Page 4 of Make You Mine

Kayden nods at her.

“I’ll catch up with you later. Nice seeing you again, sis.” He smiles smugly. “Hannah.”

Kayden leaves, and so does my peace of mind.

Hannah folds her arms. “Okay. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, young lady,” she says in her most mom-like voice.

It makes me laugh, releasing some of the tension I have built up inside me.

“No, but seriously.” She goes back to her normal voice. “You can’t drop a bomb like that and move on. What the hell was that?”

I wish I could explain. I wish I knew.

What is Kayden doing here, and why is he back?

2

MADELYN

Kayden:

Can we talk?

I stare at my phone, at the message open on my screen.

Then, the next text, sent thirty minutes after the first one.

Kayden:

Okay. Ignore me. I deserve it. But if the answer’s yes, meet me at Clearwater’s arena for the hockey game tonight after classes. 7 p.m.

What follows is a link to an e-ticket for the game.

I’m an idiot for being here.

Sitting on the bleachers as the hockey game I have zero interest in is about to start.

This must be another one of Kayden’s pranks, followed by his getting hired as a teacher at the school I work at today. He’s not going to show up.

I shiver and toss the phone into my handbag, cussing the moment I decided to follow my heart instead of my gut and walked in here. The arena is colder than I expected it to be, and my long pink skirt and thin white shirt aren’t the ideal outfit for a hockey game.

It’s my first time at one. Despite hockey being the most popular sport at our college campus, I never had any interest in watching a game. Not after the trauma that Kayden, who used to be a hockey player, left me with.

I frown as images of the past cloud my mind.

The reason why Kayden disappeared for seven years. The way things ended between us. What he did.

That’s it. I’m leaving.

I shouldn’t have come.

I rush to get out of my seat and sprint forward before bouncing back.

“Ouch.” I wince, the whole side of my face burning.

As I slowly regain my composure, I realize hands are holding me in place, and a big, muscular chest covered by a jersey is in front of me. I just bumped into him.

“You’re here.”