Authors: Beth D. Carter
Great. He must think I’m mental.
First impression, shot to hell.
“Who’s singing first?” Jason asked, flipping through one of the karaoke books.
“Oh, I think the birthday girl should break the ice!” Lacey quipped.
This time, Madeline gave
her
the finger.
“I’ll go,” Hunter replied.
Cheers erupted. Madeline studied her fingernail when he stood up to punch in the code of the song he wanted. John handed over the mic and as Hunter waited, he did the proverbial check, check, check, which reverberated around the small room. The music kicked in and Madeline immediately recognized the Imagine Dragons song.
He wasn’t half bad. A little flat on the higher notes but then, who wasn’t in a karaoke bar? At least she got to ogle his ass while he sang to the monitor. She had to surreptitiously wipe the drool from the corner of her mouth. When he was done, everyone cheered and clapped enthusiastically. Immediately, Lacey handed her the mic and Madeline took a deep breath. She usually liked karaoke, only now she had a pair of heavenly blue eyes watching her and it made her nervous. She considered the old trick of imagining the audience in nothing but their skivvies. She smiled at the floor as she realized this would probably just make matters worse. Madeline punched the code to her song in, then waited a moment for the computer to find her track. The music started. She always sang the same damn thing whenever she and Lacey went to karaoke, which was probably way more times than she should admit to. Gloria Gaynor’s
I Will Survive
started and as soon as she opened her mouth, Madeline got lost in the song. Of course, it was a song about surviving a failed relationship, and to Madeline it was an anthem. Every time she sang it, she was giving an imaginary finger to Kevin, her ex.
When the final note closed, whistles and cheers erupted. Madeline curtsied and went to sit down, only she noticed Hunter now sat in the seat next to her. She smiled at him when she sat down.
“That was great,” he said.
“Thanks,” she replied and felt herself flushing once more.
What the hell is the matter with me? Am I that horny?
“You know, I wanted to say that you look awfully familiar to me.”
She cocked her head. “Is that a cheesy pick-up line?”
He laughed. “I swear it’s not. I can’t help but think—”
“Madeline lives next to Candle Park,” Lacey said.
Hunter snapped his fingers and pointed at Madeline. “You winked at me!”
“I did what?”
“Today, when I scored a goal. You winked at me.”
It took her a moment to place the wink. “You were playing inline hockey?”
“Yep. Every weekend at Candle.” He turned to face her fully and laid his arm along the top of the loveseat’s back. “You were walking a dog.”
Madeline nodded. “Portia. My German Sheppard. Wow. Small world.”
“I’ve never seen you watch any of the games. You know you’re welcome to.”
She shrugged. “Felt kinda fan-girlish just walking up and watching.”
“Let me tell you, all us guys like the pretty ladies watching.”
He took a swig of whatever alcohol was in his red cup and she couldn’t take her eyes off his profile. She hadn’t been called pretty in a long time, not since the early days of her and Kevin’s romance. Even five years later, it still hurt to think about him. Hunter turned his head and caught her staring at him, and a little grin tipped the corner of his mouth. She hastily looked away and grabbed the binder of the songs in the karaoke book.
“Hey, let’s sing one together,” Hunter suggested, nudging her arm.
She hadn’t gotten her higher brain functions back to proper working capacity after his sex appeal fried them, and he wanted to
sing
?
“Sure,” she said, then wondered who the heck abducted her body and answered for her. She sent Lacey a panicked look, but her friend only raised her cup in a salute, the damn traitor.
“You know this one, right?” he asked, pointing to a song.
She blinked. “You can rap?”
“’Course I can, yo,” he said, his arm in front of him as he did the Slim Shady Chop up and down.
Madeline laughed. “Okay, although Juicy J is no Eminem.”
“Got that right,” Jason called out.
Hunter punched in the song number and handed her a mic. The music to Katy Perry’s
Dark Horse
started up and Hunter jumped right in. She had a hard time not laughing at his antics as she sung her parts. His exaggerated hip-hop moves challenged the tiny, dank room to contain him. Or maybe it was because he had too much White Boy syndrome. Whatever it was, when it was his turn, he came in a beat too late and spent the whole part playing catch up. Madeline tried hanging in long enough to finish the song, but she was laughing too hard and completely missed the last couple of words.
