Chapre 24

Frozen, I stood in the middle of the hockey common room because my legs felt too heavy to move. My entire body did too, for that matter.

“MB!” my brother called, making his way over to me with a noticeable sway in his step. Scotty was right behind him, scowling. I didn’t take too much notice of them, though, because I was too confused about what was happening in front of me.

Cade smothered me in a hug, and the only thing I could muster was a gentle pat on his arm.

This wasn’t happening. There had to be another explanation.

As Cade pulled away, he poked his bottom lip out. “What’s wrong?” His breath stank of alcohol, but that still wasn’t enough to draw my attention away from them. When he followed my gaze, he burped and said, “Ah, have you met hockey’s newest golden couple?”

“Go-golden couple?” What was he talking about? My heart was beating wildly because I was currently watching the guy I was sleeping with drag another girl into his bedroom.

“Dash finally has a girlfriend.”

I raised my brow, looking into my brother’s bloodshot eyes for the first time. He was obviously drunk, so maybe he was making this up. “He does?”

“Yeah, Reporter Girl.”

Okay. Breathe.

Cade had mentioned Sienna before, and Dash brushed it off. He didn’t know about us, so maybe he was wrong about this. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but it was hard not to when those conclusions were staring me in the face. Swallowing down my embarrassment, I gave my brother a forced smile. My head was spiraling with questions. Had Dash been lying to me the entire time? Was Tiff right about him? Had he been playing me when he told me he was going to tell my brother about us after our date?

I blinked away tears as the reality of the situation started to sink in. Looking between Scotty and my brother, my eyes were burning as I desperately tried to hold back my emotions. I couldn’t cry here. Not in front of these guys.

“I need some air,” I said before taking a few steps back.

“Madison,” Henry drawled, accidentally bumping into me, and I crushed my eyes shut because I just had to bump into him, didn’t I? We might have been on good terms now, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to see me like this. “Good to see you again.”

“Henry,” Cade said in warning.

At this point, Scotty was standing beside Cade, and even though I knew he was there, I didn’t have the courage to look up and acknowledge him. There was too much going on in my brain.

“Do you remember what we talked about?”

Henry raised his hands. “Relax. Your sister doesn’t want me. She’s in love with Dash.”

I gasped. When I looked at Scotty, he stilled. What the hell did Henry know?

“Dash?” Cade said, and my blood ran cold because, even though he was drunk, his voice sounded menacing. “Still?”

That last word forced me to look at him because what did he mean, “still?”

Cade’s eyes dripped with pity as I asked, “What are you talking about?”

Cade sighed. “I’m sorry, Madison. I thought you were over that and dating some football player. I wouldn’t have flaunted Dash’s new relationship in front of you if I thought there was any hint that you were still into him.”

New relationship? Did he have to keep using words like that? Didn’t he see it was making me want to crumble to dust? Everyone was watching me, and I was too busy trying to tamper down my reaction to think.

“You know what? I’m going to go.” I pointed my thumb at the door. I felt like the pin cushion of an overly enthusiastic seamstress. Punctured to the point that the stuffing was coming out and everyone could see the damage. What was I doing with Dash? Fooling around? Giving him everything, all the while, he was giving his everything to someone else. To Sienna, of all people. They didn’t fit. Dash had respect. He was quiet. He didn’t like being in the limelight, and Sienna was the limelight. She literally reported on the team all the time.

“Oh, I hope you’re not leaving on my account.” Henry looked genuinely concerned, but it wasn’t like I could answer him with the truth. That seeing him had only solidified that I was a dumb girl, chasing after my brother’s teammates, looking for validation where I shouldn’t.

How could I have been so na?ve to think that Dash ever wanted me? I wasn’t his type. I was an obnoxious, flirty girl that people didn’t get serious with.

Just as I was about to run out, an arm draped over my shoulder and the familiar woody cologne hit my senses.

“Let me take you home, Baby B,” Scotty said, looking down at me with a placid smile. Scotty? He was the one who came to my rescue. The guy who barely spoke to me because he was too busy chasing after some random girl I didn’t know. Not Dash. The guy I thought was chasing after me.

Henry looked between me and Scotty and then pointed his finger at us. “Wait, are you interested in Madison, too?” he asked, surprised.

That was when Cade took a step forward. “You are not going anywhere near Madison again, Newman.”

Henry raised his hands, looking between Cade and Scotty. “Woah, I’m not trying to start anything, it’s just…uh, never mind.” He was holding back on saying something, but I had no idea what it was .

“I’m not dating Madison,” Scotty said, pushing his chest out and making a point with the inflection in his voice. He’d seen I was a wreck, thinking it was over Henry, and he was swooping in to try to make me look less pathetic. “Cade put a veto on that a long time ago,” he joked, giving me a playful wink. He was trying to cheer me up, but I doubted anything would make me feel better.

“Watch it,” Cade said, looking around the room with narrowed eyes.

My face was blooming red because being present for this conversation was humiliating, and I didn’t know where to look at this point, so I just stared at my feet.

“Madison is off-limits, and you should all know that by now. Henry hasn’t had a straight nose since high school because of Dash, and I’m more than happy to see if I can punch it back into place.”

“You ready to go?” Scotty squeezed my shoulder, and when I looked up to him, he gave me a calming smile. He moved his hand to my back and started to guide me to the door. Without another word, I followed him, ready to get away from all the drama.

Standing in the elevator, I glanced up for all of two seconds and regretted it immediately. Everyone was watching, and it was all starting to come together. Dash lied. He never planned on telling my brother, and he just used me for a quick round of sex.

