Page 87 of Against The Boards

It was still strange that Michael Bennett, the man I’d vowed to hate until the end of time, was my boyfriend. He was patient and kind but also knew when to be aggressive with me. When we weren’t spending all of our time horizontally on his bed, we were on the ice, training to get me back into playing shape. It made my heart sing that he wanted me to get back to playing hockey.

I was in a daze when I walked into the office. Quinn quirked her head at me in confusion as she stood outside of my office. I felt the blush color my face, and I thought maybe she could tell my cheery mood was from sexual satisfaction. I hoped not. That would be embarrassing.

“What’s that look for?” she asked.

“Nothing!” I protested.

“Oh, you got a delivery this morning,” she said.

“Is that why you’re being a creep and lurking outside my office?” I asked.

“She’s nosy!” Maxine chimed in from her cubicle. “Who’s it from?”

I shrugged. “I don’t even know what it is!”

I walked into my office, flicked the light switch on, and saw a vase of cherry blossom branches on my desk. Those were my favorite flowers, so much I had a cherry blossom tattoo on one of my shoulder blades. Quinn grinned and followed me into my office. I snatched the card up before she could read it.

For my angel. Happy birthday.

Love, Michael

I pressed the note to my chest and felt myself getting misty eyed. No one had ever bought me flowers before. How did I get so lucky with this guy? First, he pushed me to play the sport I loved, and now, he was sending me flowers. My heart flipped over in my chest in happiness.

“Oh my God, are you crying?” Quinn asked with a laugh.

“No,” I lied and wiped my eyes. “No one’s sent me flowers before. Oh God, he’s so sweet.”

She snatched the card out of my hand. “I didn’t know it was your birthday. Michael, huh? Wait…” Her eyes widened when she saw me take out my phone. She must have seen my lock screen photo of me and Benny kissing. She got up and shut my office door suddenly. “Oh my God, are you dating Michael Bennett?” she asked, pointing at my phone.

I bit my lip. “Um…is that against the rules?”

She shook her head. “The GM’s my husband, remember?”

“Oh, right.”

“Is that who you’ve been seeing?” she asked incredulously, but she looked giddy.

“Wait, you knew I was seeing someone?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, since you got back from Canada, you race out of here on time. It wasn’t that hard to figure out. Plus, you rolled in this morning looking like someone had well fucked you.”

I laughed and closed my eyes. “Is it that obvious?”

She cackled. “Get it, girl! So what’s the deal? Why didn’t you say anything?”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “Um…it’s kind of been casual for a while. We’ve only been officially dating for about a week.”

“He went with you to Canada.”

“Yup.”

She laughed. “Damn, girl. Does your brother know yet?”

I groaned and shook my head. “We want to tell him in person, over drinks.”

She smiled at me. “Good plan. By the way, you look so cute together in that photo.”

I beamed. “I know.”