Page 28 of The Chase

I nodded. “Yeah, but she’s still a mystery to me.”

Benny kissed my sister’s temple. “Yup, I know all about those mysterious girls. Did you invite her to the game tomorrow?”

I stared at them for half a second. “Should I?”

He shrugged. “That’s what I would have done.”

I bit my nail and looked at my sister for guidance.

“Tristan, don’t worry about it. You’ll figure something out. Now, if you excuse me, I’m sweaty and gross and need a shower before going to bed.”

I stuck my tongue out at her. “Gross. I didn’t need to know that.”

She flipped me the bird on the way into Benny’s room. He was not subtle about watching her ass as she walked away. I flicked him on the ear. “Hey, that’s still my sister. Gross!”

He grinned at me. “And she’s my girlfriend! Who would have thought?”

“Definitely not me, bud.”

CHAPTER TEN

MAXINE

“What do you mean you didn’t get laid?” Keiana screeched at me with righteous indignation.

I was lying on the couch in our living room, waiting for the Bulldogs game to start. Keiana had gotten off shift a little while ago and ran upstairs to sleep until she smelled the coffee I made.

I shrugged. “He said he didn’t put out on the first date.”

I was still mad about that. TJ Desjardins didn’t have sex on the first date? I felt like I was in a parallel universe because that didn’t compute at all.

I had such a great time with TJ last night, and I thought he wanted me beneath him again. It surprised me when he refused to come inside. Wasn’t that the reason he had asked me out in the first place?

Keiana flipped her black box-style braids over her shoulder. “Are you serious? You already slept together!”

“I know! Ugh, I was so mad at him. I even invited him up, and he said I had to earn his hot bod.”

She cackled. “Oh my god, he did not say that!”

“Yes!”

She walked over to the couch and sunk into it next to me. She put my feet in her lap as she drank her coffee. “Well, I’m happy that you at least asked for what you wanted. That’s a start!”

I sighed and flicked my gaze to the TV where the puck was about to drop.

I wished I wasn’t so awkward about sex, but when your parents shamed you into thinking sex was a bad thing, it was hard to shake those feelings. Sex always made me feel bad about myself and guilty. Maybe it was because those other guys weren’t Charlie. Keiana thought I needed to have an emotional connection to someone to enjoy sex, and maybe she was onto something. I hadn’t felt guilty about what I did with Charlie — until it had cost him his life. I would always blame myself for surviving, even though I hadn’t been the drunk driver who killed him and my parents that night.

Keiana poked me. “Hey, stop going inside your head; puck’s about to drop.”

“How was work?” I asked, changing the subject. I turned back to the TV and watched our team captain Girard lining up for the puck drop.

She shrugged. “Exhausting. It’s a living, though.”

I nodded.

I was glad TJ didn’t ask about my job all that much during our date. Since his sister was my boss, it wouldn’t have been smart to talk about it. I loved working for the team, but sales wasn’t exactly where I wanted to be. I wasn’t particularly good at it, but leaving the team wasn’t an option for me, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do instead. It wasn’t like I could go into Rox’s office and say, ‘hey, I don’t like this job you pay me to do; can I have another one?’ It was a good job, and it paid my bills, but I definitely hated what I did. That wasn’t something you said to someone who was intimately close with your boss. If I told TJ how I really felt about my job, I worried he’d tell his sister. They told each other everything, after all. I couldn’t jeopardize my career like that.

I watched Girard get possession of the puck, and when I saw number 76 skating across the ice open for the pass, I jumped. TJ took the puck from Girard and then quickly passed it to Noah, who lobbed it towards the net.