Page 19 of The Chase

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Look, I’m sorry about everything. I—”

She held up a hand to stop me. “Don’t. You made it clear you didn’t want anything serious, and I tried to change you. I made my peace with that.”

I chewed on my lip. “I’m still sorry. What if I decided I want what you wanted?”

She frowned. “Not gonna happen, TJ. We’re over.”

I shook my head, but I didn’t immediately respond because a flash of blonde came into my peripherals, and I spied the source of my infatuations across the bar talking with my sister. Taylor’s gaze shifted to the direction I was looking in.

“Oh,” she said quietly in recognition. “You didn’t mean me. Who’s that?”

I picked at the label of my beer. “Doesn’t matter. I fucked up, like I did with you.”

Her eyes widened again. “Ohhh. I see.”

Maxine locked eyes with me, but then she narrowed them as she studied Taylor standing next to me.

Taylor gave me a quick side hug. “Good luck, TJ.”

“I’m still sorry about what happened between us,” I said.

She gave me a small smile. “T, I’m happy with Brian.” She held up her hand where she had a petite diamond on her ring finger. Whoa, that was fast. “Very happy. I don’t think you were ready, and that’s okay. You’re worthy of love, even if you don’t think so.”

In a flash, Taylor disappeared.

I never told her about the things Nat said to me, so I wasn’t sure how she knew what I felt like deep down. It wasn’t like Rox told her either. Rox had been indifferent to Taylor. Probably because she knew I never got serious with anyone, so it was a waste of her time to get to know my conquests.

That made me sound like such a douche-canoe. No wonder Dinah called me a lovable douche to my face. I kinda deserved it.

I looked over at Max, who was still chatting with my sister. She said something to Rox and then rolled back her shoulders and strolled over to me. My eyes couldn’t help but scan down her body. She was wearing a comfy-looking sweater and tight black jeans that made her ass look amazing.

I gave her my signature lopsided grin as she walked up to me. “What brings you here?”

She ignored my question. “Who was that?”

I waved her off and took another sip of my beer. “My ex.”

Her eyes softened, and she uncurled her hands from the fists they were in. Huh, that was interesting.

“Okay,” she said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Okay, what?”

She looked like she didn’t want to answer my question. “Okay, you can take me to dinner.”

“Really?” I asked, my voice going up an octave.

She nodded. “But I’m a vegetarian, so if you take me to a steakhouse, it’s game over.”

“Okay, I’ll think of a nice place to take you.”

“After your road trip.”

“Right.”

I forgot I was heading out on another road trip tomorrow.

“Text me!” she said, and then she left as soon as she had appeared.