Page 56 of The Chase

Keiana walked over to the fridge. “Okay, you’re forgiven. But also, go you! I think I like you, hockey boy!”

“Me? Why?” I asked.

Keiana dug a plate out of the cabinet and heated her food up in the microwave. “Because you make Max break out of her shell a little. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to have to hear it, but she’s heard her fair share of banging headboards from my room.”

I kissed Max’s forehead and held her tighter. “Could be worse. Could come home and hear your sister and your roommate fucking loudly,” I said with a shudder.

Max pulled back to look at me with her mouth hanging open. “Wait, is that how you found out about Rox and Benny?”

I nodded with a grimace. “Don’t remind me.”

Keiana laughed. “You brought it up, dude.” She walked over to the table and sat down across from us. She smirked at Max, but then shook her head.

“Don’t give me that,” Max said.

“Just happy for you. Hey, hockey boy, have you two made this official yet?”

I nodded. “Yeah, she finally agreed to be my girl.”

The dark-skinned woman beamed at me. “Good…but you know women can get blood out of everything. I’m a nurse. I know things.”

It was cute how all the women in Max’s life threatened my life if I broke her heart. Like my sister, who threatened to break my hand or cut me with her skate blade if I broke Max’s heart. My sister threw around this ‘I don’t give a fuck about you’ attitude, but she cared about the people around her, and she had a soft spot for Max.

“Well, my twin sister basically threatened my hockey career, so I got the message already,” I said.

“She did?” Max asked. Her face contorted into a confused look.

I nodded and pushed her hair out of her face. “If my sister likes you, that’s always good news.”

Max beamed at me and got off of my lap. She grabbed the box of condoms. “Come on, hockey boy. Let’s go make use of these.”

Keiana’s mouth flopped open at Max’s words, and my girl gave her a sly smile. I wasn’t sure what it was about me that brought down her defenses, I loved that I made her feel safe enough that she felt she could do that.

I followed my girlfriend upstairs to her room and let her experiment on me for the rest of the day. If a mental health day means having marathon sex with your partner to figure out their sexual desires, I think it should damn well be a national holiday.

* * *

I woke to a whimper and Max clutching my arm. I hated seeing her like this.

I pried her fingers off me and pulled her to my chest, tucking my chin on top of her head. “Shush, baby girl, it’s okay,” I tried to soothe her. I rubbed my hands up and down her back. I heard her sniffling and felt the salty tears sliding down my chest. “Aw, hell, Maxine. Wake up, baby.”

Her head tilted up to me, tears in her eyes, and it broke me. I held her tighter to my chest. “TJ?” she asked. “Why are you squeezing me so hard?”

“You were crying in your sleep again.”

She pulled away and sat up on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest. “I’m sorry.”

I sat up too but shook my head. “Don’t be sorry. You want to talk about it?”

She shook her head, but she wasn’t looking at me. Instead, she stared blankly at a spot on the wall.

“Max, is it like this every night?”

“No. Only when I’m feeling happy,” she admitted.

“What do you mean?”

She picked at her nail and still wouldn’t look at me. “Because I don’t deserve to be happy.”