Page 27 of The Draft

When he opened the door, I immediately smiled. I couldn’t help it. It was a side effect of being around him.

“Dash,” I whispered sharply. “Can I come in before anyone sees me?”

He looked surprised, almost like he forgot that we’d agreed to meet. Granted, it was nearing midnight, so maybe he thought I chickened out and wasn’t coming.

When I heard footsteps shuffling behind him, I peered over his shoulder and could have sworn my heart broke so loudly that everyone in the dorm heard it shattering on the floor.

Right behind Dash’s wide frame was a girl.

Not just any girl.

Sienna.

The same girl he was speaking to at The Draft. She flicked her perfectly curled dark hair out of her leather jacket before adjusting the front, so it sat straight. I hated how beautiful she was because it made me feel so inferior. Of course, he was secretly seeingher.I was nothing compared to a confident, sexy, and vivacious girl like Sienna.

I tipped on my toes before saying, “You know what? You look busy. I think I’m going to head out.” I used my thumb to point behind my shoulder and offered him a smile. It was forced and awkward, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances.

“Madison. Wait,” he said before I could get more than a few steps through the common room, and I immediately stopped at his command. “Can we talk?”

Oh, so now he wanted to talk. When he had the upper hand and a girl in his room. I bit my bottom lip because it suddenly hit me. Dash must havewantedme to see them together. He did have a secret girlfriend and he thought this was his way of letting me down gently. Oh, how I yearned for my bedroom where I could cower under my covers and not see anyone for the next three weeks.

“Sienna was just leaving,” he said with enough gruffness to sound angry. But then again, maybe it was me he was angry with since I technically ruined his booty call.

Sienna nodded and skipped out, only looking up at me for a split second before shuffling past.

I couldn’t help myself; I watched her go the whole way, analyzing her every move, her every breath, just to figure out what she had that I didn’t.

Everything.

She was everything.

Tall. Perfect legs, perfect body, great style.

“Madison?” When I finally brought my attention back to Dash, his brows were lowered, and he watched me with intent. “Did you want to come in?”

Ha. What a loaded question. Did I want to come in? Of course. But what for? I had no idea. So, I set myself up for the notion that it would be so I could apologize for kissing him when he clearly had a girlfriend, and then I could somehow get around his crushing rejection.

Dash stepped back, allowing me space to enter his room. The minute I walked beyond the threshold, I was immediately hit by his woody cologne, which wrapped around me the same way I’d wish he would.

His dorm room wasn’t huge, but it was bigger than mine, and he was one of the lucky ones who had an adjoining bathroom. So at least he didn’t have to share a shower with forty other hockey players. I guessed that was a privilege he earned because he was an upperclassman.

“Take a seat.”

I looked around, slightly bemused, because the only two places to sit were either his bed or his desk chair. Did I want to sit on the scene of the crime? Although, the bed was still made and there wasn’t a crinkle in sight. I must have interrupted them before they’d had a chance to sleep together.

I pointed at his black bed cover and asked, “Is here okay?”

He nodded.

It felt awkward, but to be honest, that wasn’t new. There was always this weird tension brewing between us, which I’d taken to be sexual tension, but now I was much less confident in that assessment. My luck, it was just an unrequited crush that I should have let go of a long time ago.

As I sat on the bed, Dash took a seat in his desk chair a few feet awayand placed his hands over his stomach. Watching him twiddle his thumbs, I decided to break the silence. “So, you and Sienna?” I raised my brow because she had suddenly become the most important topic of conversation for me.

Dash rolled his eyes, huffing out a breath as he looked at his door in annoyance. “Sienna’s just a reporter after a story, and I’m not willing to help her find one.”

“You sure about that? She looked pretty cozy in here, like she’d been here before.”

“That’s because apparently, she had. She was snooping. Unfortunately for me, the lock on my door is fucked, and somehow, she knew. She’s looking for dirt and seems to believe I’m hiding something.”