"Oh, I'm sure," Baylor said. "Angie is her world, and if you knew her backstory, it would make sense, you know? Her ex-husband is a piece of work."

"That's an understatement," Jayden said with a shake of his head. "But that's none of our business."

What? Yes, it is, Benji thought, but he didn't press. He could tell the loyalty between Jayden and his sister was unbreakable and he admired that. But yet, he wanted more. He wanted to know everything.

"Yeah," Baylor agreed. "I just want her to be happy."

Jayden nodded. "Yeah, but I really don't think it will ever happen. I've never seen her with anyone but Rick the Dick, and since they've been divorced for four years now, I'm starting to think my sister will never get with anyone else. She's gonna be one of those really angry old ladies who beat people with canes."

As they shared a laugh, Benji swallowed hard. Their laughter died down and Jayden slowly shook his head. He looked sad, but the anger was there. It was loud and clear that Jayden was not a fan of Rick the Dick.

"I just don't know. She worries me. She needs to be happy too," he said, more to Baylor than Benji, but there was no unhearing that. "I just don't know why she doesn't try, at least."

Clearing his throat, Benji leaned on the table. "Because it's easier to hide from the fear of rejection and pain than to put yourself out there and try." They both looked up at him and he shrugged. "But then the right person comes along and it makes you want to try. It makes you overcome the fear."

"Whoa, that's some deep shit, bro," Jayden said, his eyes widening.

Baylor's brows pulled together, a knowing look in her eyes. It sort of made him nervous. Did she know he was crushing on what was apparently an unattainable girl? "Sounds like you have some experience in that department."

Benji smiled. "Eh, a bit."

"Yeah, but you're different, BP. You're okay with being alone. I don't think Lucy is, and that's what makes her so mad."

Benji laughed. "No one is okay with being alone if they're honest. The human race wants companionship-that's why God gave Adam, Eve."

Jayden nodded slowly. "My apologies."

"No big deal, but she'll come around. Don't worry. The right guy will come for her, as the right girl will come for me. God has a plan."

"He sure does," Baylor said, leaning into Jayden and he smiled.

"Yeah, he does," he said softly, kissing her nose. She smiled up at him and love was shining out of her pores. They reminded him a lot of him and Ava when they had first gotten together. Young, unadulterated love. What a beautiful thing.

When Jayden looked back over at him, he was breathless as he said, "But I pray that the guy He sends for her is ready for Hurricane Lucy."

When Baylor laughed in agreement, Benji knew their statements should have been a red flag. A clear sign that he needed to go the other way, that he wasn't even sort of prepared to take on Lucy. No matter what he felt, it didn't matter. She didn't want anyone.

But he didn't care.

And as much as he should be ready for Lucy...

She should be ready for him.

Wow, that sounded way more confident than Benji felt, but it felt right.

It felt true.

And for once, Benji was excited for the future.

"There's Benji!"

Angie full out ran toward him as Lucy followed behind, Angie's bag on her shoulder. Angie had been talking incessantly about meeting Benji early for some extra practice. Since she was leaving for her dad's in two days and she wasn't happy about it, Lucy figured she should try her best to get her to the rink. Thankfully, she was able to move a consult to later that night so they were able to come early. She was worried that Benji wouldn't be here, but apparently, he just assumed they'd be there. Or maybe he came just in case they could make it.

She wasn't sure how that made her feel.

As she watched Benji greet Angie, she couldn't help but notice that he was sort of hotter than he had been on Monday night. His hair was falling into his eyes in an unruly fashion, while his face was covered with coarse, dark hair. She was pretty sure he hadn't shaved, and if she was honest, she liked it. A lot. Like, a little too much...

Instead of the sweats he had on Monday, tonight he was wearing a girdle and socks, with a tight, Dri-FIT, long-sleeved shirt covering his torso. Every ripple of muscle on his chest was screaming at her, and for some reason, she felt like doing her laundry on his abs. Praise Jesus, his thick shoulders were almost screaming to have nails dug into them, and they did nothing but make it hard for Lucy to concentrate on the simple task of walking.

Her tripping was a sign of that.

Lord, he was gorgeous and, unfortunately, she had been thinking a lot about Mr. Benji Paxton.

More than she would like to admit.