Everyone clapped and cheered and as Madeline collapsed back onto her seat, she couldn’t remember a time when she’d laughed so hard in her life. Tears rolled out of the corners of her eyes. She met Hunter’s laughing eyes and they stared at one another for a long minute. Happiness spread through Madeline and suddenly, she was very glad she was able to share Hunter’s birthday with her own.
Chapter Two
“Red Wings are doing pretty well this year,” Hunter said and Madeline rolled her eyes. They sat facing each other, with Hunter’s arm along the back of the couch.
“That’s a cop out,” she argued.
“What? How is liking the Red Wings a cop out?”
“Because
everyone
likes the Red Wings.”
“All right, who is your favorite team?”
“Teams,” she corrected. “Flyers, Blues, and Kings. Hands down, best three teams.”
“Pfft,” he scoffed. “In an alternate universe, maybe. Okay, I’ll give you the Blues. But Flyers and Kings? No way. And besides, you didn’t mention an Atlantic division team.”
“I don’t like any Atlantic division teams. And you better not say—”
“Red Wings. Oh yes, I went there.”
She chuckled and took swing of soda. She’d long ago switched over, knowing she had to drive home. For the past hour she and Hunter had talked about hockey, and she had to admit, it was one of the best conversations she’d ever had.
“So when
is
your birthday?” he asked.
“December twentieth. When’s yours?”
“The third.”
“Oh, we missed it. Well, happy belated birthday.”
“Thanks,” he said. “Yours is a little worse than mine, being so close to Christmas.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I was allowed to pick one present from under the tree and that was my birthday present. I never had a party because school was out for the break and all my friends went away for the holiday.”
“Ouch,” he said.
She shrugged. “I always had Lacey. Her birthday is in January so her parents always included me in the festivities.”
“She seems nice. This is the first time I’m meeting her.”
Over his shoulder, she noticed Sarah
studying him, sizing up her next conquest. Clearly, Hunter was soon to become the hunted. It was obvious by the look on her friend’s face that Sarah was definitely interested. Madeline’s stomach sank at the thought of her friend and Hunter going out, but she couldn’t deny they would make a beautiful couple.
“Sarah’s nice too,” she said, hating the words that came out of her mouth. But, like an avalanche, she couldn’t seem to hold them back. “And she’s single. She’s really good at pool.”
He frowned a little and looked over his shoulder at the blonde. Sarah smiled at him, but Madeline couldn’t see his response. She turned and straightened. John was finishing up butchering a John Mellencamp song, but Lacey enthusiastically clapped like it had sounded like angels humming in tune.
“Hey,” Hunter said, grabbing her attention. Madeline put on a bright smile and turned back to him. He narrowed his eyes for a moment and straightened as well to set his empty cup on the table. “The three Js and I are going to Lucky’s Sports Bar this Friday to watch the hockey game. You want to come along?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said before she realized that it probably wasn’t the best idea to spend even more time with him. She already liked him and was attracted to him, and if he ended up dating Sarah, it would make her feel very sad. But when his eyes lit up and his very white teeth popped out from his smile, her good intentions flew right out the door.
“Well, peeps,” Lacey said in the microphone. “Our time at Christmas karaoke has come to an end.”
A round of boos flashed around the group.
“But before we go, we must sing Happy Birthday to Hunter and Madeline!”
And then John lifted open a box and a cake rested inside. Lacey hurriedly put in a number three candle and lit it.
“Three?” Hunter asked bemusedly.
“Both of you are still in your thirties, so I thought it appropriate,” Lacey replied.
Madeline was very glad her friend didn’t put the second number to her age. That Hunter was younger than her she had no doubt, but she didn’t want to advertise she was in the last leg of thirty-something while he looked like he was just entering the decade. Their assembled friends sung them the happy birthday song and then they both blew out the lone number candle. Madeline tried to ignore how wildly her heart thumped being so close to Hunter’s lips. They pursed and blew, and all she could think about was kissing him.
Chapter Three
“Oh my God, it was fifty dollars to skate here,” Lacey bemoaned as she sat down heavily next to Madeline. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t the fact that tomorrow is Christmas and this is our tradition.”
Madeline smirked at her. “That’s why I bring my own skates.”
“Who the fuck owns ice skates in Nevada?” her friend demanded.
“Who the fuck pays fifty dollars multiple times a year to ice skate?” Madeline retorted. “You could’ve already had them paid off.”
Lacey stuck out her tongue at her and proceeded to tie on the generic skates that resembled bowling shoes on blades. Madeline knew for a fact they were just about that uncomfortable too. It was one of the reasons she had custom skates.
