Page 61 of The Chase

Dinah laughed, and Rox watched the players on the ice wistfully. “He’s so hot. And he’s bisexual!”

That had been a shock when Blaise came out last year. Especially since he had been dating the same girl since high school. If I hadn’t met Rox and gotten an education on sexuality, that would have confused me.

I pinched Rox’s side. “You’re taken!”

“I know!” she said with a laugh. “But if I wasn’t with Benny…”

I shook my head at her. “Blaise has a long-distance girlfriend back in Sweden.”

“Sweden?” Rox asked with a grimace. “And I complain about not getting laid when Benny’s gone for a week on the road.”

I shrugged and watched the ice, but not much was happening. The Bulldogs hadn’t been able to set anything up yet. Although the Wolves had a pretty good D out in front of them.

“Doesn’t his dad own Eileen’s?” Dinah asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, he co-owns it with one of his old teammates. One of his other sons is the manager there.”

“I always feel safe there because Hal looks out for us,” Rox said.

A small smile spread across my face. I knew exactly what she meant.

The conversation died down when the crowd got loud again. I brought my attention back to the ice and saw TJ was suddenly on the breakaway. Finally, the game was getting exciting.

I jumped up from my seat, nearly knocking my wine all over Rox as I cheered on my man. He had this! He deked around the Wolves’ defenseman and took the shot. We all cheered when it went top shelf, and the red lamp lit up behind the goaltender.

“Eat a dick, Wolves!” Dinah yelled.

Rox busted up laughing. “Holy fuck, D, you savage!”

She shrugged with a cheeky grin, and Mia, Hallsy’s girl, turned around in her seat in front of us. “Will you loudmouths settle down?”

“But they’re playing like garbage!” Rox protested.

I swatted her to settle her. “Come on, girl, watch your man on the ice.”

She nudged me with her shoulder. “You watch your man.”

I grinned at her. “Oh, I will.”

Mia laughed again. “I never thought TJ, of all the guys, would finally settle down. Good for you, Max. He needs a good girl like you to keep him in check.”

Dinah was trying so hard not to laugh. The wink Mia gave me told me she had been listening to our conversation. I should have been mortified. I should have wanted to melt into a puddle under my seat. But I didn’t want to do any of that. Because being with TJ made me forget about my guilt. He made me feel free.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

TJ

“So, you and the cute blonde?” Logan nudged me while I fixed my tie in my cubby and combed my hair with my fingers.

“Who? Max? Yeah, that’s my girl.”

The redheaded d-man smirked at me. “It’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for, huh?”

I raised an eyebrow at that. Logan had just got called up from our minor league affiliate, since we traded Jonesy for draft picks, and we needed to fill in the depth. None of us knew him well enough yet. Mac had taken him under his wing and gave him a place to stay while he was between the two hockey clubs.

I shrugged. “Maybe. She helps keep me in line.”

“That’s good for you. It’s nice to find someone you can settle down with. Love’s funny like that.”