“Smile,” Scotty said through his teeth, and I did my best to muster up an “I don’t give a fuck” look, but I was seconds away from crumbling into nothing. Thankfully, the elevator doors shut, so I could drop my head, in a vain attempt to get my thoughts together.

Scotty didn’t say anything; he just stood next to me as the comforting presence I didn’t know I needed. When we were out of the building, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at me with a sigh. “Come on, Baby B. It’s cold.”

“What on earth was that back there?”

“Madison.” Scotty looked at me with more sympathy than I could handle, confirming everything I thought. It was all he had to say. I was in his arms, bawling and feeling just as raw as when I was sixteen and the first guy I liked cheated on me. With Scotty’s arms tightly around me, he stood there, saying nothing. Not that I’d be able to hear him, anyway. My crying was obnoxiously loud, and if the music wasn’t blasting from the hockey dorm upstairs, I had no doubts that they’d be able to hear it.

He stroked my back, and when I finally calmed down, I backed away, wiping my tears. Scotty pursed his lips together, sympathy dripping across his features.

“I’m sorry. I have no idea what’s going on, but I couldn’t sit back and watch you crumble in front of the hockey team.”

“Was it that obvious I was about to break down?” I tried to make it sound like I wasn’t affected by his words, but Scotty could see right through it.

Shaking his head, Scotty said, “I don’t know what the fuck is going on with Dash, but you don’t deserve to be treated like that. Frankly, he needs to get his head out of his ass and figure out what he wants before he screws everything up with you and Cade.”

Sucking in a harsh breath, I tried to give him a small smile because he was trying to be nice, but damn, those words hurt because he was essentially confirming the reality that I’d played out in my head. Dash was playing me, and Scotty found out the same time I did.

Swallowing, I asked, “How’d you find out about us?”

“It’s been pretty obvious for anyone who’s willing to look that Dash has a thing for you. I noticed it the first day you arrived on campus and came to the hockey dorm to see Cade. Dash was looking at us like he was ready to pounce on anyone that looked at you. Then…well, his antics at The Draft confirmed it.” He shrugged, and I’d almost forgotten he was there, it had happened so long ago.

“And yet, you’re the one standing here, saving me when it matters.”

“Honestly? I think you need to hear Dash out. I only stepped in because he wasn’t there to. I’m pretty sure he was planning on telling your brother about you guys tonight. I just have no idea why he’s suddenly speaking to Sienna.”

“No,” I quipped, operating on emotion more than anything. Planning. Intending. Dash threw all these words around like they were nothing. Like they didn’t mean something to me. “Dash and I are over.”

That statement was said with so much conviction, I almost believed it. But were we over? Could we ever really be over when we never really started? I wanted to give him my virginity. Just like I wanted to with Henry. Would the painful feeling of being crushed from the inside ever subside? Maybe Dash wasn’t the one. Maybe there was someone better out there for me. I didn’t know, but all I knew was that looking at Scotty wasn’t making things better. In fact, it was making things worse because it was a constant reminder that I’d been embarrassed in front of his teammates.

“I’m going to go home.”

“I’ll walk you.” He didn’t let me take a step before he was matching my stride.

I stopped and turned to face him. “No, really. Don’t worry. I’m fine.” I wanted to shake him off because I wanted to call my cousin Tiff and tell her she was right. All men were trash, and I would never try to make a connection with a hockey player ever again. It was a conversation I couldn’t have with Scotty standing there.

“Madison, I’m not leaving you to walk home on your own when you’re this fragile.”

“It’s ten minutes away. I’ll be fine.”

Scotty winced. “Yeah, no offense, but you look like a panda that fell out of a tree backward. It’s not happening. I’m walking you home.”

I bit down a response because there was no point in fighting him. This whole conversation was just taking up more time.

“Look, I understand. I wouldn’t want to be around any hockey players either, but I’m not leaving. You don’t have to talk to me. I’ll walk five paces behind if that helps, but I’m not letting you walk home alone because one of my best friends fucked up. Cade is too drunk to realize what’s going on, but neither he nor Dash would want you walking home on your own.”

I pushed out a laugh. “Maybe I should have told Cade then and there. I could have watched Dash get his balls barbecued. It might have made me feel better.”

“You don’t mean that.”

I hung my head and didn’t answer because he was right. I didn’t want Dash to lose his balls, but I was annoyed that I played with them earlier today, knowing what I know now.

“Dash is just as crazy about you as you are him. Don’t ever think otherwise. There’s something else going on with Sienna which has nothing to do with a relationship. All I ask is that you listen to him when he comes to talk to you because the guy is a moody asshole on a good day, and losing you will most certainly make him worse.”

I nodded but had no intention of speaking to Dash for a long time. I needed space.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Scotty wrapped his arm around me, and I followed him blindly, walking in silence. There was nothing left to say because all I wanted to do was go to my room and talk to Tiff while I cried. Sure, it sounded pathetic, but I needed to do it for my own sake.

When we got to my dorm, Scotty offered to walk me up, but I politely declined and gave him a hug to show how much I appreciated him. He wasn’t the knight in shining armor I was expecting, but he was there for me, and that said something about his character.

When I finally got to my room, Aster was walking to hers. “Is, uh, everything all right?” I could tell in her tone that she only asked because she felt like she had to.

“Everything’s fine,” I tried to say confidently, but the crack in my voice wasn’t helping. I sucked in a breath, holding back my emotions, and opened my door. “If anyone comes here tonight, can you tell them I’m not here?”

She nodded and gave me the same sympathetic look as Scotty.

Sighing, I walked into my room and locked the door. Leaning my forehead against it, I took a deep breath and held back the tears, cursing myself for ever leaving this room because the only thing it brought me was heartache.