Page 41 of Yo Ho Ho
She walked over and took a seat at her desk in front of her computer, the blinking cursor now a welcoming beacon instead of a dreaded sight. As much as she wished she could be with Logan tonight, she needed to be in her room writing. Like any writer, she struggled, but when she was motivated and inspired, her body had no choice but to get the words out of her head and onto the page.
She put her hands on her keyboard, letting them linger over the keys as she got her thoughts in order. Logan was right. She had written so many words about this team, so many columns about who they were or what they did. Maybe it was time for her to write about herself.
Maybe she was finally ready to write her goodbye letter to the job she had loved for so long.
Chapter 16
Logan checked himself in the mirror for a third time. It was getting to be borderline narcissistic, but he wanted to make sure he looked good for Max tonight. He was wearing jeans, but they were dark jeans. He was wearing a basic black sweater, but it was cashmere. Sure, it could be considered a bit "luxurious" for a hockey player. He blamed Jordan, who started to dress better after he began dating Charlotte. His updated fashion sense had spread through the locker room, making it more acceptable for guys like Logan to wear lightweight cashmere sweaters.
Also, women loved the feel of his sweater. This black sweater helped him get laid several times. He was kind of hoping it would get the job done tonight too.
But that's not why he was going out with Max, at least it wasn't the main reason he was going out with Max. If he was being honest with himself, he knew he didn't invite her out for a drink so he could get laid. He actually, genuinely was looking forward to talking to her outside of work, to see what she's like when she's not at the rink with all of them. Maybe he wanted her to see what he was like outside of the rink. If he slept with her again, it would just be an added bonus — a really good-looking added bonus that was making him get hard just thinking about her.
Logan took a deep breath to clear his head of the images of Max's naked body underneath him. He still had to spend time with her with her clothes on before he could get that far.
He grabbed his black leather coat, his phone and his keys, and headed down to the parking garage. Sometimes his Range Rover was a bit of an overkill on the roads here, but there was a light dusting of snow on the ground tonight that was a little slick. He still wasn't worried about getting to Max's place on time.
The drive down Woodward Avenue only took about ten minutes and he soon found himself pulling up in front of her building. It was one of those older apartment complexes in Royal Oak that had been built before the area had regentrified. Not too flashy or sleek like the lofts around here, but those usually cost two grand a month in rent and were filled with pretentious people. This seemed like a place that would fit Max. Maybe it would fit him too. Sometimes he thought his building was a little too over-the-top for him. Then he would remind himself that he made a seven-figure salary to play hockey. He had become over-the-top.
Logan walked in the front door and headed for the second floor. Max's apartment wasn't hard to find — two doors from the stairway, just like she said. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down before he quietly knocked on the door.
He heard her footsteps on the other side — the light click of shoes on hardwood. It was giving him ideas that he had to quickly stop.
She opened the door and smiled at him. "Hey," she said quietly.
"Hi."
"You ready to go?"
He nodded nervously. "Yeah, yeah."
"Let me just grab my coat real quick." She stepped out of the way to let him into her place for just a moment as she headed down a small hallway. "I'll be right back."
He nodded and watched her go, tight jeans the same color as his with a cream sweater on. She was wearing black ankle boots that made a small tapping noise across the hardwood floor as she walked away.
The inside of her apartment was as he expected from her. Brown couches and tan walls. Cozy and inviting. He turned to see some framed personal photos on the wall. Kids on a lake in the summer. A fluffy white poodle. A little kid in hockey gear, their back to the camera as they faced an entirely empty sheet of ice. He remembered days like that when he was a kid. He loved those days.
"You ready?"
He turned to see Max standing there with a red wool coat on, her brown hair cascading over her shoulder.
"Yeah." He pointed to the picture on the wall. "Who's the kid in the picture?"
She gave him an apprehensive smile. "That's me."
He turned back at the photo, a new sensation filling him. He couldn't really explain it, but it just felt like she had revealed something important about her, something that she didn't reveal to many people. He knew she had probably played as a kid. It was evident when she would get her skates on for the media skate before their outdoor games or when the team had its season ticket holder events at the arena every few months. But he couldn't ever remember her actually talking about those days.
"That's a good picture of you," he said.
He turned to see her smiling at him. "Thanks." She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "So you ready to go?"
"Lead the way."
She opened the door for him and then followed him out, stuffing her keys in a small purse that she was able to slip into the pocket of her coat. He quietly followed her out of the building, nothing spoken between them. He wondered if maybe she was nervous. He definitely knew he was.
Logan had tried to think this whole thing through. He left the choice of bar up to Max. "Surprise me," he had texted her. But what about all the stuff besides drinking? He had been with a few women so far this year. Not many, but a few. But it was always just a drink and then back to her place. Maybe dinner if it was a crazy night. Back in March, Alex missed a road trip because of an injury and Logan had a night with the hotel room to himself.
But none of those were real dates, and none of those women was Max. Not even close.
