Authors: Melissa Johns
“What’s that, sweetheart?”
Madison leaned into him and whispered. “I need you to kiss me.”
Hunter smiled. “Oh, I think I could manage to help you in that department.” He bought his lips to hers and paused right before he made contact. His fingers wrapped around her the side of her neck as her breathing rapidly increased. “You are a beautiful person, Madison Sinclair.”
Madison smiled and looked at him. “Flattery will get you everywhere.” With that comment, he captured her lips. His tongue parted her lips as their soft moans filled the room. She was lost in her own world as everything around her disappeared.
“Man, that’s my sister!”
Hunter backed away slightly and looked at Madison. “To be continued.” He turned to Carter and playfully flipped him off.
“That was a good game, Carter,”
Madison said as she grabbed her purse and hopped off the barstool. Hunter grabbed her hand and they left his suite.
“Thanks, it was a lot of fun. Did you guys want to hang out tonight?”
Alicia piped in quickly. “Let them have some alone time tonight, we will get her again tomorrow once we are back at the beach.”
Madison
smiled. “Is that ok, Carter?”
Carter smiled. “Yeah, that’s fine. Just so you know, mom and dad are gone. They left for the airport after the game. She is ticked off about everything so I’m not sure when they will make an appearance again.”
Madison shrugged. “I’m not worried about it. I can’t allow them to get under my skin anymore.”
“Good for you!” Alicia shouted a little bit too loudly. “Sorry, too much to drink, I guess.”
They laughed as they headed towards the players exit at the back of the arena. They were quickly surrounded by other hockey players.
“Sinclair! Nice game, when are you heading back to the west coast?” Some other player yelled out at him.
“Next month, long road trip, I will kick your ass soon, don’t worry about it,” Carter replied.
“Yeah right, you and Longo couldn’t take me on,” the guy said as he came closer to Carter. “Though I would like to get to know that girl better,” he said as he pointed towards
Madison.
She felt Hunter’s arm tighten around her. “Watch your step, Miller.”
“What? She has got to know that there is someone better than you out there, Longo!”
Hunter let go of her hand and approached the obnoxious guy. “She’s spoken for, Miller. You are going to miss your bus if you don’t leave now. I suggest that you keep moving.”
Carter walked over to them. “Break it up, guys. Miller, that’s my sister. Just watch your tongue or I will beat the shit out of you.”
“She’s your sister? Where the hell have you been hiding her all these years? She’s hot!”
Before Hunter could even curl his fist, Carter hit the guy right in the face. He continued his assault on him as Hunter and a bunch of other guys came to break it up. Hunter pulled Carter off of him and pushed him up against the wall.
“I’m going to sue you, Sinclair! You broke my nose.”
“Then you should have listened to my warning!” Carter yelled.
One of the other teammates jumped in. “Guys, knock it off. Miller, you were way out of line. That’s his sister and clearly Longo’s girl!”
“Man! You let Longo date your sister? That guy has been around the block more than I have!” Miller yelled at Carter. “No way in hell would I let my sister anywhere near that guy!”
Carter didn’t have a chance to move as Hunter launched himself at Miller. He grabbed him by his jacket and pinned him up against the wall. “Watch it, Miller. I swear to God, I will finish what Sinclair started.”
Miller laughed at him. “Once she realizes what a loser you are, send her my way. I will show her how a real man pleases a woman.”
In a split second, Hunter punched him in the stomach with a heavy fist and then a hard punch to the face. A bunch of other guys ran over and broke up the fight. Alicia ran over to
Madison and took her by the hand. “You don’t need to see or hear anymore of this. We are going.”
“Are they going to be ok?”
Madison asked.
“They are idiots. Yes, our guys will be fine. I think Miller will need some medical attention though.”
They walked across the street and got into Alicia’s car and drove back to their apartment. During the car, Madison softly sobbed. “Alicia, what the hell just happened?”
“Miller is a huge pain in the ass. He is always getting suspended and getting into trouble around the league. He’s a major hothead and he found a way to get to Carter and Hunter.”
Madison put her head against the glass. “I’m not good with conflict, Alicia. I grew up around it and I don’t want to revisit it anytime soon. After watching Hunter beat up that guy, it showed me a different side of him.”
Alicia quickly jumped in. “He was standing up for you!”
“I realize that but it turned ugly so fast, Alicia. Plus, what did Miller mean by saying all that stuff about Hunter’s past?”
“Don’t you give that another thought, Carter and I would never have allowed you near him if we didn’t think he was a stand up guy.”
Madison remained quiet for the rest of the drive back to the apartment. As soon as they returned, she decided to take a shower and try to forget about what happened. As she stood in the shower and let the water ran over her, she started to cry. Life started to get away from her again. She was happy that Hunter and Carter stood up for her but she also worried about Miller’s comments and Hunter’s quick reaction.
She was about to open her heart and life to a man that she honestly didn’t know. Maybe things were moving too fast between them and it was time for her to return to her life in
Canada. As she finished her shower, she wrapped herself in a towel and heard a soft knock on the door.
“
Madison? It’s Alicia, can I come in?”
“Sure, it’s open.”
“The guys are back but I wanted time with you first. Are you ok?”
