Page 60 of The Chase

I stared blankly at Rox. “What do you mean, the opposite?”

Now Rox was the one with pink cheeks. “I like to be called a bad girl, okay?” she muttered under her breath.

“Oh…oh! Sorry I asked,” I said.

I felt the blush color on my face at her revelation. I didn’t need to know that. I shouldn’t have asked her to clarify. Why did I ask her that?

“Noah calls me the Boss Lady if you were wondering,” Dinah said with a cheeky grin. “I like to be in charge.”

I was not, in fact, wondering, and I think I opened a can of worms by asking them this. That explained some things about Noah, though. On the ice, you didn’t want to face-off with him, but off the ice, he seemed like the nicest guy on the team. And the way he doted on Dinah? So cute.

I drank more of my wine to avoid them asking more questions. Despite the chill in the arena, my face felt hot, and I couldn’t look either of them in the eye. Especially not Rox.

Rox shook with laughter. “Sorry, Max. I know these things are hard to talk about for you.”

I nodded. “TJ’s been helping me with that. I know he’s your brother, and you don’t want to hear this, but being with him doesn’t make me feel guilty or shameful.”

Rox’s face softened. “Aw, Max, I think you might love my brother.”

My eyes were as wide as saucers. “I—”

“Christ, Roxanne, don’t scare the girl,” Dinah cut in. “Honey, I’m glad you got with T. I’ve watched him over the years have meaningless hookup after meaningless hookup, and when he was upset over Taylor last year, I think it was a wake-up call. TJ can be a little douchey, but he’s a good guy.”

I gave her a small smile. Dinah seemed like a good friend, and I was glad she was in TJ’s corner.

The first period was getting underway, so I turned my attention back to the ice. My heart pounded in my chest when I saw TJ on the starting line-up, but I saw the team captain Girard taking the opening face-off.

I loved hockey. I loved the smell of the ice, the roar of the crowd, and the sounds of hockey sticks tapping against the ice. Being in this arena to watch my team, to watch my man duking it out with the Toronto Wolves, was amazing. TJ asked me before about my passion, and it was this sport. I might hate being in sales, but I loved working for the team.

I watched the play on the ice and laughed when Rox yelled at the refs about a blown call. Rox was loud and opinionated, and I loved her for it. I jumped in my seat when TJ carried the puck over the blue line, passed it to Noah, but then it went off the post. TJ scrambled to get the rebound, and I was screaming my head off for him to shoot, but then the Wolves’ goalie covered it, issuing the stoppage of play.

“Bullshit,” I said under my breath and took another sip of my wine.

Dinah and Rox both stared at me.

“What?” I asked.

Rox tipped back her head and laughed. “It’s weird hearing you swear.”

I shrugged but went back to watching the game. TJ was back on the bench, chewing on his mouth guard, but he was chirping at the opposing players. He was scrappy on the ice. He was the guy who got under the other player’s skins. Bad for other teams, but awesome for the Bulldogs. A Wolves player skated by, and I noticed the name Holmstrom on the back of his jersey.

“Oh, that’s Blaise,” I said, recognizing my old high school classmate.

Dinah raised a questioning eyebrow. “You know Blaise Holmstrom?”

“We went to high school together. He used to cheat off of my tests in math class.”

“Oh, right, TJ mentioned you went to Franklin Prep. Fancy.”

I laughed. “Scholarship! I can’t believe we’re both from South Philly and didn’t know each other.”

Dinah laughed. “You want to hear something funny?”

“What?” I asked.

“My brother Eddie does all of Blaise’s tattoos.”

“Shut up!”