Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
MADELINE
I’m pouting, and I know it. Still, I can’t stop it. I’m also really fucking pissed. My emotions are all over the place.
I cross my arms and stare straight ahead, not at the ice, not at Luke, not at anything. My jaw is starting to hurt from clenching it.
Georgia leans in, I’m sure having caught my mood shift. I was slightly mortifying her with my screaming before now.
“What happened? You were just screaming at the ref like a lunatic.”
“Nothing.” The word comes out sharp with a huff.
“Maddie.” She laughs, grabbing my arm. “You made a shirt. With his name on it. You’re not a ‘nothing’ girl.” I’m really not. Why can’t I play it cool? Act unbothered. Boys don’t affect me, but I swear Luke is more man than boy.
“He was staring at them,” I tell her because I tell her everything at the end of the day.
“Who?”
“The Ice Crew.” I nod to the girls in sparkly outfits doing their routine on the other side of the rink. “The whole time they were out there. He couldn’t take his eyes off them.” The more he stared, the more the green-headed monster that currently resides inside of me emerged.
Whenever he has a spare second, his eyes come to me. Georgia follows my gaze, then looks back at me.
“Madeline, no.” She’s fighting a laugh. I don’t know what the hell is funny. Not the Ice Crew or that one fucking ref with the blond hair.
“Yes.” How did she not see it? It was clear as day. I bet if I were close enough, I would have seen drool.
“He was probably zoning out, waiting to get back in the game or contemplating what player to lay out next.” That had been hot as hell. I noticed number 14 never came back either.
“He was staring.” My voice cracks a little, and I hate that. “I made this stupid shirt, and he’s staring at girls in sequins.” Did I jump in too quickly? My heart is screaming no, but my brain is screaming yes.
“You’re being crazy.”
“Am I?” I look back at the ice. Luke’s skating hard, but I can feel him trying to catch my eye. I don’t give it to him. He should have appreciated it while he had it. Now he can do without. See how he likes that.
Then I hear it. Behind us, a few rows up.
“Did you see Locke watching the Ice Crew?” Lana’s voice is loud enough to carry. “Poor guy looked like he was starving. He’s already looking for his next victim.” I bite the inside of my cheek, fighting not to snap back about her own victim.
Her friends laugh, like they always do, at anything she says. “That shirt his girlfriend made, though,” someone else says. “So fucking embarrassing.”
“Right?” Lana says. “All that effort for him to be checking out the talent.”
“Don’t listen to her. She’s a bitch,” Georgia says, but Lana is just saying what I’m already thinking.
The shirt suddenly feels ridiculous. Handmade.
Desperate. I spent a few hours on it. I’d been so excited for him to see it.
I guess it covers too much skin and lacks sequins. That’s clearly now what he’s into.
The game ends. We win. I stand with Georgia and walk out without waiting to see if Luke’s looking.
On the car ride to the hotel, I keep my phone in my pocket. It’s going off nonstop, vibrating, but I ignore it.
Georgia keeps glancing at me. “You’re really not going to talk to him?”
“Nope.”
“Madeline, what if you’re wrong?”
“What if I’m not?”
She sighs. “Then he’s an idiot. But I think you are. I think you’re scared and looking for a reason to run.”
I don’t answer. She’s probably right. But I’m too far in now. The walls are already going up.
When we make it to the hotel, we head straight for the elevator and up to our room.
Our room looks like a small bomb went off in it. I changed and got ready in a hurry. I drop down onto the bed, my phone going off again. I can’t fight the temptation any longer. I look.
Luke: Where are you?
There are a handful of other texts before it. Asking me if I’m okay. That he wants to see me tonight. That he loved my shirt, and he wants me in it and nothing else.
I type back, “Tired. Going to sleep.”
Three dots appear. Disappear. Appear again.
Luke: I’m coming up.
Me: No.
Luke: Madeline…
It’s only a text, but I can hear him saying my name with a warning in it.
I turn the phone face down. I can’t explain it without sounding insane. Without admitting I made a shirt for a guy who can’t stop looking at other girls.
There’s a knock at my door.
I freeze. It’s not him. He doesn’t know my room number.
