Page 49 of The Chase

“No. Get to practice.”

I glanced at my phone on the bedside table. I did need to get to practice, but making sure Max was okay was more important. I think I understood why Noah missed that practice when Dinah had the miscarriage that almost killed her. Some things were more important than hockey.

I couldn’t believe I’d even thought that. Something about this timid woman brought down all my defenses and made me release the mask I wore all the time.

But she slipped out of my arms. “Just go, TJ.”

“Max—”

“GO!” she snapped.

Seeing her tear-stained face as she told me to leave gutted me. I dressed and leaned over to kiss her goodbye.

“Hey, will you call me later?” I asked.

“Please, go. I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

Defeated, I walked down the steps but ran into her roommate in the kitchen. The woman gave me a sad smile. “So you’re TJ Desjardins. Shorter than I thought.”

I gave her a fake smile. “Skates make me look taller. You must be Keiana.”

She stirred something into a steaming mug of liquid. “It’s not your fault.”

“What?”

She pointed upstairs. “Max has been through a lot. Just give her some space.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “She told me about her parents. Is that what this is?”

She eyed me carefully. “In a way, yes. What has she told you?”

“That a drunk driver killed her parents.”

She sighed. “She didn’t tell you the full story. Max is fragile. If you’re the type of guy who flinches at anxiety or women who cry for no reason, you need to cut her loose now. Don’t let her get attached to you if you’re gonna run at the first sight of issues.”

I stared at her. “I haven’t had a girlfriend since high school, and she messed me up pretty bad. I don’t want to mess up with Max.”

She pointed at me. “Right answer! Okay, hockey boy, get to practice.”

“Hockey boy? That’s what she calls me.”

Keiana laughed. “I know—it was my idea. By the way…she secretly loves that you call her baby girl, but don’t tell her I said anything to you.”

I grinned. “Ha! Knew it!”

She mimed zipping her lips. “Give her some space, TJ, but she’ll come around.”

I nodded in response and then left, so I wasn’t late for practice.

My head was a mess, though, and I ended up having the shittest performance ever on the ice. Something was wrong with my girl, and instead of leaning on me for support, she pushed me away. And that made the doubt climb inside my head again.

I stripped off my jersey, annoyed and frustrated with how shitty I had been at practice.

“Bud, you okay?” Noah asked me for the fifty-millionth time afterward.

“Fuck, no!”

“You want to talk about it?” he asked.