Page 63 of The Draft

“See you guys later.” I gave Dash an extra-long look, knowing full well that I was going to get him back, and into my bed, if it was the last thing I did.

Chapter 16

Staring down at the most uninspiring nachos the cafeteria had to offer, I pouted my bottom lip out, feeling as lost and broken as the tortilla chips in front of me, because not only had I not slept in the last two days, but I was completely and utterly confused about what I should do next.

Dash stopped responding to my texts, and it was kind of hard to tease the guy you were interested in when you were almost certain he’d blocked you.

It was my own fault. I got too cocky and showed my hand. I’d embarrassed myself and now he had no reason to chase me when he knew I was right there, waiting for him to come back to me.

My head was hurting, my brain was too confused to keep thinking about it, and what made it worse was that there was no one here to get advice from. I couldn’t keep hitting up Tiff with my every problem, she had more important things to worry about. All I could do was replay the memories of my one night with Dash together over and over again in my head. All the things he said, all the ways he made me feel special. It was all there, and if I put the pieces together in my brain, we fit, so why wasn’t the puzzle making any sense?

Picking at the nachos, I grunted when the wind picked up, sending a chill through my Covey Wildcat T-shirt. The temperature wasn’t too bad for November but sitting outside in voluntary exile sucked. I was hiding out. Avoiding the hockey team at all costs since I didn’t want to see Dash and start babbling like an incoherent giraffe.

No one was around, but my face was heating because merely thinking about all the things I did to impress Dash was embarrassing. It was my first semester at college, and I was chasing my high school crush hard instead of focusing on being a strong, independent woman. I should be enjoying myself and meeting new guys, making new friends, and learning how to live life on my own. Instead, I was hiding out and letting myself be shackled to a goaltender who seemed to not bethatinto me after all.

I bit down on a soggy chip harder than I should have, biting my tongue in the process and cursing at the pain it left behind.

Dash’s caring eyes came to mind, and I shook my head angrily because I wanted to stop thinking about him, but I couldn’t. Was I like those werewolves inTwilight? Had having sex with a hockey player once made me imprint on him for the rest of my life? At least, I thought that was what happened in that movie. I was too distracted by all the abs to follow the plot closely enough. But either way, Dash seemed to be the only guy my silly heart wanted, and as much as I tried to entice him, it felt like he just wasn’t that interested.

Nothing more was ever going to happen between us, and I needed to accept that. We kissed and had sex, but it was all part of an agreement. One no one else would ever know about. I was Dash’s dirty little secret, and I needed to be okay with that.

My eyes were burning from the lack of sleep, and my stomach was churning from drinking too many caffeinated sodas. I checked my phone so often, that I received an alert asking if I was okay. I didn’t even know it did that.

Out of habit, I glanced at my phone again, disappointed that the only unread message was from Tiff, asking me about the weather. Nothing from Dash. It was never from Dash, and the only way my little heart was getting through this was to tell myself that he was busy with hockey, because the reality of him blocking me was more than I could handle.

I shoved a nacho in my mouth, letting the burst of spice numb my thoughts for all of two seconds since my head was so fuzzy from tiredness and the sheer number of thoughts running through it.

Dash was trouble. The hockey team was trouble. Even more so for me because my brother was on it. I needed to let them go. Hockey boys were poison, and the only antidote was to stay far, far away from their asses…even if they were the tightest ones I’d ever seen.

“Madison? What are you doing out here? It’s freezing.” I dropped the nacho chip and looked up. The sun was shining, so I had to squint to see Adam’s haloed head in the sunlight.

With his purple and white letterman jacket on, he had his hands in his pockets, clearly shivering from the cold.

“Adam?” I breathed out his name on a sigh because, was this a sign? I’d just affirmed that I needed to stay away from hockey boys, and out walked afootball player.Not just any football player, one that looked like a literal angel with his blond hair and perfect features.

Shaking my head, I huffed out a breath because this was typical of me. Always jumping on my next boy crush to try to forget about the last guy who broke my heart. Although, if I was honest, the only one that really broke it was Dash. Henry was just something to pass the time, but Dash, well, I’d thought about Dash for years. I’d slept with him, and it was the best moment I’d ever experienced. Hell, I’d made up an entire life for us in my head, and the realization that it wasn’t going to happen was the thing hurting me the most.

“You’re wearing a Wildcat shirt?” He glared at the purple and white fabric with confusion.

I waved it off. “Yeah, I, uh, went to watch your game last week.”

“You did?”

“Yeah,” I drawled out, leaving out the fact that I was pretending to be sleeping with one of them.

“Should have told me. I could have gotten you some tickets.”

“Too late for that now,” I responded sarcastically. Not that he knew what I was referring to.

“Not gonna lie, you look a little down.”

“Pfft.” I pushed out a pout, trying to make my current situation funny toease the tension. “That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one. Did you know I haven’t washed my hair in two days?”

His brows creased, but he didn’t balk at the admission, which was surprising because most people did when I started rambling like this.

“Okay. Any particular reason why you’ve been ignoring your hygiene?”

“Dash and I broke up.” I could have told the truth, that I’d slept with Dash, and even though I was trying to win him over with my feminine wiles, it didn’t work, but that was too long-winded. The outcome was the same whichever way you looked at it, so why not say that we broke up? It was how I felt, anyway.