“Madeline?” Georgia’s voice comes from the other side of the door. “Let me in.” She ran to go get drinks.
I open the door. She’s alone, holding two bottles of water.
“He’s losing his mind down there,” she says. “Asking everyone where you are. I had to make sure he didn’t see me so he wouldn’t follow me.”
“Good.” If I’ve lost my mind, he can lose his too.
“Madeline.” She sits on the other bed. “You have to talk to him, or this is going to explode.”
Another knock sounds at the door. Harder. Urgent. My heart jumps. We both look at the door, knowing who it is already.
“Madeline?” Luke’s voice sounds muffled through the wood. “Open up.”
Georgia and I stare at each other.
“Tell him to go away,” I whisper.
She raises an eyebrow. “You tell him. See how well it works.”
Fine, I’m not scared of him. I walk to the door but don’t open it. “Go away, Luke.”
“That’s not happening.”
“I’m tired. I need my beauty rest.”
“You’re already beautiful.” My hand is on the doorknob. I should keep it closed. “We can do this the hard way or the easy way.”
“What’s the hard way?” I ask, and half a second later I hear the key card lock click. The door starts to open, and I quickly take a step back and then another. Luke fills the whole freaking frame of the doorway.
He’s standing there in his team jacket, hair still damp from the shower, eyes wild and desperate. He looks at me like I’m the only thing in the world.
It pisses me off.
“You want to know what you did?” I step toward him, tilting my chin up, wanting to appear confident and not hurt. “You stared at them. The whole time they were out there. You couldn’t stop looking.”
His face goes blank. “What?” His eyes flick over my shoulder, and I glance back to see Georgia staring at us.
“The Ice Crew. The sparkling girls.” I hate the slight crack in my voice. “I made you a shirt, Luke. I stood there screaming for you. And you were staring at them like—” I can’t even finish.
“Madeline.” He starts to smile. I narrow my eyes at him. I’m being ridiculous and irrational, but for some reason, I can’t stop it. I just keep going. Luke is rubbing off on me. Now I’m acting like him.
“Don’t think I won’t punch you in the dick.”
“Buttercup, I know you’re more than capable of that.” He reaches for me, and I take another step back. “I was thinking about you. How boring they were compared to you. How you actually give a shit and they don’t.”
“Bullshit.”
“All right, ask Georgia then.” He nods toward my best friend.
“She’s on my side.”
“Then she’ll tell you the truth,” he counters. “Georgia, you know of me ever eye-fucking anyone before? That you’ve seen?” She shakes her head no.
“He doesn’t, Maddie. That’s why everyone is always staring at the two of you. They are all shocked. There were stupid rumors I think Lana was behind. She’s had a thing for him for years. I mean, you heard her in action tonight. She was trying to get under your skin.”
Luke closes the space between us. I don’t move. His hand comes up and cups my jaw. “I’m fucking crazy for you, and if you don’t see that, I can step it up a few notches.” His thumb traces my cheekbone.
“Yeah, let’s not do that because you’re already too intense,” Georgia says. I keep my lips pressed together because maybe I do enjoy how intense he is.
“I’m obsessed with you. I’m crazy about you.” He leans in, his breath hot against my ear. “You want to be mad at me? Fine. But you’re still my girl.”
I push against his chest, but he doesn’t move. I have to fight a smile. “Luke—”
“You made me a shirt.” His other hand finds my waist and pulls me closer. “You yelled at a ref for me. You think I’m going to let you pull back now because you got scared?”
“I’m not scared.”
“You’re terrified.” His mouth is almost on mine. “Same as me. Every fucking day.”
I should push him away. But I don’t.
I grab his jacket and pull him down, kissing him hard and desperately. He makes a sound in his throat, hands tightening on me, lifting me slightly so I’m pressed against the wall.
This is what we do. Fight and burn and crash into each other.
“I’m, ah, still here, guys.” Georgia’s voice cuts through the lust filling me.
Luke pulls back just enough to breathe. “My room.” I nod in agreement. He puts me back on my feet, grabbing my hand.
“You kids have fun!” Georgia calls after us. I let him lead me back to his room because I’m just as obsessed as he is.