Chapter 29

“I seriously can’t believe that happened,” Erik said, recounting the story as if we all weren’t there. The dude loved drama, and this entire morning was satiating his appetite. “Honestly, out of all the guys on the team, I really thought Madison would have boned Brooks before Dash.”

“Watch it,” I warned. Sure, my teeth might have felt a little out of line, and I wasn’t able to breathe properly, but I was ready to fight anyone if I needed to. Especially if they were trying to pass my girlfriend off to other teammates.

Erik raised his hands and laughed nervously. “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to say anything. It’s just, well, you know Brooks. Everyone loves him, and no one knows you. You just sit in the net with so much padding you look like a giant grizzly bear.”

“Brooks never had a chance. Madison’s been in love with Dash since she was a kid,” Scotty explained, whacking him upside the head. “Now, if you’re not going to say anything useful, you can go out in the waiting room. I didn’t drop my name to get VIP treatment so we could hear you gossiping all day. ”

“How much longer do you think it will be?” Alex asked. “We’ve been waiting three hours, and there’s still no sign of a doctor.”

“That’s because my injuries aren’t that bad,” I grumbled. “I didn’t need to come here. My face would have healed on its own.”

Scotty sucked in a breath. “I mean, if that’s the nose placement you want moving forward, who am I to judge?”

Alex sighed. “It’s just that I can’t stay much longer. I’m going to be late for my tutor, and she loves roasting people’s balls for tardiness.”

“Then go. We’ll take it from here.”

As Alex walked out, he slowed down and let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Looks like you might not need me anyway. Dash, you’ve got some more visitors.”

When Madison stepped in the doorway, I could have sworn my heart nearly dropped. I wasn’t worried that Cade would do anything to her, but I didn’t think he’d ever allow me to be alone with her again. So, the fact that she was here probably meant that she’d somehow evaded him.

“Dash.” Her voice immediately made the pain go away, and when she rushed in to hug me, I let her. Sweet strawberries. Madison was here, but how? She didn’t drive, and everyone who knew what happened was in the room with me. “I’m so glad to see you.” She drew back from our hug, and her eyes darted across my face as she took me in. “You look like shit,” she said with a smile on her face and glanced over at Scotty and Erik. “Why haven’t either of you offered to get him a paper towel from the bathroom so he could at least wipe the blood off his face?”

Erik shrugged. “I guess we thought the doctor needed to see what his injury looked like in its entirety. Cleaning him up might give them the wrong impression.”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Idiot.”

“Are we talking about Dash? Because yes, I can confirm he’s an idiot. The biggest one I’ve met, actually.” Cade walked into the room with his hands in his pockets, looking annoyed to be here. “Hey, guys. Did I miss anything?”

Scotty and Erik immediately stood in front of my hospital bed, acting as a barrier between me and Cade.

“Cade, if you’re here for anything other than an apology, then you need to leave right now.” Scotty pointed at the door and used his height to try to intimidate him. “Because there is no way I’m letting you anywhere near our goaltender again when we are so close to playing Southern Collegiate. Who fucking beats up their goalie during a Frozen Four run?”

“Relax,” he said, pulling his hands out of his pockets and raising them. “I come in peace.” He glanced over at me and smiled. “Dash, I’m not sorry for hitting you. You deserved it, but I promise I won’t do it again. Unless you deserve it, of course.”

Cade was telling the truth, I could tell from his voice, but his facial expression was a mix of nonchalance and pissed, so I didn’t know what to think.

Without looking at me, Madison gripped my hand and squeezed it in an act of reassurance. The fact that Cade hadn’t growled at the move suggested that they’d talked about things.

“Madison, we’ve confirmed he’s alive, now can you and the rest of the guys please give Dash and I some privacy? We need to have a little chat.”

Everyone turned to look at me, seemingly wanting to get my permission. I sat up on the bed and pulled my feet over the edge, so they were on the floor. Even though I believed that Cade wouldn’t do anything, that didn’t mean I wanted to be in a vulnerable position if he did. “It’s fine. Cade and I need to talk.”

Madison’s thumb rubbed across my palm, and she kissed my cheek, ignoring the dried blood that flaked off as she moved away. “I love you,” she whispered so only I could hear.

“Aww,” Erik said. “That’s so cute.”

I pinned him with a glare, but with a face that bore a striking resemblance to a charcuterie board, I assumed I looked less than menacing.

“Erik,” Scotty griped, knocking him gently as he ushered him out of the room.

