I know I have to make it right. He did a nice thing, and no one deserves to be treated that way. I look at my sister, realization dawning on her face that I’m going after him. "Pay the bill and meet me around back."
I slide out of the booth, hightailing it toward the front door. My hand collides with the handle at the same time my shoulder slams into it, and the door flies open. I look left, no Max. I look right, no Max. Finally, I spot him across the street, sitting on a bench near the center of the square. I jog, as much as one can in slide sandals, until I’m standing right in front of him. Max doesn’t look up from his phone, and I’m suddenly tongue-tied.
After a few moments pass, he lifts his chin. "Did you come over here to give me the evil eye, or what are we doing?"
My mouth opens and closes a few times before I motion with my hand for him to scoot over. I sit down next to him, turning my body sideways so he can see my face. "I’m sorry." I don’t know if it’s a good idea, but I reach out and grab his hand from where it’s resting on his thigh and give it a light squeeze. Electricity runs up my arm, not like the little shock that you get when folding towels fresh from the dryer, but the kind you feel in your bones. "There’s no excuse for my being rude. I really appreciate your helping me out. But I feel like I should explain."
Max pulls his hand out of mine, shifting so he’s also somewhat sideways and staring right at me. "Okay."
"I have sort of an important job, maybe not to most, but to me and the families I work with." I fidget, tucking my hair behindmy ears and blowing out a breath. "I worked really hard to get where I am, but I’ve been trying to expand the program, and it’s been a lot. Last week, I sorta had um…"
"Had what?" He urges me to continue.
"I had a panic attack." It was hard to admit it to Howie because I was embarrassed. Yet saying it out loud to Max, I don’t feel the same shame. It’s odd, maybe because we aren’t really friends, or he doesn’t know me that well. "My boss made me take a leave of absence. He said I need to find balance in my life, learn to live, you know. It’s whatever, but I feel like I’m sort of spiraling out of control, and when you came in with the keys, having my car without my knowing. I guess it felt like one more thing that was happeningtome."
This time, Max is the one grabbing my hand. When his fingers trace my palm, goosebumps erupt on my skin.
"I actually understand that more than you know. And I’m sorry too. I really meant it to be a nice gesture, one that meant we could be friends. But I see how it made you feel, and I apologize." There’s such sincerity in his voice. His words don’t seem calculated or manipulative—he seems genuinely good, and that in itself is foreign to me.
My dad abandoned us soon after I was born, and since then, trusting people hasn’t come easy. Couple that with being in the professional sports world where anyone and everyone wants to use you for something—I don’t make it a habit of letting people in.
"Can we call a truce?"
Max grins, still running his thumb over my palm. "Only if we can make a secret handshake while we do it."
"Nope. Nice knowing ya, Max." I push to stand, pulling my hands to my sides.
He follows suit, chuckling to himself. "Sadie, wait. Let me give you my number, just in case you need anything while you’re in town. You never know when you might need a friend."
"Ugh, fine. But are you always this… this—" I swirl my arm in the air toward him.
"Lovable? Hilarious? Devastatingly handsome?" He slides the screen open on his phone and opens a blank text message, then holds it out to me. "The answer is yes to all of the above. Now, please send yourself a message so you can store my number."
I take the phone, type out a quick hello, input my number, and hit send. My phone buzzes in my pocket as I hand his back to him.
"See ya around, Max."
I cross the street and head down the sidewalk toward the back of the bar.
"Did you kiss and make up?" Mal coos as I turn the corner and walk into the alley behind Union Tavern. She must have been spying as she’s pinned up against the edge of the brick.
"Has anyone ever told you that you’re insufferable?" I smile at her and roll my eyes.
"So I shouldn’t tell Seb that you chased after Max O’Reilly tonight?" My sister asks as if she’s forgotten all about the reason I followed him, that I had to apologize.
I scoff at her lightly. "Yeah, actually, did I forget to tell you we’re best friends now? Practically connected at the hip."
She looks at me out of the corner of her eye. "You know, I heard something about him recently." She pulls me close, slinging an arm around my shoulders. "He quit playing hockey."
"I know. There’s a thing called the Internet, have you heard of it?"
She points her finger at me. "You like him."
"I do not. He’s my friend, sorta."
She shakes her head and bounces on the balls of her feet, releasing me. "Nope, you think he’s cute. And don’t even act like you weren’t fantasizing about those hands. I saw you." She twirls on one foot, spinning in a circle toward my car, the same way Magnolia does when she’s excited.
"You should ask him to hang out."