Lucy's eyes cut to Benji's, her eyes narrowing as her lips went into a straight line. It was easy to tell that she didn't like him. For no reason at all, of course, except that Jayden set him up to be hated from the jump. But he didn't mind. He liked her, and her sassy mouth and resting bitch face wouldn't stop him. No, he'd change her mind. He'd get her to like him.

Wow. What?

As his foot hit the ice, he almost busted his ass and he braced himself with his stick as Angie laughed.

"It's ice, it's slippery," she teased and he grinned.

Smartass.

But instead of saying that, he found himself looking up to where Lucy sat.

Grinning.

A little kitten grin.

That shot hot desire straight into his soul.

Ooh-wee, she's trouble.

The kind of trouble he was starting to think he needed in his life.

"All right, ladies... Ladies," Shea hollered out.

But the girls didn't stop giggling or laughing as most of them fell, while the others did circles around them. It was like the Bad News Bears, well, except Angie. She stood beside Benji, her eyes on Shea and her stick hanging in her hand. She was determined, and he didn't know why, but a grin sat on his face. He liked that she was ready and focused. It really didn't matter, but in a way, it made him proud.

Shea hollered out some more, but it was easy to tell that he was taking it easy on the group of girls. Like Angie, though, his girls, Shelli and Posey, stood tall in front of their father, waiting for instruction. Shelli was built like Shea, big and tall, while Posey was on the chubbier side, a little shorter, but just as determined as her older sister.

"This is a fucking clusterfuck." Glancing over at Vaughn, Benji scoffed.

"Eh, it's the first day. Adler's feeling out the crowd."

It was easy to see the frustration on Shea's face and Benji almost laughed. The guy was used to leading a bunch of grown men who all had the same mind-set as him. To win. Now he was dealing with a bunch of girls who did not have that mind-set. At. All.

"He's right. This is insane," Angie said up to him and Vaughn nodded.

"Exactly, cutie patootie. What's your name?"

"Not cutie patootie," she said with a bit of sass in her voice, reminding Benji of Lucy. "Angie Hart."

Holding his glove out for a fist bump, Angie did as he wanted and he said, "Nice to meet ya, Hart. I'm Johansson."

She only nodded before looking back up to where Shea was telling people to quiet down. Vaughn leaned in. "Sinclair's niece?"

"Yup."

"She's scary for being so little."

Benji laughed. "You should meet her mom."

As Benji cocked his head to where Lucy was sitting, Vaughn's mouth dropped. "Holy crap, it's Sinclair in a skirt with tits."

Benji rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"No, really, that's Sinclair. Wow, those genes are strong. She's hot, though. Single?"

Benji cut him a look, nodding his head toward Angie, but Vaughn just shrugged. "I'm whispering,"

"And I can still hear you," Angie said then, looking up at him. "She's single, but believe me, you aren't her type."

Vaughn was taken aback, but Benji just laughed.

Finally, almost like he had just remembered he had a whistle, Shea blew into it and silence fell over the ice. "Ladies. Wow. First things first-"

"He's the realest," Benji and Angie said at the same time under their breath before meeting each other's gaze. When she grinned up at him, Benji paused, his heart hurting a bit.

He liked her.

A lot.

What a great kid.

"I'm your coach, Shea Adler. You can call me Coach Adler," Shea said, his voice booming through the rink. "I'm excited to be coaching you girls. Just a little bit about me, in case you don't know who I am-"

"Everyone knows who he is," Angie said then, and Benji nodded as Shea went on.

"I played in the NHL for a lotta years. I have four Stanley Cup rings, and I was very successful-"

"Why'd you leave, though? My daddy says you had a least ten more years in ya," Number Ten said, and a lot of the girls nodded, agreeing that their daddies had said the same.

Shea smiled, glancing over at his daughters. "I wanted to coach my kids, and I have this nagging pain in my shoulder, so it was time."

"You quit to coach a bunch of kids?" Number Thirty asked.

