I Want You Back (Want You #1)(63)

“Sorry. I don’t have my equipment bag with me.”

“Don’t apologize. This hot body of yours is warming me right up.”

“Good.”

After a moment, she lifted her head from my biceps and forced my attention away from the rink to her. “You are upset by this coach if you didn’t make a sexy, lewd comment in response to mine.”

I gave her a tiny head-butt. “Don’t distract me when I’m in meddling hockey parent mode.” Then I put my arm around her and tugged her closer.

After watching for a while, Lucy said, “What are you going to do?”

“Nothing, probably.”

She snorted. “Like I buy that. You’re a problem solver.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew about all the things hanging over my head that haven’t gotten resolved this week,” I grumbled.

“Welcome to the club, Lund.”

Before I could ask for more details on her bad week, the class moved to center ice. “Now why the hell would he do that?” I watched as Coach Dumbass put two kids in the face-off circle. “That kid in the red? Jesus. He can barely stand up on skates. The last thing he needs is to hear about face-off strategies.”

“And again, I ask you, Stonewall, what you plan on doing about these problems you’re seeing.”

“I’ll work with Mimi on basic skills.”

“And her teammates? What about them?”

“I’d give them pointers if they’re around when I’m teaching Mimi.”

“So more hours at the rink?”

“Probably.”

“I’ll start packing my own pillow and blanket.”

I looked at her. “You don’t have to be here for every practice, Luce. I can pick her up and bring her home.”

“Which in the near future will be you riding the elevator and knocking on our door.”

Not soon enough.

She placed her hand on my chest. “I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“How I left things on Sunday. Saying no to checking out your new digs and then for not touching base with you at all this week.”

I brushed a few stray strands of hair away from her face. “Still freaked out about me owning the bar?”

“A little. I’ll feel better if you admit it’s weird you bought it.”

“Nope. Never.”

She laughed. “Jerk.”

“Since Mimi has a cell phone, you don’t have to touch base with me as much. I can talk directly to her.”

Her eyes searched mine. “She called you this week?”

“Every night.” I smirked. “She needs someone to talk hockey with, newb.”

“See?” She whapped me on the chest. “If I don’t come to practices and learn about the game, I’ll be left out.”

I knew how that felt and I never wanted that for her.

Then she slid her hand up my neck and cupped my jaw. “Let me ease some of your tension and take your mind off your troubles for a little while.”

I cocked an eyebrow at her.

She still was so freaking cute when she blushed.

“Not that, Mr. Dirty Mind. I’m asking you to come over for dinner tonight.”

“I’d love that, Luce.” I turned my head and kissed her wrist. “Thanks for asking.”

“I need to make a store run first.” She paused. “You’re okay with sticking around here until class ends and bringing Mimi home?”

“Yep. It’ll probably be another hour and a half before we’re there.”

“That works for me.” She scraped her nails through the stubble on my cheek. “I like this scruffy look on you, so don’t feel like you have to head home to shower and change before dinner.” Then she backed off and stood. “Behave. I mean it.”

“What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me, Mr. Body Slam. You’re in an arena, a dude you can’t stand is on the ice; it’s your perfect excuse to smash him into the boards.”

I grinned.

“You aren’t getting Mimi thrown out on her first day. So you are benched, Stonewall. Or stuck in the sin bin, or whatever it’s called when you are out of play.”

“Damn, Lucy Q, I’m almost proud that you remembered some hockey talk.”

“Hard to forget how thoroughly you drilled a few of those terms into me. Over and over.”

My eyes gleamed when my mind flashed back to that night. In retrospect, it’d been one of the best nights of my life, because that’s when I’d known— “Wipe that hot and bothered expression off your face.”

“Then you shouldn’t have brought it up.”

She rolled her eyes. “See you.”

I refocused on the action on the ice. Gabi waited in the ref’s crease, but I hadn’t seen Coach Dickless call her over even once. There was no point in having an assistant coach if you didn’t utilize them.

Finally class ended.

Mimi skated over to me.

“Hey, how was it?”

She pulled off her glove and then her helmet in that quick manner that all hockey players did and that gave me a burst of pride. Then she leveled the “Are you kidding me?” look that was one hundred percent her mother. “You saw how it was, Daddy.”