Page 68 of The Draft
Okay, I was at the point where I was going to break my hockey stick with how hard I was gripping it through my gloves.
Madison’s eyes widened when she seemingly confirmed it was her I was staring at. Should have been obvious, really. She was the only thing worth looking at in this entire rink.
She masked her surprise by licking her lips, and then I could have sworn she cuddled up to Adam.
I fully expected Adam to wrap his arm around her and kiss her on the forehead, but something even more disturbing happened.
Aiden tugged at her Crushers jersey, making her fall into his hold. She laughed, slapped his chest, and snuggled in.
What the actual fuck was going on?
I had to be dreaming because this was a nightmare that I couldn’t believe Cade was allowing. His sister and the biggest lothario on campus were snuggling, acting like they were on a date. As her nails scratched against Aiden’s shirt, Madison kept her gaze on me, challenging me to do something about it.
But what could I do?
My jaw clenched and I dropped my stick in frustration, accidentally hitting the player who just scored.
“Need glasses or something? It might help you actually see the puck nexttime,” he taunted as he skated past.
Not one to let that slide, I pushed him to the ice before he knew what was coming. I was the unassuming player on the team because people expected the goalie to guard the goal with their life and stay out of fights, but I wasn’t in the mood for that today. Today, I refused to ignore his taunts because I wanted to hurt something, and he just so happened to be there.
He crumbled to the floor, groaning out in surprise, and as he lay on the ice, I ignored his flailing form because I was still staring at Madison.
“I fell on my stick, you moron.”
Was he talking to me? I didn’t care. He’d soon learn that the only reason he scored was because my girl was in the crowd, trying to act like she wasn’t my girl.
I didn’t have time to think about the fact that I was calling Madison my girl in my head because someone pushed me so hard into the top of the net, we dislodged it and hit the boards behind. My side bent unnaturally against the pole, but before I could even finish bouncing off it, another Brighton U player pushed me from behind.
I threw my stick in the air, knowing I was in trouble. When two more players shoved me, I realized I was surrounded. Guess I shouldn’t have taken so much joy in knocking over their asshole teammate. After a few more shunts, I dropped to the floor, letting them think they pushed me to the ground, and ended up at the bottom of a dog pile while players tried to land blows that didn’t hurt.
At some point, my helmet came off, so I stayed still just in case a rogue skate came my way. Blow after blow, I took the hits because I had no other option. It wasn’t that painful, but the more time I spent in this pile, the less time I had to watch Madison.
The pile started to get lighter, and I heard the whistle blow, so I knew it was only a matter of time until I was out of here.
“Don’t you ever fucking touch our goalie again!” Cade yelled, pushing two of the guys off me and forcing them to the ground.
The refs had blown the whistle a while ago, but no one had listened. Cade offered me his hand to help me on my feet, and as I got back up, I realized that Scotty, Erik, Brooks, and Alex had all been relegated to the sin bin forapparently fighting the rest of the team.
Cade tossed me my helmet and I caught it with ease. “You okay?” he asked, skating around me.
“I’m fine,” I gritted out because it just had to be Cade that saved me, didn’t it? The one guy who was always there for me. Even in my darkest hours, he was the one who unknowingly saved me. And yet, I was more than willing to betray him at the drop of his sister’s bra.
“Okay, then let’s stay focused and make sure we beat these assholes.” With tight, flat lips, I nodded.
Stay focused.
He was right. That was what I needed to do. Too bad his sister was so damn distracting. She’d done this on purpose just to taunt me or maybe prove to me that I wanted her. I didn’t know. It didn’t matter because it got the reaction she wanted.
She was mine, and right after finishing this game, I was going to prove that to her.
I tossed my gloves into my locker, stewing in my own anger because that was the worst game I’d ever played. Frankly, I couldn’t believe Coach kept me on the ice. My teammates were congratulating each other over the win as they walked out of the locker room, ready to celebrate at Covey’s Cantina, but I was in no mood for celebrating. I’d nearly blown it for us by letting Brighton U score another two points. Thankfully, Scotty and Alex were on fire tonight and managed to keep us ahead, but the game was close. Too close, and it was all because I lost my focus over a girl.
It was pathetic.Iwas pathetic. I’d never let anyone break my concentration like that during a game, but I couldn’t think straight. I still couldn’t. Just remembering the way Aiden’s arm clasped around her shoulder made me want to kiss the shit out of her and claim her in front of everyone. Even Cade.
What the fuck was Madison doing to me?
Blowing out a breath, I took my jersey off in an attempt to remain calm. When that did nothing, I removed the chest padding and placed it on thebench. Nope. Still nothing. I still had that hot heat sitting on my lungs, getting warmer with every inhale.