Page 28 of The Offside Rule
Max opened his arms. “There he is.”
Leo laughed and stepped forward, pulling Max into one of those half-hugs hockey guys did when they didn’t want to seem too emotional.
“Been a while,” Leo said.
“You got huge,” Max said, stepping back to look him over. “What the hell were they feeding you at Westfall?”
Leo grinned. “Hunter, good to see you, bro.”
I pulled him in for a hug and clapped him on the back. “Good to see you. Welcome to the Blaze.”
Max patted his shoulder. “Welcome to hell, Baby Karlsson.”
I laughed. “How are your parents handling it?”
Leo shook his head. “Mom cried.”
“Obviously.”
“He keeps calling your dad,” Leo said to me. “Like three times a day.”
“That sounds about right,” I confirmed. Dad and Nils were like brothers.
“And Mom keeps saying now she just needs Theo in Dallas, and she’ll have all of us together.”
Max leaned against the table. “Theo went to Nashville?”
“Yeah. For now.” Leo shrugged. “At least I have Liv here.”
“How is Liv doing?” I asked.
Leo’s mouth twitched. “She’s acting like she owns the Blaze offices already.”
“Liv is working for the Blaze?” Max asked.
“Small office job,” Leo confirmed. “She says it’s admin for now, but she wants PR. She has a plan.”
“Of course she has a plan,” I said. “Liv always has a plan.”
Max looked around. “Is she here today? I haven’t seen her without braces.”
“She got her braces off like six years ago, and yeah, she’s upstairs somewhere,” Leo said. “She told me not to embarrass her.”
Leo laughed and glanced down at his clipboard. “I’m already lost, so I’m off to a strong start.”
“You’re doing fine,” a female voice said from behind us.
My body knew her voice before my brain had time to prepare.
Catherine.
I turned, and there she was in navy scrubs with her hair pulled back, a laptop balanced on a rolling cart beside her and a pen clipped to her pocket. She wasn’t dressed up. She wasn’t trying to look hot. Which made it worse.
Max smiled first. “Cousin.”
Catherine’s eyes flicked to him, and her face warmed. “Max.”
“You look official,” Max said.
