Page 185 of Puck Me Secretly

The players were done warming up and now stood beside the benches, drinking water and waiting while the officials rolled out the red carpet for the anthem singer.

Max stepped on the ice and skated around our half of the ice. It took the crowd four seconds to recognize him. The entire place fell silent, so quiet, you could hear the blade of his skates scrape the ice.

My hands covered my mouth, and I held my breath.

Dear God, please let them be kind.

Then, one lone voice screamed from the blue section. “We love you, Logan!”

A heartbeat later, the entire stadium erupted. Screaming, clapping, wild cheering. It was so loud, I couldn’t hear myself think.

Max kept his head down as he circled the ice.

Homemade signs lifted in the air.

WE LOVE YOU, LOGAN.

I’M 33’s BIGGEST FAN

MAX LOGAN, YOU’RE OUR HERO

The wild cheering erupted into a chant. Together, 19,000 fans chanted his name.

“Logan. Logan. Logan. Logan.”

He lifted his face to the crowd, and a smile started on his face. The frenzy only heightened when he acknowledged them with a beautiful smile.

And in that moment, I knew everything would be okay.

Two weeks later,Max and I stood on the walkway of my parents’ house.

“How are you doing?” I squeezed his hand.

His expression was pensive. “You know winning over the parents has never been my strong suit.”

“They’re the ones who should try to win you over.”

He gave a half laugh. “Do you think your mom will like the flowers?”

Max had insisted on buying Mom the most gorgeous bouquet I’d ever seen. “She loves flowers.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay, here goes nothing.”

Initially, it was awkward. I could tell my parents were walking on eggshells, trying not to step on either of our toes. The four of ussat in the living room while a chef prepared dinner for us in the kitchen.

Dad cleared his throat. “We have something we’d like to say.”

Mom reached over and took Dad’s hand.

Max sat there, completely silent. Together we waited.

Dad took a deep breath. “I knew your father, Max. It was my first year as the owner of the Wolves and Garrett Walters was a phenomenal player, but he was out of control. Sharon, your mom, came and told me what Garrett had done to her. How he had attacked her. I’m ashamed of how I handled that situation. I should have called the police. Instead, I paid your mom money if she’d walk away and not report Garrett. The cup was more important than a young woman’s life, and I’ve never forgiven myself.”

I sucked in my breath. Max sat beside me, so still it scared me.

Dad continued. “When Garrett next attacked Rory’s mom, the true magnitude of what I had done hit me. When Rory’s mom found out what I had done to your mom, she threatened to leave me. We fired Garrett and worked to find your Mom to make amends, but it was too late. We couldn’t locate her anywhere.” He cleared his throat. “I did not know that she was pregnant.”

Max blinked but didn’t move a muscle.

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