“Oh good, they made it,” Lacey said a few minutes later.
Madeline looked up and saw the crowd from last night reassembled. Jason and Jake looked a little green around the collar while Sarah looked fresh as a daisy and super cute in her little, pink jacket and skin-tight jeans. For a split second, envy hit her. It would be nice to be able to wear dainty little things, miniskirts, and short shorts. Men turned and checked Sarah out, and although it was sexist behavior, she wanted to be the type of woman men looked at admiringly.
“Jason and Jake went out last night after our party,” Lacey said. A big smile graced her lips. “Looks like they’re going to throw up any minute. I think I’ll buy a hot dog and eat it slowly, making sure to breath the processed fumes in their faces.”
“You’re mean,” Madeline said with a laugh.
Lacey shrugged, twirled her fingers good-bye, and headed after the two hung-over men. Madeline glanced back toward Sarah, but her amusement died as soon as her gaze landed on Hunter. He came in right behind Sarah, smiling and talking with her. The sunlight hit his dark hair, highlighting the auburn streaks naturally streaming through the thick mass, and all of a sudden, Madeline was struck dumb. Last night she’d found him handsome in a mouth-watering kind of way. He’d made all her female parts stand up and shout
hallelujah!
But now she noticed the way his eyes crinkled at the corners. The small mole near his right eye. The way his mouth curled enticingly in amusement. In that millisecond, he’d gone from potential boy toy to existing in bold Technicolor, and it confused the hell out of her.
Why now did he suddenly seem so much
more
to her? True, she’d admired him, had even dreamed about him … a nice wet dream that had her reaching for her vibrator as soon as she’d woken up. Her six-inch, hot pink, plastic boyfriend cock had scratched the itch, but it hadn’t truly put out the fire. Now, seeing Hunter made the lingering smolder burn a little more. As he stood next to Sarah, leaning in a little to no doubt hear her melodic voice, her jealousy rose. For the first time since she and Sarah had become friends, she wanted to tear out the blonde’s perfectly coiffed hair. Of course, that only made guilt slice through her, giving her a complex. How could she turn on her friend like that?
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Madeline jumped up and hurried to the ice. She needed a moment to cool down and gather in her wayward lusty thoughts. The outdoor arena was packed, but most of the kids and slower people tended to hug along the wall, so she zoomed into the center and circled around a few times, breathing in the cold air to help settle her thumping heart and freeze the damn butterflies in her belly.
“Hey, Madeline!”
His voice was unmistakable and a second later, Hunter came zipping by her. He laughed and his deep baritone traveled above the din of people giggling and shrieking. In fact, most of the ladies, young and old, turned to gawk at how handsome he was, as well as talented on the rough ice. Madeline, used the bumps and divots made by other skaters, noticed Hunter’s grace, despite his big frame. It was nice to know that slap-shots weren’t his only skill on the ice. He skated up to her and grabbed hold of her waist to pull her into him for a hug.
“Hello, birthday girl!”
She couldn’t help but smile. “That was four days ago, Hunter.”
“And we’re going to party on through till Christmas tomorrow.”
Goodness, wouldn’t that be nice?
Madeline shoved the fanciful notion out of her head. “Did you come here with Sarah?”
“No,” he said. “I asked one of the Js where you were going to be today and he told me. I kind of dragged them here as an excuse, although I don’t know where John is. We ran into Sarah at the ticket booth.”
She blinked. Did that mean … did he come here for
her
?
Hunter took hold of her hand and began skating, following the flowing movement of the crowd. Madeline looked down at her hand in his and the stupid butterflies took off fluttering again. And her heart … well, it rivaled a stampede of horses with as much excitement as holding his hand caused.
Through their skating together, she watched him out of the corner of her eye. He waved at kids, nodded politely at all the old, horny women, and laughed each time Jason and Jake fell on their asses. Sarah went over once to help Jake, and he had latched onto her like a drowning man. Sarah had a bemused look upon her face, but she wasn’t pushing him away, so Madeline didn’t go over and try to rescue her. Sarah knew full and well what a player Jake was.
“I had a good time the other night at karaoke,” Hunter said.
“Yeah? Me too,” she replied.
“I was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner with me.”
She looked up at him in surprise. “Uh. Sure. I guess so.”
He smiled, and angels sang down from heaven. Madeline glanced skyward and glared at the tall speakers spouting out the heralded Christmas songs.
