Page 36 of The Chase

MAXINE

“…and it’s denied by rookie goaltender Seamus Metz!” the announcer on the TV above the bar yelled.

I peered up at the screen, but all I noticed was the camera panning to the bench where TJ and Noah sat on it together, chewing on their mouth guards.

The score was 2-1, Chicago, and after losing to Minnesota a couple of days ago, the team needed another win. Next to me, Rox drank her beer and tapped her black manicured fingernails on top of the bar. Her eyes darted back and forth as she watched Benny lining up for the face-off. He got kicked out, and Girard had to take it instead.

“Fuck,” she whispered under her breath when they lost possession and Chicago tried to set up a play in the Bulldogs’ zone.

It was long-standing that the sales team did happy hour on Thursday nights at Eileen’s, but since the game was on, Rox and I stayed later at the bar so we could watch the rest of the hockey game together since the team was still on the road.

TJ and I had been texting on and off since he’d been on the road, but texting differed from seeing him in person. The last time I saw him, he had my body singing beneath his touch. And his tongue, if I was being honest. I hadn’t lied when I said no one had gone down on me before. I didn’t know if he was actually good at it since I didn’t have a baseline to compare. I just knew he made me feel amazing. I might have been daydreaming about it a lot.

Rox snapped her fingers at me. “Hello, earth to Maxine!”

I shook my head at her. “Sorry. What?”

She threw a napkin at me. “Girl, what’s up with you?”

“Nothing!” I protested and took another sip of my wine.

She cocked a dark eyebrow at me. “Hmm.”

“What does ‘hmm’ mean?”

She smirked at me. “Have you talked to my brother lately?”

I nodded. “Yeah, he called me last night after they lost to Minnesota. He seemed upset.”

“Really? I was wondering why he didn’t call me. He normally wants to hash out terrible games with me.”

“Uhh…sorry?” I offered.

When TJ video chatted with me last night, I was a little surprised. But then my heart melted the tiniest bit when he said he wanted to hear my voice and see my face. It was sweet but also confusing. We had only been on two dates and weren’t exactly dating. Despite his confession that he wanted something more with me, everyone knew TJ wasn’t boyfriend material. I kept reminding myself not to get my hopes up.

Rox waved me off with her hand and took another big chug of her beer. “Don’t worry about it. Benny wanted to have a sexy video chat with me, so I didn’t want to talk to Tristan, anyway.”

I blushed, and she laughed. Rox was so blunt, but I didn’t think she did it on purpose.

“Sorry. Does it make you feel uncomfortable when I say stuff like that?” she asked. “I know I’m your boss. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

“It’s not that. I’m a prude.”

She cocked her head at me but didn’t ask the question on her mind.

“Sex makes me uncomfortable,” I said with a grimace.

“Why?”

I sighed and drained the rest of my wine.

“I grew up super religious. My parents basically shamed me into thinking sex was wrong,” I explained. “You’re not supposed to like it, and it was only for procreation.”

She made a face. “Oh, woof. Your parents would have hated a bi girl like me, eh?”

I laughed. She had no idea.

She put a hand on mine. “It’s okay to feel uncomfortable, but you need to be open and honest with your partners about how you feel. You have to trust the person you’re with. Even if it’s just a hookup. When you have sex with someone, there’s a certain level of trust you’re giving to that other person. You’re giving yourself over to them and letting them see all your sides.”