Page 3 of The Chase

“T, we want you to be happy,” Dinah said.

I gave her a big smile. “I’m happy. We won!”

She shook her head and laughed. “Okay, bud. Now win some more.”

I was only half-paying attention to Dinah because I’d locked eyes with the blonde woman talking to my sister. She gave me a small smile in recognition and turned back around.

The reason I never called Maxine? She was too good for me. Maxine had ‘good girl’ written all over her. I flirted with her, and she laughed at my jokes, but she was wife material, and I wasn’t sure I deserved someone like her.

That didn’t mean my horny brain had lost interest, though.

Seeing Maxine in that slinky black dress and thigh-high boots made my dick kick against my zipper. Those boots looked like the kind I could easily imagine wrapped around my back while I pounded into her and she moaned my name.

“Bro, don’t do it,” Noah warned.

“Do what?” I asked innocently.

I waggled my eyebrows at him and then crossed to the bar where the pretty blonde was downing her glass of wine. Sometimes I couldn’t help myself.

CHAPTER TWO

MAXINE

“What happened?” my boss and new friend Rox cried.

I held up one manicured finger while I downed my entire glass of wine.

Rox cackled at that and leaned back against the broad chest of her massive hockey player boyfriend. Benny gave me a sympathetic smile. They were both gigantic hockey players compared to my five-foot-five frame, but they were so cute together. They were the hottest couple I’d ever seen. Benny had dark brown skin and huge muscles, while Rox was this gorgeous curvy woman with a Snow White complexion and perfect make-up. Sometimes I was jealous of how put together and glamorous she looked all the time.

“He didn’t show up,” I said as I set my empty glass on the bar.

I rubbed my temples in frustration. I hadn’t properly dated since high school and that had ended in blood and tears. Literally. After the car accident that killed my boyfriend and my parents, I gave up on love.

Instead, I had the occasional hookup that always made me feel bad about myself afterwards. People talked about sex being freeing, but it always made me feel guilty. I’d blame that on my strict religious upbringing; my parents had drilled it into my head that sex was only for marriage and procreation. Needless to say, I had some complicated feelings about sex.

The only reason I agreed to the date tonight was because my bestie, Keiana, knew the guy from nursing school. I would have understood if he got called into work, but ghosting me and not showing up told me who he was. Just another jerk who didn’t have time for me. I couldn’t say it was the first time it had happened, either.

“Oh, Max, I’m so sorry,” Rox offered.

Benny narrowed his dark eyes. “Do I need to do something to this guy?”

I shook my head. “Nah, but I appreciate your support.”

Rox glared at her boyfriend. “No fighting.”

“Whatever you say, angel.” He kissed her temple.

I sighed and was about to ask the bartender for another drink when I felt a presence sidle up behind me.

“Can I buy you a drink?” a deep voice asked from behind me.

A familiar one.

I turned and came face-to-face with TJ Desjardins, hot hockey player and Rox’s twin brother. His hazel eyes bored into me, and I had to remind myself that he was trouble with a capital T.

Last summer, TJ asked for my number, but when he never called, I shrugged it off. Rox warned me her brother wasn’t boyfriend material, so I thought nothing of it. He made it pretty clear I wasn’t the girl for him. He was a notorious playboy, and falling into bed with him wasn’t a good idea. It didn’t matter how hot he was.

“Tristan,” Rox said in a warning tone.