Page 51 of Against The Boards

She nodded, printed out the receipt, and handed it to me. Benny yanked it out of my hands. “Give me that!” he snapped. He handed her his card, despite my protests.

The drunk guy moved on, but Benny looked pissed, and I was fuming at him for his outburst. We needed to get out of there before someone recognized him, and we caused a bigger scene. What that guy said was rude, but it wasn’t the first time a drunk asshole called me that.

Benny signed the check and threw down a hefty tip. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

When he took my hand in his, I didn’t protest, although I might have squeezed his hand a little too tight. Like I was trying to break his hand for trying to be the tough guy who defended my honor. I waited until the elevator doors slid closed before I fixed him with a glare and wrenched my hand out of his.

“Dude, what the fuck?” I asked with a sneer.

He looked confused. “What? That guy was being a dick!”

“I’m aware, but you don’t need to do that whole alpha-male thing and defend me. It’s not like I haven’t heard that shit before.”

His nostrils flared. “What?”

“Men have called me fat before because I’ve rejected them. You can’t afford to be getting into a brawl. Think of your career.”

He growled in frustration. “I hate that people say that shit to you.”

“Why does it matter to you?”

The elevators dinged on our floor, and I stomped down the hall with him hot on my heels. I didn’t care what people thought of me, and he didn’t need to defend me. I didn’t ask him to come with me, and I didn’t need him getting into a fight in the off-season.

Benny had it harder as a player of color. Despite what the NHL said about hockey being for everyone, they scrutinized him for his actions on and off the ice way more than his white teammates. It wasn’t fair, but I didn’t want to fuck up his career because he was trying to defend me.

I stomped into the room, but before I could go to bed angry, he spun me around and grabbed my shoulders. “Why are you mad at me?”

I pushed at his chest. “Because I don’t need you to defend me. I don’t give a fuck what people think about me.”

“I do,” he admitted in a small voice.

“Why?” I asked.

His eyes trailed down my body, and he hooked two fingers through my belt loops. “Because your curves are sexy, and it pisses me off when people don’t see you the way I see you.”

I pulled back. “Benny, you’re drunk.”

“I’m not. I had two beers.” He wound his hand through my hair, and I couldn’t help the way my breath hitched as he touched me.

“You’re such a frustrating man,” I growled out, but I wasn’t pulling away this time. I wanted him to touch me...but the other part of me wanted to punch him.

My feelings about this man were a constant contradiction. I was supposed to hate him, but I didn’t hate the way his hands felt on me. And I didn’t hate the night we had spent together.

He gripped my hair tightly, and I felt a slight tug of pain on my scalp, but I was kind of into it. “And you’re such a frustrating woman. You make my brain stop working,” he hissed.

I glared at him, but I didn’t pull away from his grip. I snaked my arms around his neck and dug my fingernails into his skin. “You can’t go all caveman when some drunk guy is rude to me. I can take care of myself.”

“Rox, stop arguing with me!”

“Why are you so anno—”

He cut off the rest of my retort by crushing his lips up against mine in an angry kiss. I relaxed into the kiss and opened to him when his tongue caressed the seam of my lips. I moaned at his tongue tangling with mine again. His grip loosened on my hair, and his hands trailed down my back. He lifted me up into his arms, and I wrapped my legs around his waist and clung onto his shoulders.

His hands went to my ass to hold me up, and he squeezed while he trailed kisses down my jaw. His lips were like fire across my skin, and if his arms weren’t holding me up, I might have melted into a puddle on the floor. I tipped my head back in pleasure when that hot trail of kisses led to the soft skin below my ear.

“Put me down. I’m too heavy for you,” I complained.

He nipped at my neck. “Shut up. You know how much I lift, right?”