Page 44 of Breakaway Hearts

My reassuring smile disappears the second I see his eyes. They’re haunted, like he’s thinking of tearing me limb from limb.

“I won’t,” I promise, but the warning lingers.

I shower and get dressed, then hurry out to where Tab and the other friends and family are waiting, but I don’t see Madison anywhere.

“Where did your friend go?”

“You mean Madison?” She raises an eyebrow like I should have told her.

“How do you even know…”

“Even if Mike hadn’t told me her name, you’ve still made it clear you’re pining over the goalie’s roommate, so⁠—”

“I’m not pining for her,” I argue, but it isn’t like I want to tell my sister it’s all about the chase. We were interrupted before we could rock each other’s worlds with what promised to be mind-blowing sex, if the kiss was any indication, and I’d like to remedy that. I’m pretty sure Madison does too, she just also wishes I wasn’t me. Which is harder to work around than other hangups.

“Whatever you want with her,” Tab says pointedly. “Pretty sure she doesn’t want it with you.”

“Are you telling me to stop pursuing her?”

“God, no. I’m going to enjoy watching your attempts to woo her.”

“I’m incredibly charming. And good at wooing.”

“You were at fourteen,” she agrees, “but you’ve gotten by on your looks and a smile since then.”

“You wound me, T.”

“I’m still on your side. I’ll just enjoy it when she makes you suffer.”

“How sweet. So she left?”

“As soon as we got the first whiff of hockey player. Not that she said anything,” she says before I can ask, “but Colt thinks it’s hilarious.”

“Playing hockey is literally the only thing she has against me,” I remind her.

“So far,” she agrees with a smile.

“You coming to the house?”

“Can I drink there?”

“Will you tell anyone who will let it get back to Mom, Dad, or Sarah?”

I think I’d rather my mom find out than my eldest sister.

Tab puts out her pinky so we can promise not to tattle, which is a fair trade if it means I can have twenty of my closest friends keeping an eye on her tonight.

Chapter Seventeen

Madison

God, I was stupid

Owen wasn’t kidding. I was hoping for a seat where I could get lost in the crowd, but there was a lineup of people waiting for no-shows, and the arena is absolutely packed. Thankfully, my stomach is way too nervous for food, because those lines wrap around a bunch of times before going out the door.

The players’ section is slightly less crowded, but there’s a girl sitting in the seat next to mine, drawing very intently. I don’t want to pry, but she erases something, and I get a glimpse of her full page while she brushes off the eraser dust. It’s a dress; part elegant, part ‘I’m about to take over the world.’ I’ve never really been into fashion, to the chagrin of Jason’s mom, who’s a designer, but I can see what she means when she says a dress has personality; this one is badass.

“Oh my God, that’s amazing,” I say before I can think better of it.