Page 54 of Yo Ho Ho
Max gave him a small laugh and headed back to their spot in the press box. Barry had come with her before to games — maybe two or three. Since he oversaw the entire paper, it was rare for him to have a chance to come to the arena with her. But he showed up for a game or two during the team's playoff runs, and he was here when the Pirates retired the number of their former captain.
Barry had decided that he wanted to watch her work this last game, a rare Sunday matinee. Max thought it would be nice to have him there. After all, there wouldn't be another time to them to do this. They sat quietly and watched as the players skated around, Detroit trying to kill the last few minutes on the clock. During a commercial break, she was looking over her notes when she heard Bob's voice come over the arena's public address system.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Detroit Pirates would like to you to turn your attention to the press box."
Max looked up in surprise, only to see her face staring back at her from the big screen.
"We would like to acknowledge the fine work of Maxine Quinn, who is covering her last Pirates game for theDetroit Herald."
Max watched as the fans stood up and turned to her. They were smiling and cheering, clapping and waving at her. She looked down at the ice and saw the entire Detroit Pirates bench tapping their sticks. It was an amazing honor for those guys to do that for her. She picked out Logan from the rest of the team, his dark scruff unable to hide his huge smile as he stared up at her from way down on the ice. Max could only stand and wave to the crowd, a small thanks for all the times they had read her work or encouraged her to write more.
"We're going to miss you, Max," she heard Bob say in his announcer voice to the crowd.
She sat as the cheers died down and the horn blared to let the teams know that they had to get ready to play again. Logan lingered a little on the ice, staring up at her as she looked back at him. Then he tightened the strap on his helmet and skated to center ice to finish the game.
"That was really nice of the team to do that for you," Barry said wistfully from his spot next to her.
"Yeah."
That was all Max could say. Anything more would push her over an emotional cliff again. It was better to just smile and nod, take a deep breath, and get back to work. She would have plenty of time to cry in a few days.
The media stood outside the locker room, waiting for the all-clear to come so they could go in and get quotes for their story. It was taking a bit longer than usual, which was fine because a matinee game meant that Max had a few more hours until deadline. She didn't have to rush like most days so she could enjoy her last game story for the paper.
Barry had come down with her to reminisce with Bob. The two of them had worked at a local television station before Barry made the jump to the newspaper and Bob decided to try announcing. Max let them have their time, especially because this was really a goodbye for Barry. He has quietly told a few people — Bob included — that the paper going under was a sign that he needed to finally retire.
While they were chatting, Max was with her usual crew talking about the game and breaking down some of the key points.
"The defense was definitely hot today," Charlie said. "I don't know who lit a fire under Logan's ass, but he's been looking sharp the last few games."
Well, there was definitely something interesting about Logan's ass, especially the way it felt under Max's fingers as he moved over her that night in her apartment. She had so much to deal with since then with Christmas and then the newspaper, she hadn't realized how much she had missed Logan's ass, or really how much she had missed Logan. It wasn't just his body — although he had a great one. It was also sitting on her couch just talking. It was the fact that he remembered that she liked vanilla lattes or the way his lips gently brushed against hers.
"Max!"
"Huh?"
She looked up to see a few of the media guys staring at her. Charlie in particular had a look of worry on his face.
"You OK, Quinn?" he asked. "You spaced out on us for a second there."
"Yeah, yeah, fine," she stammered. "I guess it's finally hitting me that this is my last game."
She had to give herself credit for that excuse. To be fair, she had been thinking about that earlier in the day. This was her last game, or at least the last game she would cover in the foreseeable future. She still had no idea what she was going to do next except take a week off before she really started digging into finding a job.
Becca finally stepped out of the locker room and propped open the door for the media to file in. Most of the players were in their uniforms or had taken off their jerseys. Max took a quick glance around and realized none of them had left yet to get a shower, which was a little unusual for right after the game. There were at least a few guys she knew who would duck out to avoid the media as soon as they could.
Jake started to set up his camera gear near Logan's locker. Max figured he was going to try and get a quote about the defenseman's goal. She decided to hang back a bit and wait for the television guys to get their video before she pushed her way forward for a quote or two.
Next to Logan's stall, she heard the loud booming voice of the captain of the team.
"Hey, before you guys start asking questions, can I have your attention for a minute?" Jordan asked.
This was unusual. In fact, Max couldn't remember ever seeing Jordan silence an entire locker room — including the media — for anything. She opened her notebook and got her pen ready, assuming he was about to say something that she would need to quote in her game story later.
"Thanks, everyone," Jordan said as the room quieted down. "I just wanted to say something really quick on behalf of the team. As you all know, the players have a small sheriff's badge that we like to give to our best player after each game. Today, for example, that honor went to Logan Moore for his awesome game-winning goal."
There were a few hoots and cheers from the players as Logan proudly held up the cheap little piece of gold plastic that the team had decided to rally behind this year. He turned and deliberately found Max in the crowd, giving her a warm smile before finally sitting back down.
"But we decided we wanted to give out one more." Jordan held up another gold star pin in his hand. "Now first, let me just say that this cost Sam a whole five dollars from some toy store somewhere so you know it's a big deal."
