Page 37 of A Little Too Forward

We were good.

Well, he was good. I was a wreck. Overthinking to the max. Figuratively and literally.

Max and the team are back in the city, but after tonight’s game, we’ll head up to Barrie with Max to get the last of the footage we need and one final interview. It feels really bittersweet that my time with Max will be over so soon.

It’s actually been nice spending time with him, getting to know the man he’d become. Just like old times.

“You seem really fixated on the Zamboni,” a voice says from just behind me, making me jump.

“Oh, Jesus. You scared me.” With a hand on my chest, I quickly glance at the woman who magically appeared at my side as I get my heart rate back under control. She’s a very pretty woman, blond and dressed nicely in a team jersey and tight white jeans. I’ve met some of the other hockey wives and girlfriends, but this woman is new.

“Name’s Kate, actually.”

I stare at her blankly for a moment before my brain—and the joke—kicks in. My laugh is a little strained at being caught but quickly turns genuine.

“I’m Sabrina,” I say, extending my hand. Kate takes it, pumping twice before we both turn back to the ice.

“I know who you are. Tommy showed me some of your reporting highlights after he was interviewed by you.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember interviewing a Tommy…” I let my voice trail off as I think back, drawing a complete blank.

“Coach Taylor. He’s my husband.”

“Tomás Taylor is your husband?”

An unbelievable laugh escapes my lips. I cannot imagine anyone calling the formidable Coach Tomás Taylor “Tommy.” The man looks like he could be stranded in the middle of the forest and make it work, building and killing things with his bare hands.

And this woman beside me calls him Tommy.

“You looked shocked. Were you crushing on him and didn’t know he was married?”

“Oh my God, no!” I say immediately, not catching the twinkle in her eyes until I’m thoroughly mortified. “You were joking,” I exhale. With the way my heart rate keeps going up and down dramatically, I may have a cardiovascular event tonight.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it. You seemed like you needed to be jolted out of your thoughts.”

“So you played the jealous wife card? Brutal.”

She shrugs, a wide smile on her face. “Worked, didn’t it?”

I have to hand it to her—it was a genius move. Sharing a smile and a laugh with Kate, I look toward the scoreboard clock. The game should be starting in ten minutes.

“Were you thinking about Max?” Kate asks out of nowhere.

“I’m always thinking about Max.” The words are out of my mouth before I even know what I’m saying. Stunned at my blunt honesty, I twist toward her, trying to take them back immediately. “I mean—”

“I get it,” she starts, not letting me dig myself into an even bigger hole. “I remember very well the exact conflicting emotions you’re going through. And trying to deny them.” She tilts her head in my direction, giving me a sympathetic look.

“Max and I are just friends.”

Kate nods. “Tommy and I were just friends too. Then high school sweethearts. Then, well, kismet. We were meant to be. And once we stopped fighting it, stopped making mountains of every single molehill, everything fell into place.”

I’m a little taken aback by Kate’s transparency with me. I mean, we just met, but here she is, giving out monumental life advice. Coach Taylor has been happily married for a decade now—it was something he mentioned in an interview not too long ago—so it would stand to reason that Kate knows what she’s talking about.

“You make it sound easy,” I confess to her, letting myself be utterly vulnerable for a moment.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it is. You just have to mute that voice in your head that’s telling you all the things that could go wrong.”

The lights dim, and loud music begins to play throughout the arena. Kate reaches out and gives my hand a squeeze before walking to the other end of the suite to take her seat. My eyes instantly fall on Max as he skates around the ice, focused on keeping his muscles warm.

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