Shea nodded, his smile not faltering. "I always said I wanted to coach my kids when they wanted to play. Shelli and Posey said they were ready to play, so I retired."

Wow, that was some love right there. Benji had always been awestruck by Shea Adler. Since day one, the guy leaked awesomeness. He was a leader, and a damn honest man, but the love in his eyes for his daughters was breathtaking. He loved those girls-and his boys. He was just an all-around good man, and Benji respected his choice. Yeah, he wished like hell they hadn't lost him on the team so early, but Shea loved his kids and his wife, way more than the sport.

Which was a beautiful thing and Benji craved that kind of love.

Man, to be loved and to love someone more than he loved his stick and puck, he almost couldn't fathom it now. It seemed so foreign to him. Yeah, he'd had that love, for a little bit. But back then, he was so drunk he couldn't remember what it felt like-to be consumed by such a love. He wanted that again.

But how?

And did he even deserve it?

He wasn't sure, but as Shea spoke about his years and years in the league, Benji realized Shea did miss playing. Who wouldn't? It was the greatest sport ever. Benji loved hockey. It was his go-to, his identifier; he'd been playing since he was a baby. It was something he and his dad always did together, every day. Not so much now, since he hadn't spoken to his mom or dad in almost ten years, but he still had good memories of the long nights in the driveway, playing some stick and puck with his dad. Back when he spoke to his family. Back when they loved and supported him. Back when Silas was alive and begged to be their goalie.

He missed those times.

He missed his family.

Jesus, he thought, shaking his head and swallowing hard around the painful lump in his throat. His memories were flooding him like mad today, which wasn't unusual-he was lonely-but today was different. He may need to call Richie after practice. Just a quick check-in with his sponsor since he hadn't done it in the last three days. He was due.

"Thinking again?" Angie whispered up to him and he looked down at her, shrugging.

"Yeah, sorry."

"He's calling your name."

Benji looked up, meeting Shea's expectant gaze. "That's Coach Benji, who is off in his own world, and Coach Vaughn. I used to play with them on the Assassins."

Benji waved awkwardly as Vaughn rolled his eyes, waving too at his name.

"Coach Benji is here in replacement of Coach Jayden, so don't get too attached to him."

He heard Angie complain beside him, and he was two seconds from doing the same. He liked this and he hadn't even really gotten started; he'd need to talk to Shea. He felt right here. Like this was something he needed to do. He hadn't felt like that in a really long time, and that had to mean something.

After blowing his whistle once more, Shea broke everyone up into groups. Benji got group two, which included Angie. He had three drills he was supposed to run with the six little girls, and as they skated toward the other side of the rink, he thanked his lucky stars because he had all the kids who had played last year. They knew the drills, ran them like champs, well, except Angie.

"It's okay. You haven't done them before," he reassured her as she skated back, upset. He was starting to think he had misread her at the beginning. She might have been nervous instead of determined and focused. Each time, though, she watched the first three go to the blue line and back. He kept trying to reassure her, but more and more, he noticed her anxiety was getting worse. Until finally, when he blew the whistle, she stood there frozen as the other two girls raced around the cone, picking the puck up and going through the many little cones that were set up. So he blew the whistle again, but she didn't move.

Okay, then.

Lowering down into a squat, Benji met her worried gaze. Well, more like panicked. "Hart?"

"I keep messing up," she whispered, looking away.

He leaned down to meet her gaze again, seeing the tears gathering in her eyes. "It's okay. What's wrong?"

"I'm nervous."

"Why?"

"I don't want to mess up."

He smiled. "We all mess up, Angie. It's how we pick ourselves back up and try harder. Don't worry. You got this."

She swallowed hard, looking around as her teammates watched her. She looked to Lucy and he did the same, seeing that Lucy was standing now, her face full of worry. "I think I-"

But he shook his head. "You don't want to go home. I know you don't. You want to do this."

