Page 78 of Against The Boards

Fuck.

Boston.

Of course.

She didn’t want anyone to know we were together because she thought I wasn’t sticking around. That I was gonna leave her.

I’d asked my agent to tell the team Boston was on my list of places I was open to going to if they wanted to trade me. I didn’t ask for a trade but wanted the option to be near my family if it happened; my contract didn’t have a no-trade clause, so if they wanted, they could send me across the country. Or even up to Canada. I didn’t have a choice in the matter, but if they were sending me anywhere, I wanted to be close to my family. But my agent said the team wanted to keep me until my contract was up, so I wasn’t going anywhere.

Besides, I didn’t want to move back to Boston anymore. I didn’t want to leave the woman I loved, even if she didn’t know I loved her yet.

“Wait...did she tell you about us?” I asked.

Fi laughed. “Nope. She gave me her phone to look at pictures of her tattoos, and I saw a picture of you two.”

“Oh.”

“Kissing,” she elaborated.

“Oh,” I breathed out. She saw that photo.

Fi put her hand on my shoulder. “Benny, talk to her. She’s upset because she thinks you’re gonna leave her next year, so she doesn’t see the point in letting you into her heart.”

I hung my head. “I knew she was holding back.”

“That’s why she didn’t want you to tell anyone.”

I ran a hand through my hair and squinted at the goofy grin on Fi’s face. “What?”

“You two have been really obvious.”

“Really?”

I thought we had been so careful about everything. Sometimes I even pushed her buttons on purpose so nothing would seem amiss.

She nodded. “D figured it out the night you got back from Canada. She said you looked at Rox with stars in your eyes.”

“What?”

“You look at Rox the same way Noah looks at Dinah and Riley looks at me. Like she should be worshipped.”

“No, I don’t,” I grumbled.

Fi laughed. “Okay, but go talk to your lady because I had to dry her tears at brunch today.”

I frowned. “What?”

Fi shoved me toward where Rox sat. “Go, big guy!”

I glared at her but did as she asked. I saw Dinah squeeze Rox’s shoulder and then walk over to join Noah, who took my place playing pool with Riley. Rox glanced up at my approach, and she gave me a fake smile that crushed me.

I took the seat next to her. “Angel, talk to me. What’s bothering you?”

She sighed. “Fi and Dinah found out about us.”

“Yeah, Fi just told me, but that’s not what’s bothering you.”

“I really like you, okay? You, of all people! I thought I would hate you forever, but I misjudged you unfairly. You’re such a better person than me.”