Page 47 of Hot Shot
Instead, I turn around to face him, setting my glass down next to me with shaky hands.
Hunter watches me. “Madison?” he whispers, as he tips my chin up so I can meet his gaze.
His hand lingers on my chin, and it takes everything in me not to lean into his touch.
Before I can answer, he pulls me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me. “Tell me you don’t want this and I’ll stop.”
“Friends hug, right?” I whisper, leaning against him, taking a deep breath. Hunter sighs against me, and I relax into his arms.
I would much rather he kiss me, but this is nice too.
That line I drew in the sand, the boundary I put around our relationship, is beginning to seem like a mistake.
“What are you thinking?” I ask after a few beats of silence trying to distract myself from the feelings and thoughts rattling around in my head about our relationship.
“I’m nervous that the Storm will decide I’m not good enough for them and send me down to the Mustangs. Or worse, not offer me another contract,” he whispers into my hair.
“What?” I pull back a little so I can look up at him. That was not at all what I expected him to say.
He gives me a small shrug, refusing to meet my eyes. “My ice time is increasing but I haven’t scored a goal yet.”
“Isn’t it a good sign that you’re on the ice more? Doesn’t it mean they like how you play?”
“Yeah, I guess,” he mumbles. “We’ll see how it goes this next road trip. It’s the first one where all the guys that were out recovering from surgeries will be back. If my ice time goes down, I guess I’ll have my answer.”
“Don’t doubt yourself. I’m sure you’re a good skater. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have a spot on the team, right? You’ll score a goal eventually.”
“I suppose.” Hunter pulls me closer into his arms.
I want to say more, reassure him, but I don’t know how so I just hug him tighter.
Eventually, he takes a deep breath, drops his arms, and steps back. “I shouldn’t have dumped all that on you. I-I don’t know.” He runs a hand through his hair, making some of it stand up. “I feel comfortable telling you. I’m sorry if I crossed a line touching you. Holding you like that.”
“I’m always happy to listen.”
My phone chimes with a text message.
He steps away from me and nods toward my phone on the table. “You should see who that is. Maybe it’s about your car.”
I sigh when I see a text from my father. For a moment, I’d forgotten about that complication.
Jake:Do you want to go to dinner this week?
“It was spam,” I say, locking my phone without responding. I’ll answer Jake later.
The lie rolls off my tongue. This would have been a great time to tell Hunter about my father. But I’d hate to ruin the good day we’re having.
At this point, what does it matter if I wait another day or week to tell him?
Chapter nineteen
Hunter
“Wanttoseetherest of the place?” I ask when Madison comes back to where I’m still leaning against the counter.
I can’t believe I dumped that on her. It’s been weighing on me for a while, and it sort of came out when she asked me what I was thinking.
The doubt that’s been swirling around in my head has been growing larger the longer I go without scoring my first goal. For whatever reason, my brain thinks that that’s the mark that means I’ve made it in the NHL.