“Great! Now?”
That took her aback. “That’s … isn’t that a little too soon?”
He looked at his very expensive wrist watch. “Not really. It’s five o’clock somewhere.”
She laughed. “Rushing much?”
“I don’t want you changing your mind,” he admitted.
“I promise not to change my mind.”
He held out his pinkie. “Swear?”
She took it with hers, more than a little punch-drunk at his swirling light-heartedness. “I solemnly swear I’m up to no good.”
His blue eyes lit up with amusement. “Oh, I like Harry Potter too. Although I felt the third movie could’ve been a little better.”
Madeline nodded. “Me too! I kept waiting for the story from Remus, but he didn’t say it. I was quite disappointed.”
“The films did make me understand the Maurader’s Map better,” he admitted. “It was hard to visualize how it worked.”
“I agree,” she said. “And the Dementors were pretty damn scary.”
They looked at each other and started laughing.
“Wow, we really segued there, didn’t we?” he asked.
She nodded. “You like any other fantasy books or films?”
“Does the
Lord of the Rings
trilogy count, but not
The Hobbit
trilogy?”
“Totally,” she said instantly. “I liked the book but didn’t care that much for The Hobbit movies.”
They continued to talk as they skated around and around, with Hunter holding her hand. It wasn’t until her feet began to ache on the instep that Madeline had to admit defeat and told Hunter she had to quit, which made her sad. She didn’t want to see the day end. Having Hunter’s complete attention had managed to lift a spirit inside her she thought long ago had died. It was hard to feel attractive and sexy when the one person in the world who had vowed to love her no matter what just suddenly … didn’t. Kevin had looked her in the eye, while she still recovered in her hospital bed, and told her that she was no longer the woman he wanted. That she was no longer good enough to share his bed and be a part of his future. He’d left her lying there, unable to go after him, numb and shocked, with her heart freezing up inside her chest.
Madeline was grateful that Hunter was the one causing it to thaw a little. She wasn’t stupid enough to believe that this little flirtation of his meant a happy ever after. No, that ship was not hers to sail, and she’d accepted that a long time ago. Still, she couldn’t help but compare herself to Sarah, in a clinical way. They were as different as night and day. Blonde verses dark. Blue eyes verses brown. Where Sarah was thin in the right places and curvy where it counted, Madeline was just curvy everywhere. She wasn’t fat, but she would never be less than a size twelve, and she was happy with herself. It had been damn hard work to get rid of the excess flab and get to the point where she could run a mile without having a heart attack. For Madeline, being healthy was more important than being skin and bones.
“Listen, this is fun but I’ve really got to sit down,” she said.
Hunter looked at her in concern. “Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah,” she replied with a smile. “But even in custom skates my feet start hurting after an hour.”
“Sure,” he said.
He gripped her hand a little tighter and led her through the throng of people. She couldn’t help but notice his effort to slow down for her despite his natural athleticism and long legs. The complete opposite of Kevin’s exaggerated exasperation over having to wait for her at various times through the years, the last time over the nurse’s slow pace as she pushed Madeline’s wheelchair down the hospital corridor that terrible day.
“That was a thousand-mile journey.”
Hunter’s voice cut through her musings.
“Huh?” she asked. “Oh. Sorry.”
“Where did you go?”
The smile on his lips matched the softness in her eyes. It soothed away the painful memory.
“Oh, nowhere. But thanks.”
He raised one dark eyebrow. “Thanks?”
She gestured to the ice. “Leading me through the skaters.”
Madeline sat down with Hunter right next to her. She looked around to find the others and saw Jake still skated with Sarah, Jason was in the corner flirting with two girls who barely looked of legal age, and Lacey was off the ice talking on her cell phone.
A thump next to her caught her attention and she looked down to see Hunter line up his skates. They were nice ones. Custom made.
“You don’t have to quit skating because of me, you know.”
“Madeline, I only came out here
because
of you,” Hunter replied softly. He picked up her hand and linked their fingers once again.
She couldn’t take her gaze off how much darker his flesh tone was compared to hers. Tingles swarmed over her skin, up her arm, to make her mouth run dry. What he was doing to her should be downright illegal. Wait! No! If it was illegal she’d be left hanging for a long fucking time. Better it was perfectly legal and invite him back to her house where she could ride him into tomorrow.
Um, crazy much?
“So how about that late lunch slash early dinner?” he asked.
She smiled. “I’m starving.”