Page 19 of Against The Boards

He squinted at me suspiciously. “Your sister told me you’re having lady troubles.”

I was going to kill Liliana. “Uh, yeah. She wanted to settle down, but that’s not my thing.”

He waved a hand at me. “Ah, not that one—the other one. The one you always fight with.”

Okay, maybe I have ranted to my family about how Rox annoys me so much. And maybe Abuelo had gotten a wicked smile on his face every time I talked about her, but I always deflected. The first time I mentioned that my teammate’s sister hated my guts, the old man swatted me upside the head and demanded to know what I had done. No way I would tell my grandfather I asked a woman if her tits were fake.

I ran a hand down my beard in frustration.

“Liliana said she’s living with you,” Abuelo said.

I groaned inwardly. Of course, my sister said something to our grandparents.

“She got a job in Philly, so she’s staying with us while her brother’s overseas.”

“Hmm.”

“What does ‘hmm’ mean?”

He had an amused look on his face, and then he tipped back his head and laughed. “I’ve watched you rant about this woman for years. If you can’t figure it out, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“What do you mean?”

He laughed again. “Why do you let her get under your skin?”

I picked at my nail. “Because she’s the most insufferable and annoying woman I have ever met. She makes me so mad.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Just mad?”

“Yes,” I lied through my teeth.

She also made me seriously horny, but I wouldn’t tell him that.

“Okay, you keep telling yourself that, but I think we both know you enjoy fighting with this woman, or you wouldn’t bring her up all the time.”

“That’s not true.”

He pointed a finger at my chest. “What are you doing here? You didn’t need to come all the way to see me. I’m fine. You should go back home.”

“Why?”

He gave me an annoyed look. “To make amends with that woman! Sweep her off her feet and finally admit you’ve been circling each other for years.”

“Abuelo...” I sighed.

I didn’t understand why he was pushing this subject. Rox and I would never see eye-to-eye. We just had to learn to live with each other until she found her own place. I hoped I didn’t make her hate me more by kissing her last night, even though I really wanted to do it again. Maybe I should stick around here until training camp. It probably would have been better for both of us.

“Promise me something, mijo?” Abuelo asked.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t ask for a trade because you’re worried about me.”

“Abuelo—”

He cut me off with a glare. “Don’t do that. You do so much for us already. I want you to be happy and to live your life.”

“I could be happy back home.”