Madison
sat on the toilet and looked at her. “I don’t know. I’m so confused about everything. I was ready to start a relationship with him and now I wonder if I’m rushing into things and in way over my head.”
Alicia sat on the floor next to her. “Miller is a jackass. He has been fighting with Carter since the minor leagues. He likes to stir the pot so you can’t listen to him. Does Hunter have a past? Of course, he does. We all do,
Madison. Please don’t let one idiot ruin what I think will be beautiful thing.”
Madison
shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m not ready for this kind of life yet. I’m scared about everything now.”
Alicia sighed. “You have to remember, if I thought Hunter was a creep, I wouldn’t have allowed him anywhere near you.”
“I know that but I think I need to go home, Alicia. This experiment of mine didn’t work. My parents found me, yelled at me and told me to go back home. I found a guy who clearly was out of my league and convinced myself that I could handle it. Now the truth has presented itself and I can’t handle it. I need to return to my normal, safe life.”
“
Madison, you can’t leave us. Please, we will talk you through all of this tomorrow and get everything back on track.”
“Can I stay here tonight and tomorrow go home with you?”
Alicia nodded as she stood up. “Just think about everything tonight before you decide on things. You are deep in your emotions tonight. Clear your head.”
Madison
nodded as Alicia closed the door behind her. She wiped the mist from the mirror and looked at herself in the mirror. She needed to get some sleep and deal with everything in the morning.
She opened the bathroom door and peeked down the hallway as she heard everyone talking in the living room. She disappeared down the hallway and into the spare bedroom and closed the door behind her. She just needed to be alone.
CHAPTER TEN
Madison got up and changed back into her jeans and t-shirt before anyone stirred around the apartment. She gathered the few items that she had and walked down the hallway. She passed by the living room and stopped when she saw Hunter asleep on the couch. She sighed as she continued to walk into the kitchen.
She grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at the table. She still had problems wrapping her head around the events of last night. She knew that she was falling in love with Hunter but she couldn’t allow herself to go any further until she knew more about his past. This was all her fault to begin with. She was supposed to be on vacation with her brother but instead she allowed herself to get sidetracked and just like everything else in her life, she messed it up. She was so desperate for something new in her life that she threw caution to the wind.
“Good morning,” Alicia said as she entered the kitchen.
“Hey,”
Madison said as she went back to filling her coffee cup.
“Did you manage to get some sleep?”
Madison nodded as she took a sip of coffee.
“Hunter wanted to talk with you but I told him he better give you the night to think things over. He refused to leave. I told you, Madison, he’s in love with you.”
Madison quickly looked at Alicia. “What did you say?”
“You had to know that. I told you, I’ve never seen him like this with a woman. He’s a different person, a better person.”
“And apparently, there have been a lot of them. What makes you think he won’t get bored with me too?”
Alicia sighed. “You need to talk with him.”
Carter walked into the kitchen and sat down next to Madison. “Are you ok?”
She nodded. “Yeah but I think I need to cut my losses and head back home.”
He frowned at her. “Why? Please don’t leave, not over this. We’re finally reconnecting.”
“I don’t think I’m cut out for this lifestyle,”
Madison explained.
“What you saw last night, isn’t normal. Miller was an asshole who needed be set straight,” Carter explained to her. “We were protecting you.”
“I know that you were and I’m grateful for that. But, I allowed myself to fall for Hunter and I shouldn’t have, not yet. That’s my fault. I was so wrapped up in the emotion of it and so taken by him that things started to move really fast and I didn’t stop to think. I think I need to go back to Canada and just continue to live my life there.”
“I can’t let you do that,” Hunter said as he entered the room. “
Madison, I can’t let you leave.”
Madison
sighed as she stood up. “You have to admit there is so much that we don’t know about each other yet and this is going so fast.”
“Of course we don’t know everything yet, we are days into this relationship. That’s what people do,
Madison. They talk and get to know other. Don’t run off because of last night.”
“Hunter, I saw a different side of you last night. You beat the crap out of that guy!”
“He was talking trash about you. I would do the same thing for anyone that I cared about!” Hunter yelled. “I defended you. We both were,” he said as he pointed at Carter.
“I understand that and I thank both of you but I need to slow down and have time to gather my thoughts. I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m scared.”
“Madison, we just need to talk through this,” Hunter pleaded.
She turned to Alicia. “I have my bags at Hunter’s apartment.”
Hunter jumped in. “I will take you there and then we can talk on the way back to the beach.”
Madison
shook her head. “I can’t, I’m sorry.”
Alicia responded, “Hunter, grab her things and bring them to our house. We will take
Madison back to the beach and then we can reschedule her flight, if she wants that.”
Hunter turned red and yelled at Alicia. “Why are you letting her go so easily? After what I told you last night, how could you do this to me?”
Madison looked at Alicia. “What happened last night?”
“This isn’t my fight, you need to work through this together.”
Carter reached for Madison. “Come on, we will finish up here and take you home.”
Hunter grabbed
Madison’s arm and stopped her. “I beg you, don’t leave me.”
She looked at the floor as she walked away from him. She cried the entire way down to their car and continued as they entered the highway.
Madison looked out the window and watched the scenery pass her by.