Page 58 of The Chase

I leaned into her touch. “She made me feel like I wasn’t worthy of love, that I didn’t deserve it. When I got drafted, it was over between us, and I never opened myself up to anyone else.”

“Until now.”

He nodded. “Nat’s apologized since, and Rox’s still friends with her. Nat’s changed a lot. I even like her husband! But the hurt’s still there.”

Max’s hand trailed down my chest, and she placed it over my heart. “It’s still in here.”

I nodded and placed my hand over hers. “I understand feeling like you’re not worthy or that we don’t deserve what we found with each other.”

She kissed me but pulled away before I could glide my tongue across the seam of her lips. “I’m sorry you have to deal with my nightmares.”

“I told you, I’m in it for the long haul with you. But…”

“But what?”

I squinted up at her, unsure if this would cause her to get pissed at me. “Have you talked with someone about how you feel?”

“Like a shrink?”

“Therapy’s nothing to be ashamed of. You should talk to someone about your nightmares.”

She bit her lip. “I’ll think about it.”

“I’m serious, Max.”

Her lips drew into a thin line. “I said I’ll think about it.”

“Why are you so against it? I went to a sports psychologist.”

“Really?” she asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.

I nodded. “It really helped me when I was a rookie. My dad…he was a hockey player too. He always wanted me to have the best training and that meant my mind, too.”

She sighed. “It’s just…my parents didn’t believe in strangers knowing our business. That God would sort things out. They even scoffed that our church offered counseling. They thought it was beneath them.”

“Do you believe that?” I asked. Max didn’t strike me as being all that religious anymore, so I didn’t understand why she was fighting this.

“No.” she admitted. “But I don’t want to talk about that night ever. It hurts too much.”

“Max—”

“Geez. I said I’ll think about it, okay?” she huffed out and got off my lap.

Great, now she was annoyed with me.

She flopped onto the bed and laid on her side with her back to me. I curled around her, hugging her petite frame against my chest. “Please, baby? I hate seeing you like this, and I don’t know how to help you.”

“Okay,” she muttered meekly.

I frowned because I thought she said that so I’d stop pushing her. I wanted to take all her pain away, but I didn’t know how. The only thing I could do was hold her closer and tell her everything was going to be okay.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

MAXINE

If there was one thing I learned about being TJ Desjardins’ girlfriend over the past couple of months, it was that being a hockey WAG was weird. And challenging.

Sometimes I’d get a day or two of him being around, and then before I knew it, he was back on the road again. It felt like we were constantly stealing tiny moments together before he was rushing out to catch a bus or a team charter for another game. Sometimes, the first time I saw him again was from behind the glass at a home game.