Page 29 of Yo Ho Ho
Logan smiled. "If it makes you feel any better, he told me the same thing."
They both laughed and Sydney just shook her head. "No, it doesn't make me feel better, but I appreciate your effort."
"How's your shoulder doing, by the way?" Andy asked.
"No." They both looked over at Sydney, who was staring at her boyfriend. "No injury report talk tonight."
The trainer leaned over. "I'll check in with you on the flight tomorrow," he muttered.
Then Andy walked over, gave his girlfriend a kiss, and told Logan they would meet him in the living room. Logan watched as Andy gently put his hand on Sydney's back and led her out. He wished he had someone like that. But the life of a hockey player was hard, especially all the traveling and late nights. It was tough to start a relationship with someone new. It would be easy if a player could find someone who understood the life, understood how the job worked.
Max was one of those people. But Max made it very clear that she didn't want a relationship — at least not one with him.
He threw more toppings on his sliders and grabbed a huge pile of nachos as a way to distract himself. Then he realized his error. The plate was packed. It was a real disastrous mess. He figured it was probably better to take a seat at Jordan's kitchen table to toss the whole thing down without too much mess. He took a bite of the nachos and made an audible moan in appreciation.
"So you like the food?"
Logan's head snapped up to see Charlotte standing there with a bemused look on her face.
"You are never allowed to put anyone else in charge of this party," he told her with a mouth half full of nachos.
Charlotte laughed and walked over, taking a seat across from him with a colorful martini glass.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Peppermint martini," she said. "How's the old fashioned?"
"I think this is my third."
She smiled and stole a nacho off his plate, reminding him that even though she had organized all the fancy stuff for this shindig, she was still sometimes just one of them.
"Jordan said you did some charity thing this morning."
Logan nodded and reached for one of his huge sliders. "Yeah, Kids Can Skate."
"I love that program," Charlotte said. "Did you do the dragon that Jordan does at those things?"
"Who do you think taught him that?" he asked as he took a bite of his burger.
She smiled and sipped from her martini. "So how was Max?"
Logan froze, his slider hanging in mid-air. "Uh… what?"
"Jordan said you did an interview with Max for the paper."
"Oh, yeah. It was an interview. It was fine."
Charlotte looked down at her drink, fiddling with the stem of the glass. "I feel so bad for her," she said. "To just have your job taken away like that must be awful."
Logan nodded and took a bite of food, hopeful it would hide his emotions. Because Charlotte was right. It was awful.
But what about feeling bad for Logan? It sounded crass and harsh, but the conversation this morning really screwed him up good. There was so many emotions still stirring in him about that stupid thing, and specifically what he had said to Max. Sure, it was harsh, but it was true. Her jobwouldbe over soon. Shewouldbe free to be with him.
But why did he care so much about that? Why was he so emotional about it that he said stupid crap without even thinking? The question had been nagging him all day. He went to the gym in his building to work out, but the tension still stayed. A nap didn't solve anything — he just spent two hours staring at the ceiling. He was having a good time at the party tonight and yet there was still something nagging him.
Maybe he said too much this morning to Max, but maybe, if he was really being honest, he said what he really felt. He hated the idea of Max losing her job, he knew how much she loved it. How good she was at it.
He also realized that he was being an idiot this morning because he wasn't thinking straight. Because he couldn't think straight when he was around Max. That's what happened when he had been so engulfed by the thought of being with someone he truly wanted.
