Authors: Melissa Johns
“Don’t go. I want to chat with you.” He ran his fingers across her cheek as she backed into the wall.
“Don’t touch me,” she yelled. She tried to move away from him. He managed to grab her shoulder to stop her and ripped the strap on her top tank. She quickly grabbed it as she raised her knee into his groin. “I said to keep your hands off of me!”
“You bitch!”
She ran from the room and towards the kitchen when she ran into Alicia. She grabbed her shoulders. “What the hell happened?”
“One of their friends just grabbed me and ripped my shirt. He’s bent over in the den.”
Alicia screamed for Carter as he and Hunter came running into the house. Hunter’s eyes grew dark as he ran over to her. “Are you ok?”
Alicia told them what had happened. Carter raced towards the den as Hunter held
Madison in his arms. “If I go in there right now, I will kill him.”
She looked at Alicia. “Can I borrow a top?”
She nodded. “Of course, come on let’s go find something to wear.”
She took her hand and led her to the staircase. She could hear Carter screaming at Eric. “If you look at her again, I will kill you. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I’m drunk! She’s hot! She didn’t have to knee me!”
Madison
stopped and listened to them as Hunter came up behind her. “Go change, Maddy. I don’t want you to overhear this.”
She frowned as they climbed the stairs. Hunter disappeared into the room and shut the door.
She looked at Alicia. “He’s not going to hurt him, right?”
“I can’t guarantee that but Carter is there to supervise.”
They walked into her closet and Alicia grabbed a similar top to what she was wearing. “You are bigger on top than me but this one is larger. Try that one and see if it fits.”
Madison
took off the ripped top and pulled the new one over her head. “It’s good. Thank you. I can’t believe that just happened.”
Alicia sighed. “Some men are idiots. He won’t be allowed back here again. I never liked him to begin with. He hit on my friend last year and made her feel uncomfortable.”
“Why are men like that? I told him to get away from me.”
“It’s not all men. Men like Eric think that nothing will touch them. He’s wealthy, powerful just because he’s an athlete. It’s sickening.”
There was a knock on the door as Hunter opened it. “Hey, you ok?”
Madison
nodded as she threw her shirt into the trash can. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”
“No but I was pretty close to it. He’s been escorted out of the house by a few of the guys and they are driving him home.” He looked at Alicia. “Can I have a second alone with her?”
“Of course,” she said as she left.
Madison
wrapped her arms around him. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”
He pulled away from her and braced her face. “You did nothing wrong! Eric is loser who overstepped his boundaries. Believe me I set him straight that you are mine. I just want to make sure you were ok.”
She nodded. “I actually felt pretty good after kicking him.”
Hunter laughed and embraced her again. “I would have loved to see that. At least I know that my girl can protect herself!”
She laughed. “Come on, let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
They joined the rest of the party as people came up and asked if she was ok. Carter jumped up from his chair and hugged her. “I’m so sorry, Maddy.”
“I’m fine, really. I promise you that I am. I feel good that I protected myself. I’m just glad that you and Hunter were around.”
“I am too, come on let me grab you a burger.”
She enjoyed the rest of the evening talking with Alicia’s friends. She stayed away from most of the hockey players. The girls were discussing wedding details as everyone’s attention went to the far side of the deck.
A beautiful blond walked towards the group with her arm linked with a handsome, well build man.
Madison assumed it was another teammate but looking at Alicia and Carter, she sensed that something was wrong. Alicia kept glancing at Hunter and then quickly looked at Madison and smiled.
Carter got up and shook hands with whoever the man was. He nodded towards the female. She was striking. Her blond hair was professionally cut and shaped her face. She was tall and skinny and wore a very revealing sundress.
Madison looked at Hunter as he got up and walked into the house. She looked back at Alicia as the blond spoke. “Hey everyone, you look surprised to see me!”
Madison
watched as the females rolled their eyes. “I’m just surprised that you would show your face here, Danielle,” one of Alicia’s friends stated.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You know exactly what that means. I see that you found your way to another hockey player, how unlike you.” They laughed.
Danielle started to walk towards the other lady. “You need to watch what you say!”
Alicia jumped up. “Ok, we have had enough drama for one day! Danielle, you know why people are ticked to see you here. I didn’t realize that you were dating Adam or I would have told him not to bring you.”
She laughed. “I swear to God, you never liked me! Too bad I didn’t screw Carter that would have shut you up!”
Madison jumped up and grabbed Alicia before she could take a swing at her. Danielle looked at her. “You are new. Who are you?”
She didn’t realize that Hunter had come back out onto the porch. “She’s my girlfriend. Do you have something to say about it?”
Danielle instantly turned around to face Hunter. “Hunter Longo. How long has it been?”
“Not long enough. Why the hell are you here?”
“I wanted to announce my engagement! You remember Adam.” She dangled the huge diamond ring in front of him.
Hunter shook his hand and laughed. “
Wilson, you deserve her.”
Adam stepped up to Hunter. “It’s history, Longo. Let it go already. We all make mistakes.”
Madison watched him as he moved to grab her hand. “I’m leaving.”
Everyone groaned. Alicia jumped in. “Please don’t leave.”
“It’s ok. Hunter wants to go and I want to spend some time with him before his trip tomorrow. I will call you in the afternoon and we will go over wedding stuff.” She hugged Alicia.
Danielle smirked at her. “So, you are the flavor of the month?”
