Page 105 of The Draft

“Madison.”

My body stilled at the mention of her name. “What happened?”

He shook his head. “She saw you.” I waited for more of an explanation, but that seemed to be all that Scotty was willing to give until I raised my brow. “With Sienna. She saw you dragging her into your room, and Cade told her that you were dating.”

“Fuck.”

“Yes. Fuck. Now, if you ever want a chance in hell with Madison again, you need to go and fix this right now.”

I didn’t have to think about my next move. I ran to the elevator, and as I pressed the call button, I said, “Watch over Cade.”

Scotty nodded. “Good luck.”

The elevator doors shut, and I could feel it in my bones. I was going to need a lot more than luck this time.

“Pick up your phone, Madison,” I muttered to myself, cursing when my call went through to her voicemail again. I’d called her at least twenty times since leaving the dorm, but she’d ignored every single attempt, which was starting to tick me off.

How the hell was I supposed to explain anything to her when she wouldn’t let me?

I took another shot at calling, and yet again, I was ignored. She was pissed, and I’d somehow screwed up badly.

I might have inadvertently let her waltz out of the hockey dorm, but I wasn’t going to let her waltz out of my life, or my bed, for that matter. Not without forcing her to hear me out. If talking to Cade had taught me anything, it was to keep fighting for what was yours, no matter what got in the way.

Madison’s dorm may have only been a few minutes away, but it felt like I’d been walking for hours. I was going to have to explain myself but every time I walked through the conversation in my head, it sounded ridiculous. It didn’t help that I had no idea what Cade had said to make Madison believe I was dating Sienna, so trying to refute those claims would be impossible. It felt like I was standing on quicksand, and I had no idea how to get out of it.

When I was standing outside her dorm, I tried to call Madison one more time. Unsurprisingly, I got no answer. The building was shut down for the evening, and the only way in now was by using a keycard or someone letting you in. I had neither option open to me.

“Dammit!” I huffed out as cold air billowed around my face. It was getting colder now, not that I noticed or cared. I was used to cooler weather at this point.

Taking several steps back, I counted the floors, and then the windows. Third floor. Fourth window. At least that was where I thought her roomwas. The lights weren’t on in any of the rooms on that floor. Strange. Madison probably left my dorm about an hour or two ago. Surely, she wouldn’t be sleeping yet. Knowing her, she’d be bitching about me to Tiff.

Did Scotty walk her home or take her somewhere else?

I doubted it. But after all her escapades with football players, I wasn’t sure what she’d get up to if she was mad at me; so I decided to double check.

Dash: Did you drop Madison off at her dorm?

What a ridiculous message that I had to send my friend who acted more like Madison’s protective boyfriend than me. I was an idiot, and I needed to make it up to her, but that wouldn’t be possible if she wouldn’t let me try.

Scotty: Yes, but I doubt she’ll talk to you tonight. She was heartbroken and looked exhausted when I left her.

Heartbroken?

My stomach lurched because that was the last thing I wanted her to feel when it came to our relationship. I tried to call her again, and this time, when I was forwarded to her voicemail, I decided to leave a message. “Madison. We need to talk. I don’t know what you saw, but it’s not what it looked like. I was trying to figure out what Sienna knew about Cade. You can’t let something as trivial as this stop what’s going on between us. Madison, I can’t let you go. I-I—”

God, I wanted to tell her that I loved her so badly. That the day I broke Henry’s nose was the day I vowed to myself that I’d never let anyone upset her again, but she’d probably delete the message before listening to the entire thing. No. It wasn’t the right time to grovel. The right time to do it would be just after I’d given her the best orgasm of her life to make up for it, only for her to realize that no one could make her feel as good as me.

“I need to talk to you. I’m outside your dorm, and I’m not leaving until you let me up.” I was well aware that it was past visiting hours for this place, but I’d sneak in if I had to.

When I heard some high-pitched voices laughing in the distance, I rolled to the side of the door and waited for the girls to approach because I assumed they lived in the dorm.

When they got close enough, I stepped out and raised my hand. “Excuse me.” The girls were startled by my presence but seemed to relax when I smiled—something I only did with strangers when I was desperate. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. My girlfriend is on the third floor. I was supposed to meet her tonight, but she’s fallen asleep on me and left me no way to get up there.” I pointed to the third floor, and the two girls followed my finger as though that would help check out my story. It didn’t help that none of the lights were on in any of the rooms. “Would you mind letting me in?”

One of the girls glared at me while the other elbowed her friend. “Sorry, I’m not sure I believe you.”

I ground my teeth because it would have been better if I could just sneak in behind them, but I wasn’t small enough for that. I’d make a scene, and the girls would no doubt scream, thus, I’d get banned from this dorm for life, and I needed access here.

“Come on, Ati. Let’s get inside.”