Page 68 of One More Chance
“Excuse me?” Charlotte said.
“Yeah, I know what you think about my brother and it’s not true. I hate gossip, but man, you two really keep messing up.”
“Quit beating around the bush, Freddie. Tell us what you mean,” Lauren interjected.
Freddie let out a giant dramatic sigh and took a swig of his draft beer. “We went to Serena Cruise’s apartment yesterday.”
“Oh, that’s rich,” Charlotte threw her hands up in the air.
“It’s not what you think. Will you let me finish?” Freddie shook his head. “We went there to see if Logan could call off his agreement with her.”
“Agreement? What agreement?” Lauren said.
“If you’d let me talk you would know by now,” Freddie smiled, but Charlotte could see his exasperation at the constant cross-examination by her sister. “He agreed to be seen in public with Serena in return for a donation to his charity. When you came back into the picture, he tried to call the whole thing off but before that could happen, someone decided to pour a three-hundred-dollar bottle of wine on top of a five-thousand-dollar dress.”
“Wait, so you’re telling us that Logan isn’t dating this model.” Lauren’s hands gripped her bag of popcorn tightly.
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you. He’d never even met her before yesterday.”
Charlotte slid down in her seat. She couldn’t believe it.
“We went there to meet her in person. She agreed to annul the agreement, with a few very expensive terms of course, and that’s how that whole scandal went away. Logan made it go away, along with paying almost fifty grand to buy off some local kids who saw you two at the hot springs.”
He had done two nice things, over the top things, for her and she had just told him to go to hell. If she had kept her cool and just talked to him instead of freaking out, this whole thing wouldn’t have happened. “Oh, my god.” She buried her face in her hands.
“Yeah,” Freddie said. “You two are idiots, and I think that you owe him an apology. A pretty big one.”
“I’ve gotta go,” Charlotte said. She stood up, just as the audience erupted in a cheer. The Bobcats had scored a short-handed goal. She took the stairs two at a time as she bolted out of the private box and into the main arena.
“Charlotte, wait,” Lauren yelled, but Charlotte couldn’t hear her over the crowd.
Charlotte received a few sideways glances as she sprinted around the top of the arena, the clicking of her heels drowned out by the cheers and groans of the collective crowd. She pulled open the heavy doors and darted through the concession area, dodging food lines and random fans. Her hair was swinging back and forth, and her heart was thumping against her chest. She stopped and looked at the main exit of the arena. It would only take three steps and she could be outside, away from all the drama and Logan. She took off running, but didn’t alter her course, she focused instead on the doors to the other side of the rink. The adrenaline coursed through her veins as she pulled the heavy doors open and sprinted along the corridor behind the nosebleed seats.
Her breaths were coming hard and fast as she nimbly ran down the stadium stairs. Her progress was stopped abruptly as she reached the gold seats, running smack dab into the front of a giant man wearing a yellow security coat.
“Ticket, Miss?” he looked at her with a smirk on his face.
Charlotte pulled her VIP sponsor pass out of her coat and saw the recognition alight in the man’s eyes. “My apologies, Miss O’Hare. Continue on, but please, Miss, just walk.”
Charlotte nodded as he stepped aside. She smoothed down her flyaway hair, pulled her shoulders back and nonchalantly took an empty seat behind the players’ bench. Logan’s back was inches away from her, behind a thick layer of puck dented plexiglass. If it weren’t for the almost invisible barrier between them, she could’ve reached out and run her fingers through the waves at the nape of his neck.
Everyone else’s eyes were focused on the game, but all Charlotte could see was Logan. The sounds of the arena dissipated as she watched him, admiring the way that his players looked at him. He was a respected man. While she loved his outdoorsy Chance Rapids style, the man could fill out a suit. With his wide back and V-shaped torso a dream for any tailor.
A warmth spread through her body as she watched him. She had kept her guard up with him, like the glass between them now was. Invisible, but still there and it had ruined them as a couple. If she was going to be with Logan, if he would take her back, she was going to have to trust someone with all of her being. Which was something she wasn’t sure she knew how to do. But watching Logan, she realized that the missing piece to her puzzle was within her grasp, she knew that she had to try.
Charlotte jumped as the buzzer interrupted her thoughts. The second period was over, and Logan’s team filed off the bench and headed towards the dressing room. Charlotte raised her fist to bang on the glass but lowered it back into her lap. She wanted to climb over the glass. Hell, she wanted to smash the glass to get to her man but knew that he was in his element. His focus was his team, not her. The last thing he needed was some crazy lady trying to draw his attention away from his team’s most important game of the year.
Then it happened. Charlotte saw Logan studying the VIP box. She followed his gaze and could see Freddie, Lauren, and Tabitha there, as plain as day. He froze and slowly started to turn his head. His body followed and Charlotte held her breath as she realized he was turning all the way around. As his blue eyes met her brown ones, she smiled meekly and raised her hand to wave at him.
He smiled back.
She scooted forward on her seat and put her hand against the glass. She mouthed, “I’m sorry,” and then, “I love you.” She felt the tears stinging in the corner of her eyes. She had never felt more vulnerable than within those few milliseconds before he responded.
He pointed to his ear and then to the player’s corridor. Charlotte nodded and stood up to make her way to the entrance. The same security guard she had crashed into earlier opened the door. He smiled and shook his head at her as she walked through.
Charlotte could see the players exiting the ice on the jumbotron, the cameras following their journey off the ice. She was so close she could smell the sweat and ambition on the jerseys as the giant young men walked by in their skates; followed closely behind by Logan.
“Hi,” she whispered and leaned against the concrete wall.
