Page 101 of The Draft

“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 Siennawasthe 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 naïve 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 wasobnoxiously 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 youandCade.”

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.”