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“Maddison!” some random guy drunkenly slurs my name. “We’re going to take care of Ohio State next time they come to town, right?” He grips onto my shoulder for balance.
I don’t answer him, but instead, I pull his hand off me and continue through the house in search of my brother. The last thing I want to think about tonight is hockey, which is another reason I didn’t want to come to this stupid party.
“There you are,” a high-pitched voice calls out as long nails slide against my forearm.
“Alyssa, don’t,” I firmly state, peeling her grip from mine.
“What crawled up your ass?”
“Nothing. I have a girlfriend. I’ve told you this countless times, and you won’t let it go.”
“I don’t see her around.” She dramatically swings her head around to look through the living room. “In fact, I heard the new girl left you. I’m sure all that vanilla was getting pretty boring for you anyway.” She grabs me again, biting down on her lip. “Don’t worry, I remember what you like.”
The anger boils up again, needing to spill over as Alyssa spews her stupid words. “Get the fuck off of me.” I throw her arm away from me. “You’re so fucking desperate. Take a hint.”
She’s taken aback for a moment before collecting her demeanor, trying not to show her hurt. “Fuck you, Maddison! That new girl turned you into such a little bitch. Who are you? And now you’re playing like shit. It’s no wonder she left you!”
I turn around to get away from her as quickly as possible, but before leaving the living room to head into the kitchen, I shift back to add one more thing.
“Her name is Logan! Stop being a fucking bitch.”
I storm into the kitchen, still looking for Marc, but coming up empty. My eyes fall on Patrick, wearing a hat, trying to cover some of the bruising that’s already forming on his face. He looks worse than I thought he would, and yet I still feel no remorse.
“Any NHL news, Maddison?” a random dude slurs as he falls into me. “We need to know, where is our guy headed?”
Why won’t people leave me alone? I just want to be left alone.
“Get off me! I don’t even know who the fuck you are.” I jerk my body away from the drunken stranger as he stares at me in shock.
For five years, I’ve played nice with all the random strangers prying into my life, asking questions that I don’t have the answers to. I’m tired of people pretending like they know me. They don’t know me. Only Logan knows me. And Marc. But I’m sick of playing the game.
“Okay,” Cam quickly cuts in as he puts his beer down on the kitchen counter. He grabs me by the arm, pulling me outside. “Let’s go.”
There’s no way Cam is strong enough to pull me anywhere, but I’m clearly letting him as he drags my ass outside.
“You’ve got to get your shit together, Maddison!” He pushes me out the front door. “You can’t keep acting like this, and I can’t keep covering for you! There are way too many eyes on you.”
“Fuck off, Cam!”
“No. I won’t fuck off.” He holds his ground, not backing down. Which is brave of him, I will say, especially after seeing what I did to Patrick today.
He lets out a heavy sigh before looking at me again, but I keep my guilty gaze averted from his. “Do you know that this is the third year we’ve lived together?”
I don’t respond because that’s a dumb rhetorical question. Of course, I know that. Cam moved in his freshman year when I was restarting my sophomore season.
“And for those first two years, I thought you were a total fucking prick.” My head snaps back to look at him. “This is the first year I would consider you my friend. And a good friend, at that. We all know why you’re different this year, so I’m not going to spell it out, but I’m also not going to let you revert to being a dick just because Logan is gone.”
Inhaling sharply, I run my hands through my hair in frustration as I take in his words, knowing he’s right. Cam is someone I consider my friend, and that’s something I would’ve never imagined at the beginning of this year.
“So, I’m going to tell you to go the fuck home because I care about you, man.”
I sigh in resignation. “I need to take Marc home.”
“I’ll go find him. Get in your truck and I’ll bring him out.” He turns to the front door.
“Cam,” I call out to stop him. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I just miss her.”
“I know. We’re good, man.” He takes off into the house in search of my brother.
