Rushing the Goal (Assassins #8)(45)

“I missed you more, baby,” she said, squeezing her tightly. “Tell your dad bye and then get in the car. I tried to leave you a spot, but it’s tight.”

Angie made a face, looking from the car to her. “Why is all our stuff in the car?”

“I’ll tell you on the way to Grandma’s,” she said sadly before Rick came to a stop in front of her.

“Living out of your car? Not sure how that makes me feel. Maybe I should take her back with me.”

Maybe you should go f*ck yourself, is what she thought, but now wasn’t the time for that. “She’s fine,” she said stiffly as Angie gave him a half hug.

“Bye, Dad.”

“Bye, love bug,” he said with a grin, but neither of them was impressed as Angie took her bag and got into the car. Looking to Lucy, he made a face. “You look like shit. Sleep in your car? Isn’t that the dress you had on yesterday?”

Lucy rolled her eyes, exhaling a long breath. “Listen, two things. I don’t want to fight with you, and I’m not going to. I’m going to say what I need to and then I’m getting in the car and leaving. I don’t have time or patience for the whirlwind of dicks you like to throw at my face, okay?”

He scoffed at her, a condescending grin on his face. “I’m excited.”

“Yeah,” she said, letting out a breath.

“Wait, before you start running that mouth,” he said, interrupting her. She glared. “Who’s this Benji f*cker? That’s all Angie kept telling Nina about. Is he that coach? The one all up in my business?”

His name made her heart flutter. Swallowing hard, her face went red. Did Rick suspect she slept with him? Shit. No. That was silly. No one knew. Well, except Avery and Benji, but still. Stop being crazy! “Yeah, he’s one of her coaches. He also plays on the Assassins with Jayden.”

“Loser. Who wants to coach kids?”

Her eye twitched. Yes, she had thought the same thing, but Rick had no clue who Benji was. It surprised her but also worried her how easy it was to defend him. “Obviously, someone who likes kids.”

“Or a pedophile.”

Her body shook with anger all of a sudden. What the hell? “You don’t know him. He’s a good dude, really good with Angie,” she spat back. But then she pressed her lips together.

Rick scoffed. “What, you f*cking him like you f*ck everyone else?”

She bit into her lip. Hold it in, Lucy, hold it in. Do not point out that he is the cheating f*cking bastard who broke up your marriage. Sucking in a deep breath, she said, “Anyway, did Angie tell you she doesn’t want to dance anymore?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. As he looked at her, like she always did, she wondered why in God’s name she had chosen this f*cker to have sex with. He wasn’t who she’d thought he was. He wasn’t as attractive as he used to be, and now she wanted to puke at just the thought of having put his dick in her mouth. Why couldn’t Benji have been around then?

Ugh! Stop thinking of him.

“She said something, but I’m pretty sure you told her to say that.”

She gave him a dubious look. The sass was there. She could have said something to be really shitty, but instead, she held his gaze. “Like I said, she doesn’t want to do it.”

“So you don’t deny it?” he snapped and she glared.

“I told you I’m not fighting with you. I don’t have it in me. Just please, don’t force her to do it. She hates it. She has the grace of an elephant, and you know it!”

“Whatever. Nina is amazing at it. They are sisters,” he said simply, his brown eyes dark and cutting.

“Half sisters. And Angie is not Nina,” she bit out, her eyes blazing. Angie was f*cking better, damn it. “Oh, and another thing. Angie said that when she’s at your house, you favor Nina over her. I get it. You’re with her twenty-four seven, you’re married to her mother, but I can’t have our daughter feeling like she doesn’t matter when she’s at your house. So can you please be a little cautious of that?”

That pissed him off, his chest puffing up as he took a step toward her. “She feels like that because you spoil her and I discipline her. I’m always the bad guy.”

Because you’re a dick. Sucking in a breath, she held his blazing gaze. “She is not spoiled, and I do discipline her. I’m just letting you know what she said.”

“Yeah, and you probably coached her to do it. But you know what? You’re right. I don’t get enough time with her. Maybe we should change that.”

That made her blood run cold. “We have a parenting plan.”

“Which is shit. I get her every other weekend. I want more.”

Calmly, which surprised her, she said, “You agreed to what we have.”

“And maybe I want to change it. Maybe we should go week to week.”

And just like that, Lucy flew off the handle. Hey, she tried.

“Oh, f*ck no,” she roared, her body starting to shake. “We aren’t zoned for the same school. She loves where she is at. She’s comfortable and they honor her 504 Plan perfectly. We can’t shake up her world, Rick. She has to have consistency.”

He glared. “This ADHD shit is a crutch you use to keep her all to yourself. She probably doesn’t even have the damn ADHD. You’re probably making it up.”