LOLITA! I studied her. Damn but she was cute. Behind her, I could see reporters watching us talk.
“We should get out of here. Would you like to come with me?”
We got into the car. I didn’t know where to go, so I told the driver to take us home.
We remained quiet as the car moved through traffic. I smiled at her. She smiled back.
“When did you arrive in Vancouver?”
“This morning.”
“Were you able to get in touch with Max?”
She shook her head. “I saw the news, and I didn’t think. I found a flight and came straight here, but now I don’t know what to do.”
That made two of us.
“We’ll sort it out,” I promised. I was great at making a bunch of promises I wasn’t sure I could keep.
When we pulled up to my family home, she stood in the driveway and stared with a slack jaw up at the house. “You live here?”
“I live with my parents, but no one’s home.”
She followed me into the house, her eyes wandering over the elaborate staircase. I led her into the kitchen.
“Would you like something to eat or drink?”
“Maybe some fruit?”
“Take a seat,” I instructed her. I pulled some strawberries out of the fridge and sliced them onto a plate.
“You’re as pretty as Max said you were.”
My knife paused. “He talked about me?”
“All the time.”
That took me off guard. I didn’t even know where to begin this conversation.
Her voice sounded soft. “Do you know where he is?”
I bit my lip. “He’s upset about being fired from the team and getting arrested. He’s not talking right now.”
“He always told me that Vancouver was his last chance to be a hockey player.”
Our eyes met. I placed the plate in front of her and walked around the island to sit next to her.
“You said you wanted to talk?”
She ignored the fruit, and her big eyes searched my face. “I used to live in Minnesota.”
I figured as much.
“I was a waitress at a popular bar that all the hockey players came into. They came in like a pack and whatever they wanted they got. Girls flocked. There was lots of booze. Those guys knew how to party.”
I knew what she was describing. “Go on.”
“As a waitress, I flirted with the players. It was part of the scene. Everyone knows the more you flirt, the more money you make. One night, my shift ended early, and I walked into the back parking lot to get to my car.”
I didn’t want to hear this. I really didn’t.
“He came out of nowhere. He told me I was a tease, and that I wanted it. I fought him off, but he was too big and too strong.”
I reached out and grabbed her hand.
Tears fell down her cheeks. “When he was done, I threatened to go to the police and he told me that if I told anyone he’d find me and kill me. Then he hit me so hard he knocked me out. He left me lying there, on the pavement, with my skirt up around my waist. When I came to, Max was bending over me.”
Holy shit.
“Max was gentle. I was scared of him, but he talked in such a quiet voice. He asked if he could help and then he carried me to his car and took me to the hospital. The doctors ran tests and confirmed that someone had raped me and they also did a DNA test. I was too frightened to reveal who did that to me.”
“Oh Lolita.”
“I didn’t know Max other than from seeing him in the bar, but he sat with me all night. He didn’t pressure me to tell him who it was. He sat with me. I was a mess. A complete mess. I wanted to run away.”
“What happened?”
“Max happened. I didn’t have enough money to move back home to Idaho, but Max bought me a flight. A week later, a professional moving van delivered all my stuff to my parent’s home.”
“Oh wow.”
“I couldn’t work. I couldn’t leave the house, but Max phoned me every night. He felt like my lifeline. That summer, when I found out I was pregnant, he flew to my parent’s place and spent the weekend holding my hand while I cried. And he told me about his mom and his story and it made me realize that this baby is innocent and now I want to be a good mom to my baby,” she rubbed her belly.
Tears clouded my voice. “You’re going to be a great mom.”
“Max set me up with a counselor and he paid for everything. He’s been here for me every step of the way.”
This story about Max didn’t surprise me. That sounded like the Max I knew. “I’m glad he was there for you.”
“I felt so bad when he got into a fight over this. That caused so much trouble for him. It’s the reason he had to leave his team. I know that helping me has cost him so much.”
I froze. “What do you mean?”
“When he found out who raped me, he beat him up.”
Time didn’t slow down, it fucking stopped. “Are you talking about the fight with him and Joseph Flanynk?”
She flinched. “Yes. Did you hear about it?”
The entire world heard about it. “Yes.”
“I guess Joseph was bragging about it, about how I begged him to give it to me real hard and Max lost it.”
We stared at each other. Here it was. The real reason Max had beat up Joseph Flanynk. “No one else knows who did this to you?”
“Up until now, it’s just been Max, but he said you were a trustworthy person. He told me you’re the only one he trusts in Vancouver.”
“You can trust me.”
She stared at her hands in her lap. “I want to help.”
That she wanted to help Max made me love her. “I’m not sure what you can do.”
“I can’t stand how they are talking about him in the media. I heard how he is getting kicked off the team and being replaced by Joseph, so I decided that I’m ready.”
I held my breath. “For what?”
“I’m ready to tell my side about how Max helped me.”
Holy shit. This was already a media circus, but if Lolita went public with this, the media would melt down.
“Are you sure?” I touched her with concern. “This will get a lot of attention.”
“I want to help Max. I want to tell the world how Max helped me, but I also want Joseph to pay for his crime.”
I worked to keep the shock off my face.
“I’m ready,” she took a deep breath. “The detective says they have enough evidence to make an arrest and that I only need to give them a name. Do you think if he gets arrested that might prevent him from coming to Vancouver?”
Holy fuck. “The Vancouver Wolves would not hire Joseph if he got arrested.”
“Well then maybe they would hire Max back?”
I kept it to myself that fuckhead Baxter was calling the shots right now.
“You’d do this for Max?”
She tilted her head. “I think I’m doing this for me.”
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“I am,” she squared her shoulders. Will you help me do this?”
I paused. Max reassured me that there was nothing more than friendship between him and Lolita, but I worried that this single, pretty mom had more than friendship feelings for Max.
“Lolita. Are you and Max just friends?”
She studied her hands. “Max was really good to me, and I had hoped that he would become interested in me. At one point, I thought he might feel the same way. We never kissed or anything, but he spent a lot of time with me that summer, but when he moved to Vancouver, everything changed. He’s been there for me, every step of the way, but when he moved here, he backed off.”
“Oh.”
“I knew that he had met someone.” She gave me a sad smile. “He always told me he didn’t do commitment, but when he told me about you, he said you were different.”
My heart ached. Why did everyone else seem to know how Max felt and I had no clue? “He did?”
“He loves you.”
“He does?”
“Of course,” she frowned. “He’s so crazy about you. So, when I realized that, I accepted it. I want him to be happy and you make him so happy.”
Max loved me? I couldn’t get past that point.
She rushed, “Don’t worry. I’m okay with that.”
“I know how important you are to him.”
“So, what happens now?”
I rubbed my forehead in shock. “Now I make some phone calls.”
“HELLO?”
“Katrina?”
“Rory?”
“Remember when you asked me if there was anything you could help with?”
“Yes, anything.”
“I have a huge favor.”
“Are you in your office?”
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Baxter fired me and had me banned from the stadium.”
“What? He can’t do that!”
“Legally he can.”
“Is he insane? Where are you?”
“I’m at my house.”
“I’m on my way.”