“What? How can you not be rooting for them? It’s like Romeo and Juliet with hopefully a happier ending,” Erik continued as he walked out of the room.

“Madison, I won’t be long,” Cade said.

She looked over at me with an overprotective edge, but I didn’t need her to be concerned for me, so I squeezed her hand. “Go. I’ll be fine. ”

“And I’ll be just outside.” Madison stood and glared at her brother as she walked past him, and just as she was standing in the doorframe, she looked over her shoulder and winked.

Man, did I love her. And shit, it felt so good to be able to think that without hearing Cade’s voice haunting me. I loved Madison. She loved me, and everyone now knew about it.

When she was out of sight, it was just me and Cade. Strange. We’d been friends for so long that I couldn’t remember the last time we were in a room and had nothing to say to each other. Potentially never. This was the first time in our lives that we had to deal with something less than kosher.

He blew out a long breath before moseying over to the bed and sitting next to me. We both stared straight ahead at the now-shut door.

More silence.

Not awkward at all.

“So, you and my sister?” He gently clapped his hands together, rubbing them as he stared at the door, still refusing to look at me.

“Yeah,” I sighed out. “Me and Madison.”

“How long?”

“It’s been a little over a month.” He deserved the truth.

“No. I know that. Madison told me it started at The Draft.”

“Okay,” I drawled out, confused.

“How long have you been secretly pining over her?”

Fuck. I should have known this would come up.

“Since I found out about Henry and Amy. I, uh, always thought she was cute, but I didn’t really think of her as anything other than your kid sister. Not until that day, then I saw her in a different light. She’s the reason I broke his nose, because I wanted to make sure I never saw her that upset again.”

“Figured. I always thought it was strange that you fought so passionately for Amy when you barely mentioned her name in high school.” He shook his head and bit his bottom lip. “Not to mention how you were always the one to tell me when guys were approaching Madison. I even got you to see who she was dating here.” He laughed bitterly to himself. “I was really stupid not to see this coming, wasn’t I?”

“No. I never intended to act on it. Ever. But it just kind of happened. ”

“I’m guessing that wasn’t a dream I had the other night, then?” I looked at him quizzically. “I had a dream you told me you were in love with Madison. Thought it was because I’d been drinking, and then when I saw her in your room today, I thought I’d somehow predicted the future.”

I laughed nervously. “No. You weren’t dreaming. I wrote an entire speech, knowing full well I’d been an ass and expecting to be reprimanded as such. It was only after I finished that I realized you were asleep.”

“Figures. Look, I know you’re a serious guy, and you wouldn’t be going near my sister unless you felt like she was equally serious about you, but I just wanted to say, she’s always had a thing for you, so please don’t break her heart.”

“I never intend to.”

“Good.”

Holding his hand out, he looked at me expectantly. I shook it as he offered me a curt smile. Was that it? No more punching? No more anger about betraying him? Had I missed something?

“Are we still good?”

He nodded. “You’re my friend and teammate. We have to be good. Do I like that you’re dating my sister? Not particularly, but you’re better than a football player.” I nodded, and then he clasped my shoulder. “Do I like that you snuck around behind my back? Not at all, but we’re clear that will never happen again, right?” He squeezed my hand, making me wince from the pain.

“Right,” I said, and I let out a breath when he let go.

“Good.” I watched Cade stand, making his way to the door, and the little pinches of pain where his fingertips left my shoulder were a reminder that he was serious.

“Oh, and Dash,” Cade said, turning to look at me again. I raised my brows in acknowledgment. “If I ever find out you’ve lied to me again, or if you hurt Madison, I will kill you. I will literally handcuff you to a fence with bike chains and torch your dick off.” Well, that wasn’t where I was expecting this conversation to go. He raised his hands, tipping his chin in amusement. “I don’t want to do it, but I’ll have to. To defend her honor.”

I pursed my lips together because, what the hell do you say to that? “Good to know. ”

“Welcome to the family,” he said with a wicked smile, and I gulped, wondering what the hell I got myself into but realizing I didn’t give a shit. Cade could threaten me all he wanted. I wasn’t going anywhere.

“So,” Madison drawled out once Erik dropped us off at her dorm.

Even though my face looked like a conceptual art piece, I was lucky that Cade hadn’t broken my jaw or nose, which meant I could still play hockey and help the team get through to the Frozen Four. Once the swelling reduced, of course.

“How did it go with my brother?”

