Page 60 of Yo Ho Ho
Logan could see her hands at her sides beginning to curl up into fists. He could see the frustration on her face. He wondered what kind of turmoil was going on in her head. He kind of felt the same way. Sure, he understood her whole "sticking to the rules" routine, but he also understood that he cared about her and wanted to be with her. To hell with her rules.
"Please don't make this any harder, Logan."
"Fuck that!" he yelled at her. "I'm going to make this hard, because I'm not going to just let you go and walk away."
"I wish you would."
He took a deep breath and stared at her. "Why? What if I don't want to walk away from someone I care about?"
"I have to figure out what to do next with my life, and I can't continue to be a hockey journalist if I'm Logan Moore's girlfriend."
"So you're choosing your job over me?"
There it was.
The apartment filled with an uncomfortable silence that stretched out between them. He could only stare at her as she ducked her head again, wiping tears away from her cheeks with the sleeve of her hoodie. He could feel his chest tighten as he looked at her. He could tell she was in pain, but he was in pain too and it was because she was pushing him away.
How did this all go wrong? A few days ago, she was moaning under him as he made love to her, making sure he paid attention to every inch of her skin, every sigh from her lips. But then somehow a switch had been flipped. That damn editor of hers at the arena said she couldn't take their gifts, and she started to over think things and take it all to extremes.
The gift from the team was forbidden so that meant Logan was forbidden.
He heard her sniffle from across the room, but she still didn't dare to look at him.
"This hurts me as much as it hurts you, Logan."
"Then don't do it," he begged.
She shook her head and wiped another tear from his face. "I have to. I'm sorry."
He nodded and took a step back. "I'm sorry too."
He took another step back and another. His eyes were still on her, but his feet were pulling him away. He waited with each step he took, waited for Max to look up at him or tell him to stop. But she just stood there, stoically staring down at the carpet.
He could feel his throat tighten as he tried to swallow it all down. The anger, the sadness. Maybe even the love he had for her. He wasn't sure if that's what that feeling was. He just knew it was a feeling that he had never had with anyone else before. It was a feeling just for Max, and it was going to stay there in that apartment. He couldn't take it with him.
Logan finally backed up enough to have his hand close to the handle of her front door. There was nowhere else for him to go but out. His fingers lingered over the doorknob, not knowing exactly what to do. He saw the gift bag still sitting on the kitchen table. He wasn't going to take it with him. If she wanted to make this hard on them, he could make it hard on them too. She would have to decide what to do with the bag. Throw it out, drink the champagne by herself, rip the jersey to pieces. Hell, she could throw the puck in the trash for all he cared at this point.
He looked back at Max, who was still standing there in the middle of her living room, and he waited for her to say something or do something or tell him not to leave. She didn't do any of that.
He stared at the door in front of him, his hand finally gripping the doorknob so he could leave.
"Goodbye, Max."
He took a deep breath and walked out.
The cold night air cleared his head as he stepped out of her apartment building. It seemed fitting to have the weather be so cruel after what Max had done to him. She wanted to be a writer and was going to fight for what she wanted at all costs, but this time the cost was their relationship.
Logan knew it was wrong, but as he started his car and pulled out of the parking spot, he realized that maybe she was right. Maybe it was a good thing that Max wasn't going to cover the team anymore. At least now he knew he wouldn't have to see her and have her break his heart all over again.
Chapter 21
Considering how horrible her year was, especially the past month, Max wasn't surprised to be spending the last moments of it being miserable in a bar in Detroit. She stayed until the very end when security finally told them it was time to go and locked the doors of theHerald. Max had one last box to pack up that day and picked up a copy of the last edition of the paper. She wasn't alone as many of the staff came in to commiserate together before finally having to say goodbye to the newsroom that had been their home for so long.
That's how all of them ended up at Harry's. The two business reporters got drunk and were talking about the economics of the dying newspaper industry. A few of the younger reporters were lamenting the loss of their first jobs. The sports guys were sitting around reminiscing about the championships they had covered in the city.
"I remember looking down from our office as the victory parade came around, and I saw Max down there, interviewing fans for her story," Amanda said.
Max smiled and took another sip of her beer. She was still on her first one and had barely touched it. What was the point? She remembered things like covering the parade, but she would probably enjoy those memories more when she had some distance from them. When it didn't hurt anymore to think about her time at the paper.