She wasn't sure if it was because he was adorably dorky or if it was because he was so great with Angie, but she found her mind wandering to him more than it should have. She wanted to know if he was married, if he had kids. Angie had said he had a daughter, but when she Googled him-don't judge-she couldn't find anything about a wife and daughter. It was weird, and a part of her wondered if he was a deadbeat dad. That didn't seem right, though. He didn't seem like that kind of guy. But then, like he said, she had no clue what kind of guy he was. All she knew was her daughter loved him, and Lucy was sort of, in some crazy, weird way, attracted to him.

It was bizarre.

Or she was losing it.

Sucking in a breath, she came up just as Angie declared, "So I'm a little crazytown today, as my mom calls it. My day care forgot to give me my medicine this morning, so I might be a little crazy."

If waving her arms at the end didn't say crazy, Lucy wasn't sure what did. Her sweet baby had been diagnosed with ADHD two years before. Getting her medicated was a feat, but they overcame it, and now Angie was flourishing. In school and in life. She was just happier and, in turn, that made Lucy happy. It wasn't easy, though, especially when Rick blamed her for all of it. If it wasn't enough that she was already blaming herself-because obviously there was something she could have done to make sure her baby didn't have those problems-having her ex-husband throw at her that it was her fucked-up genes was just great.

It had been a tough couple of years, but they were good now. Rick didn't toss it in her face as much anymore, and Angie was great. Lucy was proud of her little nugget, and when she looked at Benji, she was happy to see he wasn't judging Angie, only smiling at her.

"It's cool. I love crazy!"

Angie beamed as Lucy smiled. "All right, Hans."

Benji looked confused, which made her question that he had a daughter. Anyone with a daughter had seen Disney's Frozen at least a million times. "Who's Hans?"

"From Frozen!" Angie said with a laugh and Benji chuckled. She then promptly started singing the "Love is an Open Door" song. Benji looked confused and Lucy just smiled. Man, Angie was a nut.

"I haven't seen that one yet."

"What!" she cried out and Lucy laughed. "Mommy, we have to watch it with Benji."

"Honey, I've seen that movie so many times, I don't think it would be fair to subject Benji to that. But we'll see. Okay?"

Benji looked over at her and smiled. What surprised her, and also made her a bit breathless, was that his smile filled his whole face. He was like a happy little puppy that had just been promised a treat.

She really needed to stop associating this man with a dog.

It wasn't nice.

But then, she never claimed to be a nice person.

His eyes were darker than a puppy's, though, and full of something. Something dirty, maybe. As he dragged his eyes from hers to her daughter, his face broke into a happy grin. "A movie night sounds awesome. I'll bring candy. But let's wait a bit. Gotta make sure your mom doesn't think I'm a weirdo."

Angie scoffed. "She already does."

"Angela!" Looking at Benji, her face beet red, Lucy shrugged. "Sorry?"

But he laughed. "No biggie. Maybe I can change that."

Whoa... Lucy's hands tightened on Angie's bag as she got lost in the depths of Benji's gray eyes, hot lust gathering between her thighs. If that wasn't suggestive, she didn't know what was. She'd been out of the game for a bit, but she knew when someone was hitting on her. And weird, puppy-dog cutie Benji Paxton just hit on her.

Felt pretty fucking nice, too.

"I'm so glad you guys came. I almost texted Jayden to make sure you guys could make it," Benji said then, his eyes still holding Lucy's.

Breathless, she nodded. "Yeah, Angie really wanted to come, so I moved some things around."

"She's the best," Angie said, her eyes full of love for her mom. "I'm so excited."

She was bouncing. Like, literally bouncing in place, and Lucy could only smile. "She is. Obviously."

"Me too. Why don't you go get ready? You know how to now, right?"

Angie nodded quickly. "Yeah, I've been practicing. I'm a little spotty on my stick tape, though, and getting my skates tight."

"I can help with that," he said with a smile.

Lucy swallowed hard, still very much reeling from two minutes ago. Apparently, she wasn't prepared to be hit on by this guy, which was odd. Usually, guys didn't affect her that dramatically. But the way he looked at her made her feel something, and Lucy didn't feel. So she was still trying to find her footing. But she was on a mission.

The other reason she made sure to move things around was not only to make Angie happy but also because she had to talk to him. After a long chat with Avery earlier that day about Benji, she decided she needed to apologize to him. She had been a bitch, and that wasn't fair. He was really good to Angie and she loved him already, so Lucy needed to man up and apologize for her actions. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to do so, but she did, and she was going to own up to her mistakes.

She knew what she needed to say to him, but the problem was saying it.

