Page 86 of The Chase

I nodded and gave her a quick kiss before going back to eating.

“Thanks for dinner. It was nice,” she said after we finished dinner.

“I know therapy’s hard for you, so I wanted to do something nice since I leave tomorrow again. I hate leaving you.”

She put her hand on my jaw. “TJ, I know it sucks that you travel a lot, and this hockey girlfriend thing is hard, but this is your job. I get it.”

“How are you the best?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “I’m not. I put you through too much.”

“You want to talk about it?”

She shook her head, and I watched her down her wine. “That’s what the therapy’s for. It’s too hard.”

“I’m here, though. You know that, right?”

She gave me a sad smile. “I know, baby. I love that you want to be supportive, but it’s like opening up an old wound each time I talk about it.”

I nodded. I guess I understood that. It was hard when I told her about the stuff with Natalie. I know Natalie apologized, but that hurt still lingered with me. It stuck with me.

“I think I need your help,” I said.

She cleared away our plates and started loading the dishwasher. “I got it.”

“Not with the dishes. You don’t have to do that.”

“You made dinner. Let me do the cleanup.”

I let her take my plate and wineglass and watched her soak the pan we made the tofu in. I liked her in my kitchen, taking care of me. Was that sexist? Maybe, but she looked like she belonged there. I understood now why Noah moved in with Dinah so quickly. Being away from Max was the worst feeling in the world. A part of my heart stayed in Philly while I was gone.

“Benny needs help to convince my sister.”

“To move in with him? She’ll cave!” she said over the running water.

I got up and walked around to her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pressed a kiss to her neck. “No. To convince her to play for the Liberty.”

She laughed but leaned back to give me more access to her neck. “Oh! I’ve already tried that. She’s stubborn.”

“Family trait,” I teased.

“Let’s talk about your sister later, okay?”

“Hmm, why’s that?”

“You know why,” she muttered under her breath, but she wouldn’t turn around and look at me.

Despite bringing her out of her shell, Max could still be a little shy. She never initiated sex, and sometimes it made me feel like a creep always asking for it. I wanted her to be comfortable with whatever we did. It was why I double-checked when she agreed to that sexy video chat session when I was on the road. She still struggled with her shame about sex, so it was important she told me what she wanted.

“Tell me what you want.”

“You know what I want,” she grumbled.

I smirked at her and turned her around, capturing her lips in mine. Her hands went into my hair, and I lifted her up onto the counter. Max was such a tiny thing, I sometimes forgot how annoying it was to crane my neck down to kiss her. She wrapped her legs around my waist as we kissed.

I trailed my lips down to her neck again. “I want you to tell me.”

“You know,” she muttered.