Page 18 of Scoring Chance

“It just shows how dedicated you are. You did very well today. You made me proud.”

That softened the blow of the missed opportunity of my life, but just barely.

“Didn’t you meet Erik here?”

She grinned and nodded. “Yeah, but we didn’t start dating until he was done with therapy.”

I sighed. “So now that Kevin’s done…”

“Ugh, still might be a bad idea.”

She was right. Madi was a partner at the clinic. The same rules didn’t apply to a grunt like me. I liked this job too much to risk it.

“Plus, there are plenty of men, who aren’t patients here, you can date.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “Elena mentioned something like that. What’s the story?”

If someone else had asked me the same question I probably would have told them to mind their own business, but I’d been comfortable around Madi from the moment I met her, and I knew she was asking out of concern, not just to probe.

“My last relationship didn’t end very well.”

Her expression darkened. “I can relate. What happened?”

“I met a guy, Martin, in my program last year, and we started hanging out. At first, we just studied together, but after a few weeks he asked me out. We dated for almost nine months, up until last October. We were making plans about where we would apply for work and talked about moving in together.” I looked down. “We even discussed marriage.”

Madi nodded but didn’t interrupt.

“Then I got a call from a stranger. She told me she was his fiancé. They’d been together for three years, and she warned me to stay away from him.”

She gasped and covered her mouth. “No.”

“I was shocked. I thought it had to be a misunderstanding or she had him confused for someone else. She sent me pictures of them together from years before. She even sent me a wedding invitation. She told me she would ruin me if I didn’t leave him.” I shook my head at the memory of that horrible time. “I confronted him that night and broke up with him. He didn’t even bother denying it. He just said he loved us both. Even though I ended things and never contacted him again, she was a woman scorned. She blamed me for everything rather than realizing he had lied to us both. She spread rumors about me being unprofessional with the athletes. She said I was hooking up with them when I was supposed to be treating them.”

My shoulders sagged. “She got one of them to corroborate her story and said that I came onto him and would touch him inappropriately. All of that reached the professors. Some of them let their connections in the industry know. My reputation was ruined. I couldn’t get a job in Houston or anywhere in the area. That’s when Elena offered to have me move in with her. I thought it was cowardly of me to run away instead of confronting the lies, but when you called, I knew it was a sign. I had to get out of there if I wanted any chance of starting fresh.”

Madi didn’t speak for several seconds. “I’m so sorry, Amelia. You didn’t deserve that. Any of it. It makes me sad that a woman would do that to another, especially since it was Martin who should have paid for his crimes.”

I nodded. “They got married over Christmas break.”

She cringed. “They deserve each other.”

I laughed and froze. I never thought I would get to a point where I could feel anything but pain and rage. “They really do.”

I thought I loved Martin, but knowing what I know how horrible and vindictive he could be made me realize I was grateful his fiancé found me. She tried to destroy my life, but looking at my life now proved she didn’t come close.

She wagged her eyebrows. “And now you have NBA players asking you out.”

I scoffed. “Yeah, but it’s not like I’m going to say yes.”

“Maybe not, but what about a certain hockey player?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked with a laugh.

“I saw you last night with Derrek. There was definitely something there.”

I shook my head but didn’t argue. “I’m not ready to date. I’m still...recovering.”