Page 98 of The Draft
“Cade doesn’t do feelings. Talking it out isn’t his thing, and as his friend, I respect that. If he wants to talk to me, he knows I’m here.”
“And he’s handling it so well.” Cade’s tongue was out, and he was showing the rest of the team that he’d finished his drink. “Did you ever find out why he and Henry showed up with matching bruises earlier this week?”
“Was I supposed to be finding out?”
“You’re the only one Cade would tell.”
“Well, he didn’t tell me anything.”
With Cade’s arm around Henry’s shoulder, I realized Scotty had a point. Something happened between them, and I didn’t know. I also didn’t know who was calling him or why he was hanging out atBehind Closed Doorsso often.I was the one who usually kept Cade in check and stopped him from doing outlandish things, but I’d been so busy thinking about his sister thatI’d put our friendship on the back burner. I knew nothing about what was going on in Cade’s life, and it sucked.
“Daniel,” Sienna said sharply, and I could have sworn her voice had the ability to make a boner flaccid.
“I’m out,” Scotty said, sneaking away before Sienna could talk to him.
When I turned to face her, she was glaring at me “Sienna? What are you doing here?”
“I’m just trying to enjoy the party like everyone else.” She held her hand out, trying to look like any other college kid, but, as per usual, failed miserably. With her thick glasses and a pencil skirt, she was making it too obvious that she wasn’t here to party.
She had her eyes on Cade, watching as he sauntered around the room, making a show of himself. I wondered if he was her new target, but she was barking up the wrong tree there. Drinking a keg at a party wasn’t enough for a story, and that was all she’d get. Cade was a private guy. He did shady shit all the time, but no one knew what that shady shit was because he kept himself to himself. Like I said before, he tells me nothing, and if I, as his best friend, couldn’t get the information out of him, then there was no way Sienna would.
“Sienna.”
She couldn’t help herself. She whipped her head in my direction, her smile so wide that she looked like the Joker. “Have you got a story for me? Give me all the deets. Please, please be about substance abuse.”
I shook my head. This girl was insufferable, and there was a moment that I thought I could just let this all go. That was until Sienna grabbed my arm and held me in place. Surprisingly, for a small girl, she was pretty strong. “Dash. If you don’t tell me what you know, I’ll find someone who will, and getting the story from them won’t do you any favors.”
I glared at her with a furrowed brow. “Is that your way of asking if I’m taking performance-enhancing drugs?”
She puffed out a breath obnoxiously. “I know you’re not, but I’m pretty sure you’ll have an idea who is.”
“Wait, how do you know I’m not?”
She looked at me with the tiniest hint of amusement marring her lips. “Come on, Dash. You’re a goalie.”
“And?”
“What are performance-enhancing drugs going to do for you? You just stand there and squat for the entire game.”
Wow. If Sienna were a guy, I’d have decked her for that comment. “They could do a hell of a lot, thank you very much. How about helping the accuracy of my hand-eye coordination or heightening my attention span?”
She smiled, watching me with amusement as I listed out all the ways drugs could help. It wasn’t until a few seconds later that I realized that was her plan all along. She was trying to get me to admit to something I hadn’t done, and I was the stupid sap falling for it.
“Look. I’m not doing drugs. None of my friends are doing drugs either. I don’t have a story for you. I’ve got nothing to talk about.”
“I think Madison Bright might be a little offended by that,” she teased, and when I turned to glare at her, she just smiled and winked. “You know, if you want to keep that relationship hidden, you should probably try to stop your eyebrow from quirking every time her name is mentioned. It’s such an obvious tell.”
I shook my head, shaking my hair forward so it was harder to make out my eyebrows. For the first time, I was happy I had curtains.
“How do you know that?”
“Did you forget she nearly cried when she saw me walking out of your room? I may have followed you guys around for a little bit the next few days. It’s a boring, unimaginative story, but since there seems to be nothing else interesting to write about with the hockey team, I’m considering writing an article about it.”
“You’re not going to write a story about Madison and me.”
She clicked her tongue across her teeth. “So touchy, but don’t worry, Daniel. Don’t worry, I’m not here for your lame story. Sleeping with your best friend’s sister is idle gossip compared to what I found out about Cade.”
My spine straightened, and I moved closer toward her in an act of intimidation. Sienna moved back, but she didn’t stop looking at me with a challenging glare. If she thought she could ruin Cade’s college career, she was mistaken.