Page 99 of The Chase

She gestured to my plate. “Dinner.”

I furrowed my brow at her and swallowed more of the lasagna. She put a lot of care into dinner tonight like she always did. Max was fantastic in the kitchen, and it showed. She was definitely trying to impress me tonight. Her cooking was awesome, but I’d have to run an extra mile or two tomorrow.

“Yeah. It’s amazing, like everything you cook.”

She frowned. “Oh.”

“What’s wrong?”

She looked at me with her big blue eyes shiny with tears, and I felt like a dick. “You look so mad at me, and I know I deserve it.”

I put my fork down and pushed my chair out from under the table. “C’mere.”

“What?”

I gestured for her to come over to me. She took a big sip of her wine and then walked over to me. I pulled her into my lap, cradling her against my chest. I felt her salty tears against my neck, and it made me feel like even more of a dick.

I lifted her chin up so she would look at me. “Oh, baby girl,” I cooed as I cupped her face and wiped away the tears.

“I’m sorry,” she blubbered. “I messed everything up.”

“S’okay, baby. I’m sorry too.”

“No, it’s not! I was horrible to you. I was having a panic attack, and I took my feelings out on you. I should have talked to you instead of accusing you of costing me my job.”

“You were having another panic attack that day?” I asked.

I knew she wasn’t okay the day we had that fight, but her accusations hurt me too much, and I hadn’t been thinking straight. I wished I hadn’t told her we weren’t a good idea. I wished I hadn’t been so immature that I stormed out instead of talking it through with her.

She nodded. “I thought I was gonna get fired.”

“Why?”

She groaned. “I should have talked to your sister first. Rox’s boss, Quinn, pulled me into her office about helping the social media team while the manager was on maternity leave. Then she said she knew I hated my job, and all I could think about was that they were going to fire me.”

I furrowed my brow. “I don’t understand what that has to do with me.”

She frowned. “I jumped to the conclusion that you told Rox. That wasn’t fair of me. Or even rational.”

“I didn’t tell Roxie that. That’s your business.”

She nodded. “I know that now. Rox came over today and told me she wants me to apply for a job opening on the social media team.”

“Baby, that’s great! Roxie wouldn’t want you to move somewhere else if she was going to fire you.”

She grimaced. “I know. I wasn’t thinking straight that day and took it out on you. That wasn’t right. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.”

“For what? I was the jerkface.”

I caressed her face. “No, baby, I was too. I shouldn’t have said we weren’t a good idea. I was hurt, and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have stormed out, either.”

She laced her hands together behind my head. “You still want me?”

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers. Kissing her was like coming home. It had only been a couple of days, but I missed this. It was totally karma or the hockey gods’ way of getting back at me for chirping my teammates for being too ‘whipped.’

I got why Noah or Riley always had that dopey look on their faces when they saw their women. I got why Benny stopped talking to anyone when my sister walked into the room. That was Max for me. Everything else faded away when she was near. Those few days without her when I didn’t know where we stood had been bleak.