She was perched on her desk as she looked down at me sitting on her bed. It was the first time we’d been alone since our relationship had been put out in the open. We were a couple now, and it felt freeing, yet somewhat constricting at the same time. Cade asked Erik to drive so he could sit between us on the car ride home, and I knew that would only be the start of the team’s monitoring of our relationship.

“Better than I expected. He threatened to burn my balls off before pleasantly welcoming me to the family,” I laughed.

Madison’s jaw dropped. “He didn’t?” She covered her face in embarrassment and shook her head. “I’m going to kill him. He drove me here after I told him he had no right meddling in my relationships, and here he is, meddling in them.”

“It’s fine. He was just looking after you, and the more people that are on your side, the better. He’s not going to stop us being together because he knows I’m serious about you, but he’s not thrilled with the situation either. The only good thing is that I’m certain we’re past the point of him giving me another black eye over you. Unless I hurt you, of course. Then it’s warranted.”

Madison smiled, but it quickly dropped. “Wait. Is that your way of saying you’re not getting any more black eyes?”

“Yup. No more black eyes from Cade, at least.”

“That’s too bad. ” With a smirk on her face, she c

rossed her arms and sauntered over to me. “Because I’ve got to admit, your purple and black face really is kind of sexy.” She crinkled her nose, taking me in. “You got beaten up for little old me.” She fanned herself overdramatically.

I glared at her, but I was pretty sure she couldn’t tell since my face was that swollen. “Really?”

Madison moved over to me and sat on my lap. When she was comfortable enough, she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. “Definitely. All you need now are a couple of your front teeth knocked out, and then you’ll be my wildest dream.”

I shook my head before resting it against hers. “You’re a weirdo, you know that?”

“What can I say? Hanging out with those pretty football players has made me realize just how much I like a ruggedly aggressive goaltender who tends to my needs.” She wiggled her eyebrows and bit down on her bottom lip. “Do you get it?”

I shook my head, kissing her cheek. “We need to talk about this budding friendship you’ve got with those guys. I’m not sure I like it.”

“You should love it. They’re the only reason I even spoke to you about the kiss after The Draft. If my friendship with them didn’t happen, then we might not be here.”

“Good point. Maybe I’ll watch a game or two to thank them. They need all the ticket sales they can get.” She cackled, wrapping her arms around me, scooting herself further into my lap. “So, do you still want me? After all the shit with your brother?”

“Of course. I think the bigger question is if you still want me, after all the shit with my brother?”

I paused, pretending to think about it.

“Dash?”

“There’s no one I’d rather be fighting the world with than you.”

A sly smile drew across her lips. “Oh, Dash. Look at you. I knew you were the brooding type, but I didn’t realize you were the ‘fight for your girl type,’” she said with a husky drawl. “How can I not swoon?”

When she kissed me on the lips, I winced. “Oh, sorry. I guess that’s probably going to hurt. ”

Clasping her jaw in my hand, I brought her forward and kissed her passionately, letting her know that no amount of pain would stop me from kissing her. Ever. “Kiss me all you want. It makes me feel better.”

It was technically a lie since the heavy meds were probably the thing helping ease my pain, but I felt like it reduced the throbbing more than anything, and I didn’t want to bother Madison with the details. Mainly because I didn’t want her to ever stop kissing me.

With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she pushed me down and straddled me. “I can think of a few places to kiss you that would make you feel a lot better.” She wiggled her eyebrows and dropped her hand to my waistband, but I stopped her from going under.

“Before you do that, I’ve got something to ask you.”

“Yes?”

“Do you maybe want to move off me before I ask?”

“Nope, I’m perfectly content right here.” She wiggled a little, rubbing her center across my crotch. What a tease.

“Will you be my girlfriend? Officially?”

“Um, yeah? I kind of thought we were already there.”

Squeezing her sides, I smiled. She was now dry humping me, and I wasn’t stopping her. “Okay, fine. How about this? Will you wear my jersey at our game against Southern Collegiate next week?”

I should have started with that because that made her squeal in excitement. “Yes, please! You are going to get two blowjobs for that.”

I couldn’t wait.

She dropped to her knees, giving me one more long, passionate kiss before pulling my shirt over my head. Kissing my chest, she made her way back to my shorts. “Thank you.” She kissed my abs and circled her tongue around my belly button. A move I remembered using on her once or twice.

Closing my eyes, I lay back and let my girlfriend ease my pain.