Page 32 of The Chase

Max sipped on her wine silently as she observed me and my sister having a stare-off.

“Hey, are you hungry?” I asked her.

She nodded.

“Come on. I’ll take you to get something to eat.”

“Smooth,” my sister and Benny mouthed behind Max’s head.

Max smiled at me. “Can I finish my wine first?”

I laughed. “Absolutely. Unless…you do dairy, right?”

She nodded. “Yes. What are you thinking, pizza?”

“Definitely. Calls for a celebration. We won a game!”

Benny barked out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s kind of our job, dude.”

I pulled out my phone and placed an order for a couple of pies. Like normal, we had a bunch of people over after a game. Metzy and his girl Lacey were over in the corner chatting up Hallsy and his girl Mia, and two of our rookies were milling about chatting with girls I didn’t recognize. If food came, everyone would eat it.

My sister slid off of Benny’s lap, and she dragged him into the other room. She did that on purpose to give Max and me some space. I moved onto the couch beside Max and put my arm over the back of it.

“They’re so cute,” Max said with a small smile across her pretty face.

I ran a hand through my hair. “Ha! You didn’t know them when they were at each other’s throats.”

She gave me a shocked look. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, they hated each other for years. Actually, I think it was more my sister than Benny.”

“Gosh, why? Benny’s the nicest guy. I think he and Noah might be in competition for the Lady Byng.”

I laughed. “I think you’re right. Noah’s such a Canadian stereotype! When they first met, Benny took one look at my sister and went, ‘holy shit, are your tits for real?’ And then they fought like cats and dogs for three years.”

She looked at me in horror. “I don’t believe you!”

“It’s true! I don’t think he meant to say it out loud.”

She laughed into her wineglass. I loved the sound of her laugh, and I wanted to keep making that sound come out of her.

“Does this count as another date?” she asked after she swallowed her last sip of wine.

I winked at her. “If you want it to, baby girl.”

She rolled her eyes. “Will you stop?”

I shook my head, making her laugh again.

We sat together and made awkward small talk until my phone buzzed with an alert from the front desk about the pizza. I walked over to the door and opened it. I paid the delivery guy and then walked back into the kitchen. I put the pizza boxes on the island and swatted Metzy’s hand away when he grabbed a slice of plain pizza.

“Leave the plain for my girl,” I said.

Max stood in the kitchen and looked for a place to put her empty wineglass. Dinah plucked it out of her hand and handed her a plate. “Here. Vegetarian?” she asked.

Max nodded. “Five years.”

“Nice! I was vegetarian for eight. I’m Dinah—Noah’s girlfriend.” Dinah put her hand out, and Max shook it..