”
Benji could only nod as the media guy stopped him and Vaughn went ahead. Brie Soledad, the Assassins’ new locker-room broadcaster stood with her mic up at her mouth, talking about something. She was adorable; Benji had always thought so. At one time, he had wanted to holler at her, but that was while he was actually searching for what turned out to be Lucy. Watching as Vaughn towered over her, Benji wanted to laugh. She was so little, maybe five feet, with big, blue eyes and long, brown hair that had blond at the ends. She was on the thicker side, almost like Elli Adler, but she pulled it off and all the guys liked her. She was nice, but apparently Vaughn forgot that as he stood before her, his hands on his hips, annoyance rolling off him.
Jayden rolled his eyes, gasping for breath as he took a long pull of water. “He’s an idiot. Sings to people on the ice.”
Jude scoffed at that since he was in earshot, still singing. Benji continued to look puzzled. “What’s he singing? Who sings on the ice?”
“He does. It’s insane, but I think he’s singing the Beach Boys.”
“The Beach Boys?”
“Yeah, he told me he was gonna sing ‘Don’t Hurt My Little Sister’ to you to throw you off your game.”
Benji’s face twisted as he looked out at the ice, Jude skating off as he moved his head to the beat in his mind. “Lucy wasn’t kidding when she said he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, was she?”
Jayden chuckled. “Nope, not even kinda.”
Benji ignored Jude and the game continued, the Assassins down by two. It had been a tough game. They had their backup goalie in, Dylan Alexander, and he was doing fine, but it was easy to see he was rusty from not playing for a while. Leaning on the boards, Benji watched as the Assassins fought into the Kings’ zone, shooting pucks left and right. When one of the Kings’ players cross-checked Jordie into the boards, the bench lost it in protest. Thankfully, the ref saw it and threw his hand up.
Power play.
“Paxton, Sinclair, go,” Coach yelled, and they jumped over, heading to the face-off circle.
When Jude skated by him, grinning like a fool while singing, Benji shook his head. Would Lucy be mad if he pummeled her brother? He wasn’t sure if he cared, because the dude was getting on his nerves. When the puck dropped, though, Jude stopped singing and tried to win it. But Anderson was fast, kicking it back to Benji, who sent it to Jayden, who shot wide. Going around the boards, Benji rushed to get the puck before it went over the line, getting there just in time to send it to Anderson, who sent it to Titov, who shot, but the goalie batted it away. Right onto Jayden’s stick. Instead of shooting, though, he whizzed it to Benji, who was ready for the one-timer, and when the red light flashed, he threw his arms up.
There was Lucy’s goal.
“Fuck yeah!”
As his boys wrapped him up in a hug, he somehow met Jude’s gaze. He was just grinning, nodding his head as he headed to his bench. Benji wasn’t sure what that meant, but he didn’t feel comfortable about it.
But he didn’t have time to worry about Jude because as soon as the next line went out, the Kings scored again—in the end, winning the game. Benji hated losing, hell, everyone did, but it really sucked since it was the Kings, Jude’s team, that had kicked their asses.
Defeated, the Assassins headed back into the locker room. And when he sat, Coach came in with the usual get-your-shit-together speech. When he called Benji out, saying he wasn’t in the game, he was right. Between fucking Jude and the fact he was still thinking about what had happened in AA, he didn’t know what to do. He needed to figure it out. Because things were happening.
Lucy had called her dad once they had gotten in the car and told him to get her a court date. It was only to get the parenting plan revised, but apparently, Rick’s lawyer said they would be asking for full custody. His heart hurt remembering how hard Lucy had cried in his arms. She didn’t want to do this—she didn’t want to put Angie through it, and Benji got that—but Rick was a douche and needed to be put in his place. He knew it would turn out in Lucy’s favor, but he worried about what that would do to Angie if Rick stuck around. He seemed like he already had one foot out the door, only hanging in to hurt Lucy, and that was mind-blowing to Benji.
How do you claim to love someone but be a complete asshole and not want to support what they love? Especially someone as amazing and sweet as Angie. Benji did not believe for a second that she had been bad or mouthy. She was always so good, yeah, a little nutty, but she was a kid and did normal kid stuff. Didn’t Rick want a relationship with his daughter? Or was he too concerned with hurting Lucy because he couldn’t control her? Benji didn’t know, but he sure as hell worried about Lucy’s sanity and Angie’s heart.
It wasn’t fair.
Life wasn’t fair. If it were, Ava and Leary would be alive. But then, would he be where he was now? It was just all such a mindfuck because, while he didn’t wish away his time with Ava and Leary, he couldn’t fathom his life without Lucy and Angie. Maybe this was his normal, though. Maybe this was how his life would always be. Feeling bad for one thing, but happy about another. Could he live with that regret? If it was really regret. He wasn’t sure. But one thing was for sure, he would talk to Lucy about it.
“Paxton, Johansson, you two are up for an interview,” one of the media folks said, and Benji rolled his eyes.
He didn’t like doing interviews.
Vaughn, though, he loved them, but today he looked pissed.
“You good?” Benji asked as they walked together to the hall.
“Don’t want to do this today.”
Benji could only nod as the media guy stopped him and Vaughn went ahead. Brie Soledad, the Assassins’ new locker-room broadcaster stood with her mic up at her mouth, talking about something. She was adorable; Benji had always thought so. At one time, he had wanted to holler at her, but that was while he was actually searching for what turned out to be Lucy. Watching as Vaughn towered over her, Benji wanted to laugh. She was so little, maybe five feet, with big, blue eyes and long, brown hair that had blond at the ends. She was on the thicker side, almost like Elli Adler, but she pulled it off and all the guys liked her. She was nice, but apparently Vaughn forgot that as he stood before her, his hands on his hips, annoyance rolling off him.
