Page 101 of Against The Boards

I smirked at him. “I’m good at eating—”

“EW! I don’t want to know! Don’t even finish that sentence!” he shrieked.

“Let’s go, boys. Enough chit-chatting. I want to see you finding the back of the net!” Alain yelled at us.

TJ and I rolled our eyes and skated over to the net. TJ took a couple of practice shots and started laughing suddenly. “Dad, remember when you used to make us do this at all hours of the night until it was perfect? Then Roxie got so pissed, she wristed a shot into your car window?”

Their dad chuckled. “Roxie girl was a spitfire. Still is.”

I smiled at that. My girl was a spitfire, and it was one of the reasons why I loved her. She sure made things interesting.

Alain worked us hard all morning, and I knew part of it was to grind my gears about dating his daughter. It pissed me off because where the fuck had he been all this time? Suddenly he was overprotective of his daughter when he hadn’t tried to be a part of her life in years? I was angry for her.

I was stewing towards the end of the session, and this guy was getting under my skin. I ended up getting up in his face. “Man, what’s your problem with me? I’m not good enough for your daughter?” I barked at him.

He laughed. “Nope. No one’s good enough for my little girl.”

“You don’t get to decide who she dates. She’s a grown-ass woman.”

He smirked at me. “Are you done?”

“No, I’m not. Fuck the both of you for training me like a dog today!”

Rox’s parents, not supporting who she was, had shadows of my parents, and it pissed me off. I cooled down after I hit the showers, but I was glad I drove myself here because TJ and his dad were gone by the time I got out. I checked my phone and saw some texts from Rox. That put a smile on my face.

ROX: I’m sorry you have to endure my family today.

I smiled and texted her back.

ME: Got to defend my girl. What’s your day like today?

ROX: Not that bad, why?

ME: I’m bringing you lunch.

We practiced in the suburbs, so I took the turnpike back to Philly and to the arena where Rox’s office was located. First, I stopped at the sandwich place she liked and got her a cheesesteak while I got a boring salad because I needed to stick to my training diet. She’d probably get mad at me about the cheesesteak because she was trying to train too, but I knew she’d want it. I strode in and smiled at the receptionist.

“Oh, hi, Benny. How’s the off-season going?” Cindy asked.

I ran a hand through my hair. “Not bad. I had a tough training session today. Rox around?”

Cindy smiled at me. I wasn’t sure if people in the front office knew we were dating, especially since we had only recently become official. Although, once we started this physical thing, I knew I was hers. It just took some convincing on her part.

I stopped short when I saw TJ hanging outside of Rox’s office, chatting up the blonde girl who sat outside her office. The blonde rolled her eyes at TJ; he was lying on the flirting real thick. He looked up when he saw me and smirked.

“Dad! You can’t harass my boyfriend when you haven’t talked to me in years. Will you two get out of here?” she yelled at them. I stopped there, frozen, when Alain walked out of her office and TJ followed him.

Alain gave me a nod, and then he and TJ walked out. I walked inside and saw Rox with her head in her hands. She looked up at the sound of me entering and gave me a tired smile.

“Hey,” she said.

“Did you chew your dad out because of me?” I asked.

She growled in frustration. I liked this protective side of her when it came to me. “He was just giving you a hard time. He likes you.”

I scrunched up my face in confusion. “He likes me so much he had me doing lines all day?”

“Oh, you poor baby. He likes that you got in his face and stood up for me and our relationship. He said it made him realize you’re serious about me.”