Ice Dreams Part 3 (2 page)

She nodded as she went back to stocking the shelves. She thought about Hunter. She knew that she still loved him but her heart was breaking. She started to cry as she quickly wiped her eyes. She felt a hand on her back as she turned around. She smiled at Amber and asked, “Did you need me for anything?”

“Let’s go talk for a minute, ok?”

Madison rose to her feet and followed her into their small break room. “I’m sorry, Amber. I know I was crying. I’m more professional than this.”

She chuckled. “People cry all the time here though normally they are happy tears.”

Maddy sighed as she sat down. “Hunter in back home.”

Amber sat down next to her. “I know, no wonder your emotions are all over the place.”

“Yeah, he wants to talk tonight but I don’t know what he wants to do. We never had closure. We never officially broke up. He just deserted me.”

“Well hopefully tonight will answer your questions,” she paused. “I assume that’s why Mike didn’t come back with you.”

She nodded. “He gave us some privacy but I assumed he would meet me back here.”

“I never saw him return. Do you want the afternoon off?”

Madison shook her head. “You are so sweet but I would rather be here and keep my mind off of it.”

“Alright, finish stocking and then I want to show you a few new things.”

As the afternoon progressed, Madison kept busy around the shop. She helped Amber close the store at five and waved good night.

She drove back to her apartment and walked up the stairs. She spotted Mike waiting for her at the top of the landing. “You disappeared on me.”

“Sorry about that, I wanted to give you some time with Hunter and then I got a message from a friend so I needed to leave. How did it go?”

She leaned back against the door. “He’s coming over tonight to talk.”

“That sounds promising.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe it is. I don’t know where we stand or what’s on his mind.”

Mike took a step towards her. “What do you want him to say?”

She sighed. “I don’t know, Mike. I guess for starters, are we a couple or not.”

He nodded and placed his hand on the door frame besides her. “Just do me a favor, ok?”

She looked up into his eyes. “What’s that?”

“Just remember in the past few days you finally started living your new life. You have been so happy and it’s been nice to see you smile for a change. I don’t want Hunter to come back into your life and make you miserable.”

She closed her eyes and thought about his words. He was right. She had become a new person over the past few days. She also had Mike to thank for that.

When she opened her eyes, he was still standing beside her. She looked into his dark brown eyes as he moved closer to her. She gasped as she reached for her keys. “I need to run, see you around.” She disappeared into her apartment and leaned back against her door. She took a deep breath and realized she was in trouble.

CHAPTER TWO

It was close to seven when Madison heard a knock on the door. She took a deep breath and opened it. She looked into familiar eyes and knew she was still in love with him. “Hey Hunter.”

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. She moaned softly as she felt his lips touch her skin. “Good Evening, Maddy.”

She opened the door wider and allowed him into her apartment. “How are you?”

“I’m good and you?” he asked as he faced her.

She shrugged. “I’ve had better days.”

He sighed as he sat on her couch. “Maddy, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry about what? That you left me broken in a parking lot? That you traveled across the country and barely spoke to me?”

He hung his head as he placed it into his hands. “I didn’t handle the situation very well, I know that.”

Maddy looked at him and laughed. “I know that I’m new to this whole relationship thing but I’m smart enough to know that I deserve to be treated properly.”

He nodded. “You are absolutely correct.”

She sat down across from him. "Hunter, talk to me. Do you love me?"

He reached for her hand and nodded. "Of course I do. You were the first person who didn’t judge me." He paused. "But, I won't be the one who hurts you."

Her mouth opened as she looked at him. "Really? You don't think that you hurt by running away?"

"I know I did but you have chance to start over."

She jumped up. "Hunter, you are a coward! Oh my God, did you only want to sleep with me and then dump me? I gave you everything."

He stood up and looked down at her. "I’m going to ignore those words that came from your mouth. Madison, you can't honestly think that. I'm saving you from all those embarrassing moments like what happened at the barbeque. I have a past and unfortunately that means it's always with me."

She walked towards him and poked him in the chest with her finger. "Did I say that it bugged me? You are the one who acted so strangely by seeing her."

He cut her off. "Plus, what if I get traded? What's going to happen to us?"

She started to cry as she walked into the kitchen. "I thought we would work through it. I didn't think you would dump me in my parking lot. You deserted me, Hunter."

He reached for her hand as she pulled away. "Are you telling me that all my ex's and rumors of my trade wouldn't make you run from me?"

"No! I had no thoughts of doing that, Hunter.” She stopped talking. “Oh my, I get it now. You left me before I could hurt you. You never even gave us a chance. Is that what happened in the past? The girls always broke your heart so this time you thought you would jump the gun?"

She watched as she saw tears in Hunter's eyes. He leaned back against the kitchen counter. He was about to say something when Maddy stopped him. "You don't even know if you will be traded. Your team may still pick up your contract. So you ruined us because of your fear."

He locked eyes with her. "We are ruined?"

She sighed. "I don't know."

He pushed away from the counter. "Madison, tell me what you want."

She looked at him and started to cry. "I think I want you to leave."

"Maddy, let's talk a little bit more."

