Found THE Boy

He walked into the church knowing full well she would be sitting with his old teammates. He did a quick scan of the pews and made a b-line for Marc Andre Fleury and his fiancé. “Hey man!” Marc stood and hugged him.

“Hey,” Max answered and hugged his old goalie.

“Happy day, eh?”

“Sure is,” Max nodded and hugged Vero, telling her how pretty she looked.

“Where are all the guys?” Max wondered.

“On their way inside,” Vero nodded as James Neal and Sidney Crosby made their ways into the church.

Max looked over at them and there she was, Finley Shaw. She walked in giggling with James at her side and a man behind her, holding her hand. Max let out a low growl that only Marc caught, “She misses you.”

He swung his head around to his friend, “She what?” he asked in his native French.

“Finn, misses you,” Marc repeated.

Sidney spotted the guys and walked over, leading James, Finley, and that guy over too. Max stood and hugged his old teammates and then smiled at the young brunette behind them, “Finn,” he held out his arms.

She melted against his body and he noticed, “Hi Maxime,” she said in a soft voice.

“Bonjour ma belle,” he whispered into her hair.

James cleared his throat and Finley stepped away from Max. She took her seat in between James and the other guy, talking to them quietly before the ceremony began.

Marc stood up, “I need to pee, BRB,” he smiled at his lame joke.

Vero glanced down at Finley and then looked at Max, “Elle n’est pas heureuse.” (She isn’t happy.)

“Aurait pu me tromper,” Max answered. (Could have fooled me.)

Vero shook her head, “Je vous promets Maxime. Finley est colle sur un autre gars, un gars qui a quitte sans dire au revoir.” (I promise Maxime. Finley is stuck on some other guy, a guy who left without saying goodbye.)

And there it was the dig that Max had been waiting for from someone. It had been nearly a year without one, but he knew at some point it would come up.

When Maxime Talbot signed with the Philadelphia Flyers after the Penguins wouldn’t give him an offer he felt was good enough, he had literally just picked up and left. Yeah he had said goodbye to his teammates and a few people around Pittsburgh, but he had left one person out of those goodbyes and now she was sitting two people to his left at the wedding of his ex-teammate.

He felt guilty about that too. He and Finley had grown close over the years; her father worked for the Pens organization, so she had been around for a while. If he was going to be honest with himself, he had fallen in love with her a couple years back, but he knew she was too good for him. And honestly, how the hell would a guy like him be able to get a guy like her?

Flower came back and squeezed between his fiancé and friend. Everyone chatted around with each other but Max was tuned out, his focus was on Finley.
She looked incredible, even better than he remembered. For the event of Jordan Staal’s wedding she wore a light pink, one shoulder dress that was tight enough for him to see that she had lost a little weight over the year. The color made her look tan, not the overly tanned, oompa loompa type, but the natural kind, like she had been out on a boat recently. Her hair was down and wavy, just the way he liked it too. It looked so soft and he wanted to run his hands through it, “You’re drooling,” Sidney nudged him.

“Wh…what?” Max shook himself out of his head.

Finley was talking with Nealer, who seemed to be her new best friend, “She was upset when you moved out while she was on vacation,” Sid told him.

“I just wanted to get out of there,” Max shook his head.

“I know man, but she was hurt.”

Everyone started to quiet down and music began to play. Everyone’s attention turned to the aisle as Jordan walked down with his mother and father. He gave the group a nod and winked at probably Vero and Finley. The flower girl walked out and then the wedding party walked out too. Jordan’s soon-to-be wife, Heather walked down the aisle looking fresh and beautiful. Max had always known Jordan would marry her; they were just dysfunctional enough to be a perfect couple. As Heather approached the front of the church Finley switched seats with James and then again with Sidney. She was now next to Max.

Everyone sat down in their seats again and Max put his arm across the back of the pew. He leaned into Finley, “They look happy.”

“They are,” Finley didn’t take her eyes off of the couple.

“Are you happy?” he whispered to her.

“I’m happy for them,” she said back.

“I’m sorry,” his hand squeezed her shoulder.

“After the ceremony,” she told him but found she was scooting closer to his body with his arm still behind her.

Finley had been so upset when Max had left Pittsburgh while she was on vacation and without saying goodbye to her. He had been a great friend to her through the years and she thought that he felt the same way. For the rest of that summer, Finley walked around with a sour look behind her eyes and a feeling she wasn’t extremely fond of: heartache.

She knew he would be at this wedding, she knew he wouldn’t let Jordan down on his big day because he was a good friend like that. She also knew that she had to look good for him, she had to make him realize the mistake he made by forgetting her. And as of now, she felt like she was in control and had made him see what he did was wrong.

The ceremony was short and the line to congratulate the couple seemed to go on for days. Finley was pinned between Sidney’s giant ass and Max. Max had lost track of the guy she walked in with and focused on the girl in front of him.
The church was warm and she was starting to get hot. She fanned herself with the program and leaned back against Max. He slid his arm around her waist, “Hot chérie?”

“Oui,” she nodded and said one of the few French words she knew.

“Still need to work on your French, I see,” he teased in her ear.

Jordan grabbed Finley away from Max and lifted her off the ground in a hug, “Congratulations Jordie,” she kissed his cheek.

“Thanks,” he smiled and let her go on to talk with his new wife.

Max gave Jordan a manly hug and congratulated him too. Jordan glanced at Finley who was talking with Heather, “Your turn to man up.”

Heather leaned in and gave Finley a big hug too, “You look so beautiful Mrs. Staal,” Finley told her.

“Thanks sweetie,” she was beaming, “I see Max found you.”

“Yeah.”

“Give him hell,” Heather winked as she went to hug Max.

At the end of the line were Jordan’s brothers, Eric, Marc, and Jared. “Finn!” Eric yelled as he held his youngest son, Levi, in his arms, “You’re next.”

“Like hell I am,” she pinched Levi’s cheeks, “I might just wait for this little stud,” she joked.

Marc looked at Max who was watching her like a hawk, “You ready to forgive?”

“But I’ll never forget.”