Page 102 of The Draft

“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 comesto 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.

Chapter 25

I threw my dorm door open in aggravation. I should have known speaking to Sienna was a waste of time. She knew nothing. Just a couple of names that she was hoping I’d accidentally let something slip about. The only good thing about interrogating her was that I now knew Cade was her target and I needed to get to the bottom of this story before she did.

When a hand grabbed my ankle, I stopped, only to find Cade sitting beside the door, looking bleary-eyed and exhausted.

“Ugh!” Sienna cried as she hit me in the back. “You’re like a brick wall.” She walked around me, rubbing her nose, but I ignored her because finding out what was going on with Cade was more important to me.

“Cade?” I bent down so we were face-to-face.

He looked up at me in surprise, as though his hand wasn’t currently clutching my ankle. “You’re back already? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You did tell me you only last thirty seconds.”

“Is everything okay?”

He pushed out a breath, laughing. “Everything is fine. Why? Do I seem upset?”

His hand flew up in the air for no apparent reason, and I glanced over my shoulder, noting Sienna’s judgmental gaze. Yeah, I needed to get Cade out of here before she found anything out. Cade had loose lips when he was drunk, and I didn’t want her knowing that little fact.

“Where’s Scotty?” I looked around the room, noticing how quiet it had become. There were only a few people on the couch watching tv. I didn’t know any of them. There was no Erik, no Scotty. No one. “He was supposed to be looking after you.”

Cade waved me off with a chortle. “Scotty’s gone. He left a while ago.”

“Come on.” I offered my hand to Cade, and he glared at my palm, refusing to take it.