Page 158 of The Obvious Check

“At least I’ve seensomething. Can I say the same for you?”

Silence.

Holy shit, she went there. We all know how hard it is for Henry to get dates these days, the kid has the game of a wet paper bag,but no one's mentioned it to his face. Madison did, though. She's absolutely ruthless.

“Ouch,” Henry gripes, and I almost feel bad for him.

She pokes her lip out in mock sympathy. “Aw, I’m sorry. I’ll stop if you tell me what happened last night.”

Henry raises his hands and looks at me with unease. “Sorry, Mads, not my place.”

“Seriously?” She looks at Dash first, who’s laid back in the recliner with his eyes closed and his hands laced across his stomach, trying to ignore my sister the only way he knows how… by pretending to be unconscious. It’s a pretty effective strategy, considering she’s managed to get most things out of him before. Although last night was more action than my giant goalie bestie has seen in a while, so he might actually need the sleep.

Her gaze turns back to Henry, who laughs stiffly under the scrutiny before straightening his shoulders and cracking his knuckles. Madison rolls her eyes, knowing she’s going to get nothing out of him. Then she turns to Savannah, who’s perched beside me, ignoring Madison’s interrogation entirely by rummaging through the first aid box.

She raises her hands in annoyance. “Ugh. This is worse than the Scotty and Erik debacle. What the hell happened between the two of them, anyway?”

Silence again. My poor sister is getting absolutely nothing, and I guess it's down to me to throw her a bone so she'll stop circling like a goddamn vulture.

“Nothing happened,” I mutter, grimacing as Savannah moves up to the cut on my forehead that feels like it's been split open with an axe.

“Pfft.” Madison scoffs. “Like I believe that bullshit.” She throws her hands up. “Look after Stanley, they said. Dash and Henry are helping me with a surprise for Savannah, they said. Thentheycome home looking like they made out with a waffle iron all night and expect me not to ask questions?”

Stanley, who’s lying on his back at Madison’s feet, lets out a single bark before looking at me with his tongue hanging out.

“Thank you, Stanley. I’m glad someone understands my peril in this household.”

I sigh, rolling my shoulders carefully. “Look. The less you know, the better.”

Madison’s shoulders drop, and she raises her head to the sky. “Oh my gosh. You guys are acting like you went to some fight club last night and no one can talk about it.”

Silence.

Her smirk drops as she looks between us again, no one making eye contact this time. “Guys?”

More silence.

“What the fuck happened?”

I grit my teeth, shifting slightly, and grunt in pain because breathing is apparently a luxury I can't afford right now. Savannah wrapped my ribs last night and even though Henry was sure they were just bruised to hell and not broken, it's going to take me some time to feel human again.

“Nothing,” I repeat, my tone making it clear I’m done with this conversation.

Madison’s eyes narrow. “Someone has to tell me. You have a game tonight, Cade. How are you supposed to play looking like roadkill?”

“He’s not playing,” Dash answers, gracing us with his dark eyes opening for the first time in twenty minutes. Still as expressive as a brick wall, but that seems to be all he wants to add to the conversation.

Madison blinks. “Excuse me?”

Henry sighs, rubbing a hand down his face. “Dash and I will let Coach know Cade fell down a couple of stairs and he’ll be ready for the next game.”

“Oh, and Coach is going to be totally fine with you feeding him that line of complete horseshit?” Madison asks.

Henry shrugs. “Why not? I study sports medicine, so I probably know more than him about the injuries anyway.”

“Cocky much?” She exhales loudly. “You’re all sketchy as fuck, you know that?”

No one says anything because we all know if we do, Madison will pounce like a cat on a laser pointer.

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