She met his gaze once more, a little more determination in her eyes. "I do."

"Then, go. Come on, we'll do it together."

"Together?"

"Yup, I bet you can't beat me," he said, standing and putting his stick down, ready to go.

Her lips curved as her eyes filled with excitement. "Yes, I can!"

His grin matched hers as he brought the whistle to his lips. "Let's go."

As he blew the whistle, she shot off, and he was behind her, running around the cones and sliding the puck around the little cones that were there for stick handling. Like he knew she would, she flew through the course, almost at the rate he did-he was maybe a few seconds in front of her. But when he finished, he faked a leg cramp and hit the ice, sliding to the finish as the little girls laughed and Angie rushed back, finishing with ease.

Turning, she pinned him with a look as he slowly got up, favoring his "cramped" leg. "My leg cramped. That's why you beat me."

"Sure," she said, her eyes bright with no anxiety to be seen. As he held his glove out, she tapped it and then nodded. "Thanks, Benji."

He tipped his chin to her and then blew the whistle once more, the next group going as Angie went to the back of the line. They were having a blast by the seventh time they did it, and Benji was convinced he had the best group of girls. As he watched the girls round the cones, his eyes diverted to where Angie's mom sat, her eyes on them intently. She held her face with one hand, the other holding her phone as she watched. She looked a little panicky, almost nervous and vulnerable.

He smiled, though, for her, but Lucy rolled her eyes and moved her gaze toward where Angie was about to go again. Man, she really didn't like him, but he was sure that wasn't his fault. He was a good enough guy, nice, and obviously awesome since Angie liked him. No, there was more to it. He didn't know the whole story-how could he? But man, he really wanted to.

He wanted to know her.

Which was crazy since he'd never wanted to know any woman but Ava. Though, something was different with Lucy. Maybe it was because she was so shut down. He wasn't sure, but he wanted to know her story. He suspected that her ex-husband was a douche and didn't treat them right. That had to be the reason why Angie was so nervous, almost too scared to do anything in case she failed. Or maybe Benji was way off. One thing was for sure, while she was with him, she was going to be reassured and she was going to be supported.

Because that sweet little girl had wiggled her way into his heart in the mere hour they had been together.

And for some reason, he wanted to be more than just the replacement for her uncle.

He wanted to be her friend.

That wasn't weird, right?

Crap.

Maybe it was.

But when Angie looked back at him for reassurance after killing it and beating the other girls back to the line, he figured, yeah, it may be weird to want to be friends with a seven-year-old girl, but he didn't care. This was supposed to have been his life now, but he'd lost his daughter and didn't get to have that chance. For so long, he had been lonely. Holed up in his house, all by himself, but being on this rink, surrounded by these mini-players and Angie, he felt right. Maybe this was his calling, following in Shea's footsteps. Coach a team one day, because he was having a blast.

And it was time for Benji to be happy.

If coaching a bunch of girls three times a week could do that, he was going to do it.

Practice was over before Benji knew it. They even had a little scrimmage at the end. Nothing crazy, but when Angie scored, you would have thought he had been the one to score. He was so excited and Angie ate it up. Lucy was in the stands, hollering her butt off too, but she didn't smile when he sent her a grin. She probably thought he was strange. Oh well, he probably was. For as much as he'd thought about her in the last two hours after just meeting her, he was starting to think he was an odd one.

Keeping the puck from Angie as the girls started to clear off the ice, Benji was laughing with Angie when Shea blew the whistle. "Come on, guys, they gotta clean the ice for the next group."

"Aww, man," Angie complained and Benji tapped her helmet.

"Don't worry. I'll get your mom to bring you early on Wednesday, and we'll do a little pickup before practice."

Her eyes lit up as her grin almost broke her face. "You're coming back!"

"Yeah, you're coming back?" Shea asked with a grin as they skated toward him.

"Yeah, when I can. We have a road trip coming up, so I might miss a lot more than I get to come."