Page 48 of Breakaway Hearts

“Fuck all of you.”

I sip my beer, but my eyes stay on Madison, who is smiling with Carl, only occasionally looking over to see where Jason is at. I’ve never been a jealous guy; Cami was incredibly loyal – until she wasn’t – and I haven’t dated anyone at Wynchester. But as much as I love Spring, I might growl at him if he tried to talk to me now.

I get the tiniest bit of relief when he pulls out his phone and tries to hand it to her, but she shakes her head, looking way more apologetic and less like she hates him than when she turned me down. She even keeps smiling at him until he gets up and walks back to his table.

Madison grabs her coat as if she’s about to leave, so I ignore the guys who are probably still teasing me, and catch her.

“If I was any less confident, I would think it’s me.”

“You have the biggest ego I’ve encountered, so I’m sure you’re fine,” she says with the kind of sigh you can hear the eye roll in, but there are cracks in her resting bitch face. Like she was waiting for me to come over.

Like she wanted me to.

And that’s not me being obtuse. I’m not blocking her exit or anywhere near touching her, but she puts her little purse on the table and sinks her weight back into her chair.

I lean in like I have a secret, then bite my bottom lip to hide the smile when she leans in closer to hear it.

“You know he’s a hockey player, right?” I whisper, letting my breath send shivers along her neck. I don’t know what game I’m playing, but watching her breath hitch…I think I’m losing.

“Yeah, but he’ll never go pro,” she whispers back.

“That’s cold, Mads.” I laugh, shaking my head, but she doesn’t look like she’s joking. Or like she’s trying to be mean, but she’s right.

“He’s studying to be an accountant,” she tells me, which is surprising. I would not see any of the Springs working white collar jobs, but whatever floats his boat.

“Is it the fame or the fortune that turns you off?” I’m genuinely curious. But going from no athletes to no career athletes means there’s some wiggle room.

“Mostly the attitude.”

“You love my attitude,” I call her on it.

“Was there a point to you coming over here?”

I want to remind her that she didn’t deny it, but I don’t want to change that.

“What will it take for you to give me a chance?” I ask instead, very aware it’s the same thing I asked about Jason and the team, but if I thought her helping me to get him to join meant I’d somehow won her over, I was dead wrong.

“Not gonna happen,” she warns.

“Because I’m a hockey player.”

“You are.”

“Your best friend is a hockey player,” I remind her. “A good one,” I add.

“The best,” she agrees. “But I trust him.”

Not for the first time, she looks sad about this.

“What will it take for you to trust me?” I try, smiling at her with the cocky confidence I know she hates to love, but I’m surprised by how much I really want to know. Hockey’s not the real issue, so what is?

She looks like she wants to say something, but the guy at the takeout counter puts a bag down and calls out, “Finch!”

Madison winces, then shakes it off and sighs. “You take care, Brooks,” she tells me before leaving with Jason and the food.

Turning me down, yet again.

I know it’s a cliché, that you want what you can’t have, and the more she says no, the more I’ll want her….but honestly…I already wanted her from the start. It’s just that the more I talk to her, the more I want to know her.