Page 81 of Against The Boards

“No!”

He smirked at me and wrapped me in his massive arms. “You’re so feisty. You’re gonna be a real scrapper when you get back out there.”

I glared again, but I couldn’t stay mad at him when I looked up into his dark eyes. He lifted my chin up and kissed me. “Better?” he asked.

I nodded. “Fine. But I think I’m a little hangry. Sorry.”

“Let’s get out of here so I can feed ya, bad girl.”

I glared again.

He pulled away and skated off to clean up the cones and pucks we had set up at the practice arena. I couldn’t believe he had arranged ice time for me. My heart soared at his kindness, even if I was being a raging bitch. My anger was a little warranted, though.

After easing me into some warm-up laps and stretches, he made me skate lines. I totally left him in my dust by out-skating him. Unlike the other hockey players I had dated over the years, Benny didn’t get mad about it. Instead, he looked gleeful. I forgot what it was like to skate beside someone who wanted you to succeed.

I helped him with the clean-up, and I was all smiles when we got back to the condo and he put food in front of me.

“I’m sorry. I think I’m PMSing, so I’m being a raging bitch.”

He kissed my cheek. “You’re just hangry.”

After we ate, we aired out our equipment on the floor of Tristan’s room and sprayed deodorizer in the room before getting a shower together. To ‘save water,’ Benny said, but it was just so he could make my tits nice and shiny. We were insatiable, and I loved every minute of it.

We settled onto the couch to catch the tail-end of one of the afternoon hockey games. Benny put his arm around my shoulder, and I snuggled down into his chest.

He kissed the top of my head. “I love cuddling.”

I laughed. “You so are a soft boy.”

He grumbled.

I leaned up to kiss him. “It’s a good thing, love. It’s cute. I feel like this is my spot, right here,” I said and pulled away to press my hand onto his chest, right on his heart. “It’s like I belong here.”

He smiled at that. “I like you there.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?” he asked.

“For forcing me to do drills today,” I grumbled. “I’m rusty.”

“Ha!” he cheered and fist-pumped. “I knew you would be happy about it. Eventually.”

“Do you really think I could play again?”

“Yeah! You left me in your dust today. Have you looked at any of the leagues yet?”

I shook my head.

“Dinah’s brother Eddie has one. I put it at the top of the list.”

“I didn’t realize Eddie played. I’ll check that one out first.”

We settled into each other, and I relaxed into his arms. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and changed his background to one of the photos he took of us in Canada. I smiled at the small move. Last night, I changed mine too. I loved those photos of us, and I was glad we could share more of those moments together.

I never thought I would be relaxing in his arms. I thought Benny and I would circle around each other and fight forever. I knew a lot of the animosity between us had been because of me. I could be a fickle asshole, and when someone crossed me, I held onto that.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.