Page 18 of Pucking High School

Suddenly, my stomach hurt, but I put it down to the lack of food in this place, not the fact that Madison had already moved on. I might have told her that she deserved someone better in the car after that stupid party, but I didn’t expect her to go out and find another one so quickly.

I wasn’t surprised, though. Madison was hot. So hot that sometimes I forgot to breathe around her.

“No one.”

I raised a brow. “You sure? Because I’ve never heard you snort so loud at Tiff.”

Throwing her chin up, she rested her head against the theater-style seat and groaned.

“I don’t think it’s any of your business who I’m messaging.”

I growled, adjusting my jacket before slumping in my seat. “Maybe not, but it would be great to know as distraction.” I gestured to everything that was going on below. Cade was now taking pictures with his parents and it looked as though discussions with the teams over the next pick were underway.

“Fine,” Madison sighed dramatically. “If you must know, it’s Kyle. There. I said it. Go ahead and tell me that I deservesomeone better. That I need someone who won’t stop thinking about me, or whatever you said last time.” She huffed out an annoyed breath. “But, honestly? It feels like I’m going to be waiting for eighty-seven years if I don’t start putting some work in.”

“That’s a little dramatic. You waited two weeks.” I was trying to hide my annoyance because it felt like she hadn’t heard me in the car. She was worth more than any of the guys in our town could give her. If she wasn’t going to willingly take that advice, then I was just going to have to force it on her, by speaking to every single guy I could.

“That’s like two years in teen years, don’t you know.”

“You are something else.” I shook my head, hoping she couldn’t see just how pissed off I was. “But I can’t believe out of all the people at North Central High, you’d pick Kyle.” My lip curled as I said his name, and I was thinking about all the ways I could discreetly text him before the end of the night.

“Why not? Just because you didn’t want to kiss me during Spin the Bottle, doesn’t mean that everyone in the circle felt the same way.” Her voice was so smug that I wanted to tell her I saw him sneaking into a room with Hayley at a different party last week, but I didn’t. After seeing how crushed she was about Henry, I vowed to never see her like that again. So, I’d just have to make sure Kyle ended it before it got that far.

“That’s not what happened,” I muttered, knowing she wouldn’t be able to hear me over all the noise in the room. What she didn’t realize was that the only reason Sidney pulled me into the game was because she said she was going to invite Madison for me. If I didn’t go, then she’d be kissing someone else and there was no chance of that happening. I fully intended on picking her when the bottle landed in between her and Sidney, but I couldn’t. Her brother was standing on the opposite side of the room, watching me like a hawk, serving as a constantreminder that she wasn’t mine, and she never would be. She was Cade’slittlesister, and I was going to college. We weren’t meant to be together, and maybe the distance would do me some good.

“Can everyone please take their seats, the next draft pick is about to be announced.”

Madison squealed and when the lights went down, she leaned over and asked, “Which team is picking next?”

“The Anglerfish again. They got this spot through a trade last year.” She grinned and I hated that I knew exactly what she was thinking. It wasn’t going to happen. There was no way in hell that I was going to get picked straight after Cade, and to the same team. It just wasn’t possible.

“Good luck, Big Man.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled. My leg was shaking, and I pushed my palm down, trying to stop it. When that didn’t work, I took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes. Nope. My heel was still tapping the floor. Nothing was going to calm me in this situation.

Nothing until Madison rested her palm on top of my hand. Then, suddenly, my foot stopped. She laced her fingers with mine and I felt my heart slow, and it was as if we were the only two people in this stadium.

Without realizing, I squeezed her hand.

“You don’t need to be nervous. You’re going to get picked any second now. I can feel it.”

I felt something too, but it wasn’t the same thing as her. Deep in my chest, I felt a yearning need to be close to her. With her hand in mine, my heart suddenly thought it might be able even be possible.

“Madison, I-”

When she looked at me, I paused, completely forgetting what I was going to say.

“For the eleventh pick of the first round, the Atlanta Anglerfish have selected Daniel Bridges, Goaltender.”

My brows crossed, because, had I just heard that correctly? Had they just said my name?

Judging by the tight squeeze of Madison’s hand and the camera crew waiting at the end of the row, I’d say yes.

I don’t know what possessed me to stand, but I figured Madison must have pulled me up, realizing that I wasn’t going to move myself. She threw her arms around me, giving me a tight hug while I stood there, feeling slightly delirious.

“I knew it,” she sang into my ear while she patted me on the back. “You were always destined for greatness, and I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you for being here.” It was all I managed to say before the camera crew ushered me to the front of the room. As I stepped out of my row, I quickly kissed my fingers and pointed to the sky, thanking my mother in heaven before I took those daunting steps toward my future.

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