Epilogue
Maddie
I hurried to the washrooms at the back of Ranchmans. I was Crystal’s ride—I’d parked my car on the street earlier—and if I took too long, she was probably going to get roped into some game with Rory and Axel and I’d never get home before midnight.
I wasn’t a total stick in the mud, but I was taking advanced calculus, and my professor barely spoke English. That meant a lot more textbook deciphering than I was used to.
I rounded the corner and gasped as I slammed into what felt like a brick wall. My hands shot up to steady myself, and I froze when my brain came back online. Soft cotton. Definitely not wall-ish.
I looked up to find my palms pressed against a firm chest. A tall, firm chest. His shirt was baby blue, not that it mattered, except that this specific colour was always the one I chose in my dirty fantasies. And . . . that face? It might have appeared right along with it once or twice.
“Maddie.” He said my name like a statement, not a question. Chase knew who I was?
I yanked back like I'd touched a hot stove. "Sorry, I—" My words stuck in my throat. What the hell was I supposed to say? I hadn't seen him in over six years. Or, rather, he hadn’t seen me. I’d seen him plenty sitting on the Outlaws bench. One could say that was mostly what I’d been seeing lately.
“It’s been a while.” His expression was maddeningly even and composed.
“Yeah.” I let out a hopefully-not-obviously-nervous laugh. “I’m surprised you recognized me.”
Chase’s lip twitched. “You’ve definitely grown up.”
I grimaced, hating that I suddenly sounded like the kid sister I never wanted to be to him. “So have you.” Hmm, nope. Based on the sudden furrow in his brow, that was not the right move. I pressed on, hoping to bury that comment with a new one. “You’re coaching now?” Damn it. Now he knew that I’d seen him. That I knew he was here on campus and I’d never stopped by to say hello.
“Yeah. I didn’t realize you attended Douglas.” He shoved his hand into his pocket. “You still a math whiz?”
My eyes widened. He remembered that? “I still love it.”
“You tutored me, remember? You were three grades below me and knew the material better than my teacher.”
I played that off like I hadn’t been thinking about our time at the kitchen counter every day since he showed up on the Outlaws bench. Somehow, my brain decided this was the perfect moment to announce this fact. “I had such a crush on you back then.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “You did?”
My cheeks heated. “Yes. You had real cigarettes, a girlfriend, you played hockey, and I was a math nerd.”
His grin widened. “Right, who was I dating then?”
“The fact that you can’t remember kind of punctuates my point.” It was Melody Sanchez. I considered having a voodoo doll made of her over the summer of ‘88, but didn’t have much follow through.
Chase chuckled. “Yeah. Fair point.”
I motioned to the ladies’ room, and Chase moved to the side. “It was nice seeing you again.”
“You, too.” I walked past him and was about to push through the door when he said, “Do you always come to the games?”
I looked back. “Do you always come to the bar after with your players?”
Chase looked amused. “Are you judging me, Maddie?”
I held up my fingers, showing just a smidge. He laughed out loud. “Maybe one of these days, we can catch up.”
My heart lodged in my throat. Chase was four years older than me. In middle school, that was a veritable lifetime. Now? Twenty-four to my twenty didn’t seem all that bad. But dating your sibling? Dating a member of the coaching staff? No matter how progressive people were in the 1990’s, I was pretty sure those were still two widely frowned upon scenarios.
“If you need calculus help, let me know.” I pushed the door to the washroom open and stepped inside.