Hunter didn’t say anything as he moved past them and around the house. He helped Madison into his truck and headed towards his house. She wasn’t sure how to approach what had just happened. They pulled into his driveway and he sat there.
“I’m sure you want to know what’s going on.” He calmly stated.
She nodded. “It would help with the thousands of questions that are circling in my head.”
“Come on, I will explain everything.” They headed towards his house as they entered his massive living room. “Can I get you something to drink?”
She nodded. “Anything is fine with me.” She followed him into the kitchen and walked onto his covered patio. She sat down as he handed her a glass of wine. “It’s beautiful out here.”
Hunter took a sip from his beer bottle and lay back in his chair. “Danielle is my ex-girlfriend. We dated for awhile as she screwed almost every guy on the roster.”
“Oh my God, that’s horrible!”
“Yep, she made her rounds. She ticked off a lot of people because she even slept with the married guys.”
Madison gasped. “Well, that’s their fault too but it’s not right. No wonder all the girls were getting upset.”
He nodded. “Alicia hates her with a passion. She tried to get her claws into Carter and I thought Alicia was going to kill her. Luckily, your brother is a great man. So, after she was revealed for being the whore that she is, I left her. But, I didn’t have a real relationship for a long time after her. I didn’t trust anyone. Then, I met you. How could I not trust you? You were an angel, so innocent and sweet.”
She blushed as she raised her glass to her lips. “You are a good guy, Hunter.”
“I don’t deserve you. You deserve better than me. Tonight alone I put you in two difficult situations.”
“Both events had nothing to do with you. The idiot was drunk and out of line and you had no idea that she would come. We handled both things.”
“But if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be in these situations. You don’t know the evils of this world because you lived by yourself, protected in your dome. You meet me and all these things start happening to you. It’s my fault.” He stood up and walked around the patio.
Madison walked over to him. “Hunter, you need to calm down. I don’t see it that way at all. You are letting me live life. Just enjoy it with me.”
He turned around and faced her. “Come on, I will drive you home.”
“I thought we were staying here tonight.”
He closed his eyes and sighed. “Not tonight. I need some time to get things ready for the trip.”
She frowned. “Oh ok.”
They walked to his truck as he drove her home. He pulled into a parking space and let the truck idle.
Madison looked at him. “Why do I have this horrible feeling in my stomach that you are breaking up with me?”
He didn’t say anything. “We can talk when I get home, ok?”
Madison started to cry as she hopped from his truck. She heard him follow her. “Madison! You deserve better than me! I’m going to be traded! You don’t need all my personal issues or drama.”
“So you are going to shut me out? I want to be there for you, help you. I haven’t judged you once about anything. So what if you slept around, I never said a word about it. You are creating this issue, not me!”
Mike walked from the building and spotted their argument. “Hey guys, is everything ok?”
Hunter looked at him. “Look after her, ok? She needs someone who she can trust.” He turned around and hopped back into his truck and left.
Madison collapsed to the blacktop as Mike ran over to her.
“
Madison? What the hell just happened? Are you ok?”
She cried into her hands. “Hunter broke up with me.”
“What! Why?” he asked.
“I need to call Alicia.”
He nodded and helped her off the driveway. He remained quiet as they climbed the stairs. He placed his hand on her arm. “I’m right here if you want to talk later, ok? Just knock and walk in.”
She barely acknowledged him as she walked into the apartment and shut the door. She walked over the couch and collapsed. She didn’t know what she did wrong. She heard her phone ring. “Alicia?”
“Maddy, I’m on my way. Hunter called me and asked that I would come and check on you. He’s an ass, Maddy! Don’t you think twice about this, you didn’t do anything wrong. See you a few.”
She hung up and laid on the couch. She wiped her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She heard Alicia running up the stairs and open the door. “Oh Maddy, you will be ok.”
“What did he say to you?”
“He told me that you were pretty upset. He can’t get over his issues and the fact that he’s moving away from you. He loves you, Madison and he will come back. Just let him take some time.”
“Did we break up?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me. He just told me to come over and make sure you were ok.”
Madison rolled to her side and faced away from her. “I need to know where I went wrong, Alicia. He blames himself for putting me into these situations but I never said a word about anything.”
Alicia rubbed her back. “That’s why this is on him, not you!”
“He made me realize that there was a world out there and then he ditches me.”
She sighed. “He didn’t ditch you. He will be back because he won’t find someone as good as you.”
She closed her eyes. “You don’t have to stay. I’m fine.”
Alicia laughed. “You are far from fine. I told Carter that I would spend the night. I’m sure he’s giving Hunter a piece of his mind.”
“I don’t want them to fight over this.”
She chuckled. “Your brother will be on your side in any situation. He was nervous from the beginning about your relationship.”
There was a knock on the door. Madison jumped up thinking that Hunter changed his mind. She opened the door and spotted Mike. “Oh, hey Mike.”
He smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt but I really didn’t want you to be alone.”
Alicia walked over to the door. “She’s not, I’m here. Hey sexy, how’s life?”
Madison
rolled her eyes as she walked through the living room and onto the balcony. She sat down and put her feet up on the railing. Alicia joined her short time afterwards. “He’s a nice guy. I told him that I was staying with you tonight so he went back to his place.”
She nodded. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“About what, honey?”
“Life, I guess.”
“You are going to keep on living it. You moved here for a reason, you wanted a fresh start and a career. Tomorrow morning, you will wake up. Come shopping with me, look for that new job and get ready for school!”