Page 88 of Out Of Time

“What’s that?” he asked.

“They know what it’s like to be an NHL player, I don’t. I can’t even imagine how hard you worked to get there, but they can, Jack Brown can—especially with him being a goalie. They’re going to know how to console you in ways I can’t even fathom, Max.”

“How do you always know what to say?” he asked.

Remi let out a long sigh on the other end, and then playfully said, “Because I’m fucking awesome.”

Max laughed. “This is true.”

“So, should I just head back to my place and call it a night?” she asked.

“I was actually thinking you might come with me?”

“You don’t think it’ll be weird? He might want you all to himself.”

Max took a deep breath, and then gently reminded her, “I can’t drive myself, Rem, it’ll be dark. I’m sorry to ask. I can just call an Uber.”

“No,” she nearly shouted, “no Uber. I’m sorry. I just—it just slipped my mind.”

“It’s okay, I don’t expect you to be my personal driver. It’s more than that really. I think I want you with me, I want to introduce you to someone I know. I want my team to know you.”

“Okay. I would love to come meet him. And Max?”

“Yeah?”

“Driving with you has become one of my favorite things to do, please don’t ever feel like it’s a burden.”

“That’s going to take some work,” he admitted.

“I know, but I’ll keep reminding you.”

“See you soon?” he asked.

“I have to go home and get ready first; I cleaned four houses today. I smell like pine sol, bleach, and sweat.”

“Mmmm,” he said, “my favorite smells.”

***

Max held Remi’s hand as they walked into the restaurant, letting her take the lead. On the drive over she shared with him that she was nervous about meeting his teammate, and ultimately the man that would take Max’s place in front of the net. She said she couldn’t be sure if she resented him or not, and while Max didn’t admit it to her, he shared the same feelings. He didn’t want her to resent Brown just as much as he didn’t want to resent his teammate, but Remi was allowed to have big emotions in all of this too. Even if she was new to all of this, she was allowed to mourn the end of his career. She had fallen in love with him, claiming that part had come easy to her, and with loving him, came loving hockey. She told him she would miss watching him play and that she hadn’t realized that until now—now that it was all so final.

The host showed them to their table and Max was shocked to find his team captain, Patrick Carter, there as well. Both men stood and brought Max in for a hug, their faces inviting, but he didn’t miss the underlying hints of sadness.

“Guys, this is Remi, my girlfriend and personal driver,” he said, only half joking.

Remi shook both of their hands and handled their introductions with ease.

“I’m Patrick Carter, sorry for inviting myself,” he said with a warm smile that showed a missing front tooth.

“That’s okay,” Remi said. “It’s a double date now,” she teased with a wink.

“And I’m Jack Brown. Thanks for joining us.”

Remi gave both of them a single-dimple smile and thanked them for having her.

“We’re happy you came,” Carter said to Remi, “Max is kind of a closed book. It’s nice to finally see into his world. To know that he has someone caring for him.”

They all took their seats and placed drink orders with the server.

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