"Honey, why don't you go get ready so I can talk to Benji?"

Angie eyed her, and so did Benji. "You're gonna be nice, though?"

She gave her a frustrated look. "Really, Angie? Go get ready before I wear out that butt."

Angie's eyes widened before she glanced up at Benji. He shrugged. "I'd go."

"Yeah," she agreed, taking the bag from Lucy and then walking toward the bench to get ready. When she sat down, Lucy looked up to see Benji watching her.

"Um. Yeah, hi," she said with a wave because she didn't know what else to say or do. Why was she being so awkward with him? This wasn't Lucy. She was strong, she was smart, and guys didn't have any effect on her!

But when he grinned, she found everything she just thought was not true. Shit.

"Hey."

Ugh. Just that word had her skin breaking out in gooseflesh. What in the world? Swallowing hard, she said, "Thanks for not being put off or judgmental with the whole crazytown thing. I said it once, regretted it, but now, it's our normal."

He nodded. "No big deal. When was she diagnosed? ADD?"

"ADHD, two years ago."

"My brother had bad ADD when we were growing up, so I get it. No big deal. She's still the coolest kid I've ever met."

Lucy smiled. "She's great, but when she isn't medicated, she's too busy to feel her emotions so she may be a little scattered. That's why I worry like I do when she is medicated because she feels everything due to the fact she is so focused. That's why I probably came off as a psycho mom the other day. I was kinda panicking. But with Jayden not here to calm her and know her triggers, I was freaking out. But you did really great with her and I appreciate that."

Damn it, she was rambling. Telling him way more than he needed to know. But when he shrugged, like she wasn't rambling or crazy, her heart raced. "I don't think that's psycho at all. I think that makes you a great mom."

Looking away, Lucy tucked her hands into the pockets of her jacket and her heart stopped. "Er...thanks."

"It's the truth," he said, so simply that Lucy had to fight back the tears before looking back up at him. Angie and her family always reassured her that she was a good mom, but Rick wasn't kind and took every chance he could to knock her down. It was tiring, and she knew he was just a sick piece of shit, but still, it hurt. She had one job that really mattered in her life and that was caring for her daughter. Being the kind of woman her baby could look up to. To know that someone thought she was doing a good job... It just meant a lot.

Swallowing around the emotion in her throat, she smiled. Here went nothing. "So, anyway, I'm really sorry for the way I acted on Monday. Between the panicking about Jayden not being here, Angie's anxiety, and then just being tired-I'm tired a lot-I kind of lashed out at you, and I'm really sorry for that."

His face curved into a grin and he nodded. "That seemed really hard for you."

She laughed. "It was. I don't apologize much since I don't think I'm ever wrong, but I was wrong to treat you the way I did. So, I'm sorry."

His eyes were sparkling. How, she didn't know since they were dark like storm clouds. "Well, thank you. I'm glad we had this talk."

God, his eyes. They were really the windows to his soul. Did she just think that? She was insane. Looking away to keep it together, she agreed, "Me too."

Clearing his throat, he started. "I know I'm a little strange-"

"Just a bit," she said with a grin, looking back up at him. "But Angie and Jayden are good at reading people, so I'm gonna trust their opinion of you."

"But you won't trust me," he asked, his eyes challenging.

She scoffed. "I don't know you."

He moved his hands into his pockets, his eyes still holding hers as his lips curved. "So let's change that."

Her eyes narrowed. "Huh?"

"How about you let me take you out to dinner? Get to know each other. Angie said she's going to her dad's this weekend. So how about Saturday?"

Lucy's brows pulled together as her whole face scrunched up. "You're asking me out? On, like, a date?"

She hadn't realized her voice had escalated until Benji laughed. "Don't sound so surprised." She could only stare at him as one side of his mouth quirked up. "But yeah, I am."

Sputtering like a bumbling baboon, she couldn't keep her eyes from widening. She wasn't sure why she was so surprised. It was obvious he was feeling her and she was feeling him, but this was ludicrous. Why would he ask her out? "Why?" she squawked and he looked away, laughing.

"Because I want to. Because I think we'd have fun."

"Fun? You want to?" she said, repeating what he said, and his whole face smiled.

"Didn't know you had a part-time job as a parrot," he teased and she just gawked at him. Looking away, he chuckled nervously. "I'm not sure how to read you right now. Not sure if your surprise is good or bad. It's awkward and you're making me squirm, if that's what you wanted," he admitted, but all Lucy could do was stare at him.