Page 30 of Pucking Obsessed

Madison sees them too, and I feel her pull away, slipping out of my grasp like water through my fingers.

“Madison—”

But she’s already walking away, heading toward the bonfire, her back straight and her steps quick. Rage surges through me, because I fucked up. I’ve never felt this helpless in my life, and it’s infuriating.

Bethany steps closer, her expression hesitant, but I don’t stop to really look at her. My focus is locked on Madison as she moves farther away, but the words leave my mouth before I can stop them. She needs to know that Tristan told me what happened while I was on the ice.

“If you raise your hand to Madison ever again,” I say, my voice cold and steady, “I’ll gut you and toss you over a cliff.”

Bethany freezes, her eyes wide as she stares at me.

“Trust me,” I add, glancing at her sharply. “No one will go looking for you.”

I don’t wait for a response because I don’t care about anything that bitch has to say. I stalk after Madison because I need to make this right.

MADISON

Ishouldn’t be here, but my vagina feels like someone lodged a telephone pole in it repeatedly. The walk across campus feels daunting, even though I’m freezing in this stupid tank top.

I should go back to my dorm, crawl under my blankets, and let everything that happened tonight crush me in private. But I know he’ll just come after me. Hayden always comes looking for me.

My skin prickles as I sense movement behind me, and when I glance toward the bonfire, I see him.

The glow of the fire flickers across his face, illuminating the sharp angles of his jaw, the intense glint in his eyes. He looks absolutely furious, and I suspect it has less to do with me and more to do with the way Kirsten is consoling a sobbing Bethany as they walk out of the treeline.

I fight the sudden urge to flip him off, my fingers twitching at my side. He’s acting like I’m upset that he fucked me up against a tree, but that isn’t it at all. I waited there for him, knowing he would find me. I’m angry because I let myself feel so connected to him, trusted him, and then he was totally distant. He was inside of me, hands gripping my skin so tightly I’ll probably havehis fingerprints on me tomorrow, but mentally he wasn’t there. I could see it on his face, he was thinking about something that, in my opinion, had nothing to do with the intimate moment we were sharing.

I realized then that I’m in over my head. When this is over with him, it’s going to hurt far worse than I could have imagined. I never expected for Hayden to love me, or for any of this to be more than a game of cat and mouse disguised behind sweet and sometimes unhinged gestures.

My attention is pulled to the other side of the fire, where Callum is arguing with a petite girl with long wavy chestnut hair. I recognize her from one of my classes, and I think she stuck out to me because I really like her name.

“My brother doesn’t care if I’m here,” Lilac says, her tone defiant as she glares up at Callum. The girl next to her rolls her eyes and walks over toward me, like she knows getting away from whatever is about to happen is her best option. It’s like this happens often, and she’s not fazed by them.

Callum chuckles, but there’s no humor in it. His expression is dark, his movements intimidating as he leans closer to her.

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m not your brother,” he says, and I don’t think in the handful of times I’ve been around him, I’ve ever seen him serious, let alone angry. “You’re not hanging out here, we’ve talked about this.”

Before she can argue, he grabs her and tosses her over his shoulder like she weighs nothing. I’ve heard Kirsten talking about him, and apparently he comes from a whole family of bull riders up in Castlebrook Falls.

My eyes widen as he nods toward Hayden, as if to say he has to go take care of something and won’t be around for a while. He turns, doing the same thing to Tristan who’s sitting by the fire with Winter perched on his lap.

Callum starts walking back toward the path that leads to campus. “Callum, put me down!” Lilac snaps, swatting at his backwards baseball cap.

In response, he slaps the back of her thigh, the sound sharp enough to make me wince. Lilac lets out a startled yelp, her voice high and indignant.

I feel Hayden’s gaze on me, heavy and unrelenting, and I instinctively turn my back to him because I need some time to compose myself.

Lilac’s friend sighs, nodding in Hayden’s direction. “Your boyfriend is staring holes into the side of my head, so I think I better go.”

Her chuckle is soft as she pats my arm and calls out, “Callum! Wait up! I don’t want to walk in the woods alone.”

I watch her jog after him, leaving me alone by the fire. Hayden starts toward me, his steps deliberate, his gaze locked on mine. My stomach tightens as I see the determination in his eyes, the kind that makes it impossible to look away.

But before he can reach me, all hell breaks loose. Three shots ring out, and on instinct I hit the ground. Three figures emerge from the tree line, their movements quick and calculated. They’re dressed in black hoodies, their faces obscured by masks, and their black cargo pants make them difficult to see in the darkness. The glint of metal in their hands freezes me in place. Guns. I vaguely hear Kirsten and Bethany screaming, but it’s like I’m in a tunnel and all I can focus on is the weapons.

My breath catches, my chest tightening as panic claws its way up my throat and my eyes find Hayden’s. “Ah, ah, ah, not so fast,” one of them says, his voice mocking as he steps into Hayden’s path toward me. He lifts his gun and points it directly at me and that’s the only thing that keeps Hayden from moving a muscle. I glance over and see Kirsten and Bethany holding each other and crying. They’re sitting down and one of the men liftshis gun and wacks Bethany across the temple with it so hard that she slumps over instead of screaming.

The man’s eyes glint with amusement. “Wouldn’t want the big, bad hockey captain playing the hero now would we? No, I think you’ve done enough of that lately, don’t you think? Beating the fuck out of anyone who looks at the new little bitch.”

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