Page 99 of Behind the Bench

He takes another step closer so he’s about a foot away, and laughs in my face. The stench of alcohol seeps from his mouth, causing me to take a step back.

“I want the money you owe me. I wasted thousands of dollars on your hockey when you were a kid and you never paid me back.”

He takes another step closer and I see the anger in his eyes. It’s the same look he’d come home with, drunk and ready to rough up my mom. Or me. I don’t bother even responding to his ridiculous request for money. He’s out of his mind if he thinks I owe him a damn thing.

Neil gets in my face and that’s when I finally react. If I learned anything as a kid, it’s that my father is an angry drunk who feeds off of violence. I need to create some distance to keep him in check. I refuse to put Ellie in any type of danger tonight.

The thought of him getting physical has me turning to her. “Can you go inside for me, Ellie? This should only take a minute.”

Ellie hesitates for a second, not wanting to leave my side. She opens her mouth to respond but it’s Neil’s voice I hear.

“Don’t ignore me, boy!” In the blink of an eye, his hand is on Ellie and she’s shoved aside, falling hard against the arena wall.

Instinctively, I reach out for her, and crouch down to eye level to make sure she’s okay. “Ellie, baby, are you okay?”

She groans and reaches behind her head. Thankfully, her hand comes back clean, no blood to show. Once she nods and lets me know she’s okay, I’m on my feet and spinning around to face my father.

A wicked smile spreads across his face. I want more than anything to knock it right off his face, but that would make me just like him, wouldn’t it? I’m older now, bigger, and I’d have no problem showing him exactly what it’s like on the other end of such force. But the thought of being anything like him has me clenching my fists, fighting every urge inside of me to knock his ass to the ground.

“Baby? Oh, Link. Don’t tell me you’re sleeping with her. Ha! You are so pathetic. She always made you look like a fool on the ice, it’s only a matter of time before she makes you look like one again.”

My self-control is starting to waver. I take a step closer to him, towering over his pathetic frame. “Get the fuck out of here, Neil.”

An evil smile stretches across his face. It’s the same smile he wore when he’d beat my mom. I shake all thoughts of my mom out of my head, and clench my jaw so tight I think I hear it crack.

He shoves a finger into my chest. “I’m not leaving until you give me what I’m owed.”

Ellie’s footsteps sound behind me, but I hold my hand upto stop her from coming any closer. My dad is a loose cannon and I can’t risk her getting in his path again. I feel her stop just behind my shoulder.

“What you’re owed? The only thing I owe you is a black eye to match all the ones you gave me as a kid.”

He laughs and takes a step toward Ellie. My control finally snaps. I shove him as hard as I can which causes him to stumble backward until he falls on his ass. I take a step closer to him, ready to unleash all the hurt he’s caused me back onto him.

Ellie places her hand on my shoulder, causing me to halt. “Lincoln, let’s go. He’s not worth it.”

There’s so much more I want to say to him. So much more I want to do to him. He deserves to be left lying in a heap of his own blood like my mom was so many times. LikeIwas. But what good would that do? I can prove here and now that I’ll never be like him. That I’m better than him. I can choose to walk away.

So I do.

I wrap my arm around Ellie’s waist and we make our way back to the door. She leans her head against my arm and I pull her tighter against me. I knock loudly, waiting for the security guard to let us in, when he shouts one last thing our way.

“You might not owe me a dime, but you sure as hell owe your girlfriend’s daddy!”

What the hell is his dad talking about?

The term girlfriend snaps me back to reality, and I’m suddenly aware of the cameras behind us. Flashes and shutters clicking drown out Lincoln’s dad. The media has made its way to document the incident, shouting our names for a comment. I pull away from Lincoln’s side and try to push him through the now open door. He holds firm and looks at me accusingly.

I put my hand on his chest. “Lincoln, not here.”

He looks around, finally noticing the media and we step inside. As soon as the door shuts behind us, Lincoln moves away from me. When he turns to look at me, hurt is evident on his face.

“What did he mean by that, Ellie? Why would I owe your dad money?”

I’m still trying to figure out what he meant by that myself. I shake my head over and over, trying to make it clear I’m just as confused as he is. “I have no idea, Lincoln. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

Lincoln’s forehead creases as he tries todecide if he should believe me or not. So much has happened over the past ten minutes, neither of us have our heads on straight.

I take a step toward him, my hands finding his upper arms. “Please believe me. I have no idea what he could possibly mean by that. I’ve never lied to you before. Why would I start now?”

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