Page 70 of The Draft

Except for me, of course. Now, she had to hide because there was no going back. I wanted her, and she just needed to get on board with it. I smiled and pinched the screen to zoom in on that little pin. It was still in the building, and when I zoomed in further, I knew exactly where she was.

I pushed open the door, grinning to myself because it was the first time in weeks I felt like I had a purpose and knew what I was doing. I was approaching the pin, and when I heard two familiar voices, I immediately looked up.

When I saw what was going on in front of me, I was ready to kill him.

Chapter 18

I gnawed on my bottom lip as I walked down the now-familiar hallway. My stomach was churning, and it wasn’t because of the overly soggy nachos. Although theymighthave played a tiny part in it.

Was I doing the right thing by coming behind the rink uninvited?

When the game ended, Dash grumbled his way out to the locker room without a second glance at me. I couldn’t deny I was disappointed. It felt like all that anger and frustration he was throwing my way the entire game had completely dissipated. My stomach fluttered at the mere thought of his face when he realized I was sitting with a couple of football players. The same players he mocked me about last week. From that point on, he watched me intently. It was like he wanted to kill me. Or eat me. I couldn’t figure which it was. That scowly face always made it hard to decipher his emotions since he used it for pretty much all of his expressions.

It was funny. I’d always thought of Dash as focused and determined when it came to hockey. I’d never seen anything hinder his performance, but it was fair to say, that somethingwashindering his performance.

“Dash was watching you more than the puck.”

Adam’s words rang through my mind, giving me the confidence to walkthrough this hall like I owned it. Ever the gentleman, he offered to walk me home after the game, but I declined, deciding that my efforts would be better utilized here. Plus, I wanted to see Dash.

How could I not want to see my brooding goaltender?

Honestly, I also figured if I didn’t show up back here, he’d likely follow me and make a scene. As much as I wanted him to claim me like that in front of everyone at Covey’s Cantina, I knew it wasn’t the right move. Dash would eventually freak out because he hadn’t told Cade first, and it could ruin any potential long-term plans I had with him.

I slowed my steps and cursed myself because I couldn’t shake off this nervous energy. I was going to see Dash, and I needed to act like it didn’t bother me. At least, that was what I thought Sienna would do in my position, and since I’d gone this far with that motto, I figured I should keep going because I didn’t want to look like a fool.

“Madison, hey.”

That voice made me stop. Why did it sound so familiar?

Stunned. I shut my hanging mouth and gulped when I saw my high school ex standing in front of me with a wry smile on his face.

I tripped on my own feet even though I was standing still, and my face bloomed, but I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like I was still pining for him, but maybe it was because I wasn’t expecting to see him while I was trying to act like someone who was super confident.

“H-Henry. What are you doing here?”

A heads-up that Henry had transferred here from Dash or Cade would have been nice. He tugged at the purple bag over his shoulder and chuckled as he flicked his wet hair out of his face. Blinking, I swiped away the sprinkles of water that splashed across my cheeks. “I was sitting on the bench waiting for Coach to call me up. Guess I’ll have to wait until our next game.”

“No, I didn’t mean that. I figured that you somehow made it onto the Covey U hockey team.” I pointed to the floor as if that would explain the question. “I meant, what are you doing here at Covey? I thought you went to SoCol?”

He scratched the back of his head, letting out an uneasy groan.

“Yeah, I tried it out for a couple of months, but, uh, I just realized I’dmade a mistake.” A smile tugged at the end of his lips as he took me in. “You know, I’ve been trying to talk to you since I got here. You’re studying computer science, right?” I nodded, and he let out a soft chuckle. “I am, too. Thought I saw you the other day in the lecture hall. I wanted to say hi, but you looked a little busy, so I figured I’d probably catch you at a game.”

“You wanted to speak to me?” My voice was high-pitched in surprise. “We didn’t talk the last two years of high school. Why would you want to speak to me now?”

“Just thought it would be nice to have a friendly face around.”

I raised a brow. “If you think my face is friendly, then your team must hate you.”

His smile dropped, but I didn’t feel bad about saying it. It was true. It might have been a while since anything happened between us, but he never apologized for what he did. This was the most he’d talked to me since the whole incident, which I assumed was because Dash and Cade had warned him off, but it didn’t make it any easier to get over being humiliated so publicly by him.

Henry pulled a strained smile, masking the uncertainty of my reaction. “It’s early days with the team. Once I gain their trust, it will be better. Some players have it in their head that I’m trying to mess up their line.”

“Gee. I wonder where they got that idea from.”

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t that the only reason you ‘dated’ me in high school?” I didn’t like mentioning the complete fiasco that was my love life because, honestly, it just embarrassed me, but he was here, seemingly oblivious to why the Crushers might be less than happy about it. So I’d point it out, loud and clear.