She shook her head and walked towards the door. As she opened it, she looked back at him. "I can't stop thinking about that night you left me crying outside. You just left. You told Mike to look after me and left town."

Hunter loomed over her and traced his finger down her cheek. "It wrecked me too, Maddy. I haven't been myself the past week. I made a mistake, Madison."

Hunter took a step towards the door and noticed Mike as he arrived back home. Mike glanced towards her. "Everything ok?"

Hunter looked back to her and chuckled, "Looks like he really looked after you, huh?"

Mike spoke up. "Yeah, I did. You left her in pieces. That's what friends do."

"Take care, Madison. I will see you around." Hunter walked down the stairs and out the door. Madison released the breath that she was holding and collapsed on the floor.

Mike sat down next to her. "What happened?"

She didn't really want to talk about it. She leaned her head back against the wall and sighed. "I just want to forget today and go to bed. I have a wedding dinner tomorrow night with Alicia and I need to run to school in the morning."

Mike moved the piece of hair that had fallen in her face. "I'm not letting you go into your apartment and cry all night." He stood up and grabbed her hand. "Let's go for a walk."

"Mike, I can't." She pleaded.

He chuckled. "Yes you can, come on. It's the best part of living at the beach." He pulled her onto her feet and wiped her tears.

She followed him down the path and onto the sand. She leaned down to unbuckle her sandals as she started to cry again.

"What's wrong?"

"The first time I walked the beach was with Hunter. He made me take off my shoes so I could feel the sand between my toes."

Mike sighed. "Maddy, everyone has memories and some are more painful than others but you need to find a way to work through them.”

"But everything is still fresh. I love him Mike and he dumped me over his own personal fears."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"He was afraid that I would start judging his past and with all the trade rumors, he decided it was time to end it before I could."

Mike chuckled. "He was one of my idols. I thought these big time athletes had a clue but they are just as stupid as the rest of us."

"I don't know what I could have done differently. Maybe I was giving off a vibe that I wasn't aware of."

Mike put his arm around her and headed towards the water. "You did nothing wrong. You definitely weren't giving off any vibes. This was his issue not yours. Remember that."

Madison nodded as she sat in the sand. She looked out over the water as the sun set and sighed. Mike was right, she needed to move on and get her life back together. It was clear that Hunter wasn't ready for a real relationship yet and she wasn't going to wait around for him.

Over the next few days, Madison dove into her work and figured out her class schedule so she could continue to work at the bridal shop. Alicia was the frantic bride who was trying to make everything perfect for her big day.

When Saturday finally rolled around, Maddy drove over to Alicia's house to go over the last minute details. Alicia was pacing around the living room as she talked on the phone. She walked around her and went to search for her brother, Carter.

"Hey Carter, what's wrong with Alicia?"

He groaned. "Something about the flowers, I’m not sure. I'm trying to stay out of her way."

"Carter, you are supposed to be supporting her,” Maddy chuckled.

He laughed. "I tried and her exact words were stay out of my way. So, I'm listening."

Madison smiled. "Alright fine, I can't believe that it's two weeks from today. That's crazy."

Alicia walked onto the deck. "Yes, it is. Can you believe that those idiots from the florist shop don't enough of my flowers to cover my order? They need to do a special order and it's going to cost more!"

Madison grabbed her hand and smiled. "Alicia, look at me. Everything will be wonderful, ok? Stress isn't good for the pregnancy."

She nodded. "Thank you, Maddy. I don't know what I would do without you."

Carter threw his hands up. "I tried comforting you and you lashed out at me!"

Alicia looked back to him. "Don't you have somewhere to go?"

He grabbed his magazine and went inside the house. Madison looked at her. "What's up with you two? You guys never fight."

She shrugged. "It's ok. We have our moments."

Madison sensed that something was off but didn't dwell on it. "I'm ready to start school on Monday."

Alicia smiled. "That's great! Were you able to work out your scheduling with Amber?"

She nodded. "She's awesome. She didn't have a problem with anything."

"Good. Did you want to go out to dinner? I’m hungry."

"Sure, did you want to invite Carter?"

Alicia nodded. "Yeah, he needs to eat. Let's find him."

Madison followed Alicia into the house and stopped when she spotted Hunter standing at the front door with Carter. Their eyes locked as he smiled. "Hey Maddy."

Alicia looked at him. "What are you doing here?"

Carter shot her a warning look. "Alicia, play nice."

Madison turned towards Alicia. "Ok, what's going on? I knew something was up."

Alicia spoke first. "I'm having words with Hunter right now and Carter has been playing the mediator."

Madison gasped. "No! You guys are friends. This is the last thing that I wanted. I'm not going to ruin any long standing friendships because we couldn't make our relationship work. Alicia, please understand that. What's happening between us has nothing to do with you."

Alicia groaned. "You are my sister, Maddy. I will always have your back. If Hunter can't get his shit together then he knows where my loyalties will lay."

Hunter looked at Madison. “I didn’t realize that you would be here, sorry.”

She laughed. “We are going to run each other, Hunter. You are the best man and I’m the maid of honor their wedding.”

Alicia grunted and walked away. Carter shook his head. “I’m going to blame the hormones.” He chased after her leaving Maddy with Hunter.