Page 71 of The Draft
Henry tilted his head, looking at me with confusion. “Is that what you think? That I dated you because I was trying to tick off Cade?”
I pursed my lips, not needing to respond. He could see the answer across my face.
He shook his head, laughing humorlessly. “Wow. People really do have a low opinion of me, don’t they? I didn’t want to screw up my team. Why would I do that when the dynamic directly affected my future careerprospects?”
Now it was my smile that dropped because I hadn’t thought about that.
“Might be hard to believe, but I liked you. I thought you were hot, and I asked you out thinking you’d laugh in my face. The hockey team and Cade were the last things on my mind when you said yes. I just wanted to impress you.”
“Then why’d you…” I couldn’t finish the sentence because we were still in the middle of the hallway, and anyone could hear. However, I doubted there were many players that didn’t know about this already.
“Cheat?” He raised his brows, saying it more confidently than I ever could. Sighing out, he looked to the side before bringing his attention back to me. “This wasn’t the way I wanted to have this conversation, but honestly, between Cade and Dash, I think this might be the only time I get with you.” He scratched the back of his head, taking his time. “Look, I probably should have said this before, but I’m sorry. When I look back on that time in my life, I’m embarrassed. I cheated on you because I was an insecure, scared little boy. Back in high school, you were this perfect girl. The one everyone liked, who was off-limits because of her brother. But here’s the thing, that wasn’t all you were about. You were smart and kind, and when I started talking to you, I never thought you’d actually like me back, much less agree to secretly date me.”
My heart was racing, and I could feel my ears burning as I listened to everything he was saying.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I was worth your time. I’m not worth anyone’s time. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to get drafted this year, which sucks.”
“Henry,” I breathed out. “Don’t think like that. The draft isn’t the only way to make it in the NHL. There are so many other opportunities.”
He laughed bitterly. “I hope so, but that’s not where I was going with this. For a very long time, I felt like I wasn’t worthy of anything. It didn’t matter how hard I tried, I would always be destined to fail, you know? Even at Southern Collegiate. I tried my hardest for that team, but did you know that everyone who attends that school is pretty much a grade A asshole?” I shook my head, surprised at just how candid he was being in the middle of the hallway.
“Honestly, after just three weeks, I knew it wasn’t the right fit. That waswhen I realized that I was the owner of my own destiny, and if I wanted a shot at being a professional NHL player, I needed to get out of there and play better. Where better to play than their division rivals? Must admit, I look forward to taking them out this year.” A wry smile grew on his face, and he almost seemed lost in thought.
“So that’s why you’re here? Because you want to get better prospects?”
“Yup. Nothing as scandalous as Dash or Cade would have you believe. I’m just here, trying to make it like everyone else. But that’s my point. I have a habit of self-sabotaging and I think that’s what happened with me and you.”
My ears prickled because it seemed like he thought about this a lot when I genuinely thought he didn’t care about me at all.
“I always knew you were out of my league, and it would never end with a happily ever after, so I self-sabotaged. Why not act a certain way to prove you’re not worthy than have someone else tell you?”
I laughed awkwardly. “I think you put me on quite a high pedestal there.” I was being honest, not fishing for more compliments, but something about hearing Henry’s explanation made me feel better about how things went down.
“Everyone did. You’re Madison Bright. Beautiful, sweet, and smart Madison Bright.”
Oh no.
Now things were starting to feel weird. His gaze was locked on me and he had this goofy smile sprawled across his lips. Was he about to declare his undying love for me?
I took the tiniest of steps back, easing away slowly to not draw attention to myself. Henry seemed like a nice guy who’d learned his lesson, but I would never go back there. Not when I had the possibility of Dash at my fingertips.
“Madison.”
My blood ran cold, and my stomach pitted out when I heard Dash’s emotionless, dark voice say my name. I leaned to the side and stood on my tiptoes so I could look over Henry’s shoulder, and sure enough, Dash was a few feet behind him. Angry and brooding, his chest was heaving, and as hot as it was, I didn’t want to have the conversation we needed to in frontof my ex.
Holding my finger up to Henry, I narrowed my eyes and said, “You know what? Can we talk about this later? I’ve got a goldfish I need to feed.”
Just like that, I was walking fast—okay, I was jogging—down the hallway, away from Dash. If he wanted to talk to me, then he was going to have to chase me. I rounded the corner, looking for somewhere to hide, but all I found were more concrete hallways.
“Madison. Stop.” Dash’s voice wasn’t far behind me, and I huffed out an angry breath. I should have known I couldn’t outrun him. He might have been slow for a hockey player, but he was quick compared to me.
As I turned the corner, I caught his eye and realized just how close he was to catching me. I ran as fast as I could, thankful that I was wearing sneakers.
“Thought you were ignoring me, Big Man,” I teased from over my shoulder, my pace turning into a quick jog because his stride was so much longer than mine.
“Hard to ignore you when you’re everywhere I look.”
I scrunched my nose because that statement wasn’t true. I wasn’teverywhere. He was the one that followed me to a game the other day.