Page 16 of Against The Boards

“Well, if I’d known that was how to shut you up, I would have done it years ago,” he said with a grin.

Then he promptly walked away into his room and slammed the door. I sat on the kitchen counter, staring at the closed door to his bedroom, absolutely dumbfounded.

Did that actually just happen?

I touched my swollen lips and fanned myself. Who kissed someone like that and then walked away like it was nothing? Was it bad it pissed me off he hadn’t kissed me all over? Or thrown me over his shoulder and taken me with him behind his bedroom door?

Yes. It was very bad.

Damn, I needed to get laid.

Chapter Six

BENNY

I couldn’t believe I did that and then walked away like a Grade-A douche. Time after time, I proved to her I was exactly who she thought I was. Why couldn’t I stop being such a jerkoff? I didn’t even know why we were arguing over who did the dishes, but she got under my skin about it. Just like she always did. I was honestly surprised she hadn’t pushed me away and punched me in the face after I ambushed her with that kiss.

Fuck, that kiss was so good.

I sat on my bed and smoothed down my hair. It had gotten messed up from Rox gripping on it. I had to admit; I didn’t mind the pain at all. It kinda made my dick hard, which was a problem. I stripped out of my clothes and went into my bathroom, hoping a cold shower would calm me down.

The shower didn’t help.

I was so hard it was painful. My brain kept playing back the sound of Rox’s moans when I peppered her neck with kisses. I wanted to memorize the feel of her lips on mine and my hands on her curvy body. I placed a hand on the tile wall as I pumped my dick while replaying the memory of kissing her until I spurted my release down the drain. Not gonna lie, that kiss would play on repeat in my spank bank for the foreseeable future.

After I showered, I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling, wondering how I’d survive tomorrow. Surely Roxanne Desjardins would murder me in my sleep. I didn’t regret kissing her, though. Not one bit. I had wanted to do it for years. Every time we got into our spats, in the back of my mind, I thought, ‘What if I kissed her right now? That would shut her up.’ I was right, but now I kinda feared for my life. Rox wasn’t a woman to be trifled with. She might cut me with a skate blade in the morning.

I didn’t have time to think about smoothing things over with Rox because I saw my sister-in-law Nina’s name come across my phone. Nina rarely called me, so I knew something important had come up. My heart raced as I immediately thought something was wrong with my grandparents, or my sister, or the twins.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I’m sorry. I should have waited until the morning. Lil’s fine. It’s Abuelo.”

I jumped out of bed and frantically started packing stuff into a duffle bag. Abuelo had a bad heart. He was getting older, and it killed me that he was all the way in Boston while I was in Philly. Lately, I’d been debating if I should ask for a trade.

“I’m on my way,” I said.

“He’s fine. His blood pressure was a little high. They’re keeping him overnight. I didn’t want to call you, but Liliana insisted.”

“I’m still coming,” I argued.

“Don’t! Lil just wanted to let you know what was going on.”

“Nina, he’s my grandfather; I want to be there.”

I hated feeling like I wasn’t taking care of my family when I made a silly amount of money playing a game. Liliana and I had argued about it a lot. When I got traded to Philly, I seriously considered asking my agent when I could ask for another trade. Liliana didn’t want me to jeopardize my career that way. Abuelo had given me shit for it, too, because he said he wanted me to ‘live my life’ and that I already did enough for the family.

“I was just letting you know. We’re not asking you to drive up here tonight.”

“But I’m gonna.”

“You’re just like your sister. Stubborn as an ox, I swear.”

“I’ll probably get in late tonight.”

“You don’t have to come.”

“But I want to. It’s probably best if I get out of Philly for a while anyway.”