Page 24 of The Draft

I sighed in relief when I opened my door. Alone at last.

“Daniel.”

My eyes popped open and I nearly lost my shit when I saw what was going on inside my dorm.

“What the hell are you doing in here?”

Chapter 6

“So, are you ever going to tell me what’s wrong, MB?” Cade asked with such sincerity that it surprised me. Sitting next to me on the couch in his team’s common room, Cade was watching me, waiting for my answer expectantly. This was weird. He’d never attempted a heart-to-heart before, and was that what he was doing right now? Didn’t showing up at his practice give him enough reassurance that I was alive?

I shuffled in my seat, trying to ease the tension because I must have been acting shifty. “What are you talking about?” I feigned ignorance, thinking that was the best course of action.

He dipped his chin, glaring at me with narrowed eyes. “Come on, MB. I know you. You’re not normally this jittery.” He pointed to my leg, and it was then I noticed it was bouncing. I immediately forced it to a halt.

“I’m fine.”

“Then why aren’t you outrageously flirting with every hockey player here?” His gaze dragged over to Brooks, the very personification of aDisney prince with the personality to match. Brooks was the heartthrob of the team, and when Scotty’s hockey dynasty didn’t cut it, Brooks’s good looks did. He wasn’t for me, though. I had only ever been interested in the grumpy, particularly bendy, introverted goalie who liked to keep his net to himself.

“I don’t flirt.” That was a lie. The entire college knew I flirted, but for Cade to have the audacity to come out and say it was just rude. Cade’s lips quirked. “Okay, fine. I flirt, but not outrageously.”

“Are you seeing someone?”

I answered his question with an eye roll and took another swig of my beer.

“Something’s up, and if I don’t know, I can’t help you.”

“I think your form of helping might be the thing stopping me from telling you,” I said pointedly as I tried to subtly look around the room for Dash. He’d been talking to a few people for an hour or so, and I was just waiting for him to go to his room so I could follow behind.

The place was starting to calm down, but for some weird reason, Cade was clinging to me like a bad smell tonight. I guessed it would be understandable if he thought I was upset, but it would bereallyhelpful for him to leave for just a few minutes so I could sneak away and talk to Dash.

Cade stood a little straighter and cracked his knuckles. “That sounds like you’re confirming something’s wrong. Who is it? Which guy do I need to give a nose job to?”

I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. “Why is your immediate response to every problem a punch in the nose?”

He shrugged. “It’s the fastest way of letting people know you’re upset with their behavior.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. No wonder I hadn’t told him about Dash yet—I liked his nose placement.

“But seriously. If someone has hurt you, I’m more than willing to hurt them back.”

“Cade, I’m nineteen. I don’t need you fighting my battles for me.”

He raised his hands and laughed. “Hey, it’s only an offer, and I can’t remember ever fighting a battle for you before.”

“Henry.” That was all I needed to say. One name, and my brother let outan uncertain chuckle as he looked to the side.

“I mean, I did nothing there. That was all Dash’s doing.”

“You sure about that?”

“I’m not gonna deny that I would have helped if I was present, but Dash had it covered. Where is the big guy, anyway? He’ll corroborate my version of events.” He looked over his shoulder, but I knew he wouldn’t find him because I just saw Dash go into his room. Now all I had to do was sneak in there myself with no one noticing.

“I think I saw him go to bed,” I replied, half-heartedly pointing to his door, which had half a pizza box stuck to the middle of it with silver duct tape holding it up.

Cade dragged his gaze to the door, and a smile drew on his lips. “Bet he’s in there thinking about Little Miss Pop My Cherry.”

There he was, mentioning the girl Dash apparently kissed a few weeks ago, or me. I still hadn’t completely figured it out yet. God, Cade would hate himself if he knew he was referring to me as that. “Who?” I once again feigned ignorance because I was getting so good at it.