Ice Dreams Part 3 (8 page)

He nodded and let her go. As she opened the french doors to enter the restaurant she could hear him say, “You look breathtaking tonight.”

She closed the door and blushed. She couldn’t process that as she walked back into the room. Alicia ran over to her. “Tell me what they did and I swear to God…”

Madison cut her off. “I’m fine. I will just ignore them the rest of the night. Tonight is about you and Carter. What can I do to help?”

She smiled. “Nothing, just sit down and eat. You are sitting next to me at the end of the table.”

Madison nodded and walked towards her seat. Hunter was already seated as he laughed with his teammates. He winked at her as she passed by.

Once the dinner was served, everything went accordingly to plan. Madison prepared all the wedding party gifts as Carter and Alicia talked to their loved ones. Alicia turned towards her and took each girl’s bags and hugged them as she handed them the gifts. Carter did the same thing with the men.

Alicia turned back towards Madison and reached underneath the table to find a different color bag for her. She smiled. “Hey, you are hiding things from me.”

Alicia nodded. “It’s your gift. I love you, Maddy and I will always have your back.”

Madison pulled a frame out of the bag and smiled at the picture of her and Alicia standing together on the beach. She ran her fingers around the frame that was engraved with Sisters across of the top of it.

She hugged Alicia as Carter walked over and hugged her too. “We love you, Maddy. Always remember that.”

She spotted Hunter out of the corner of her eye as he winked at her again. She smiled at him and walked back to her chair. They finished dessert and everyone started to leave.

Hunter walked over to her. “Do you need help cleaning up? I’m in no rush.”

Madison smiled. “If you want to grab the empty boxes and just toss those into the dumpster on the way out, that would help.”

He nodded. “Are you joining everyone at the bar?”

“Yeah, just for a little bit though, I have to get up early with Alicia.”

“You did a great job tonight, Maddy. How did it go with your parents?”

She chuckled. “It was intense but I managed.”

“Of course you did, you have grown into this really strong woman.”

“Yes, she has.” The comment came from the back of the room as Mike walked in. He walked over to Madison. “Hey, how did everything go?”

“It was beautiful. Just a little hiccup with my parents but I survived.”

Mike frowned. “I’m sorry. I should have come with you.”

Hunter looked quizzical at him and then back at Madison. “There is something between you guys, I knew it.”

Madison looked at him. “This isn’t the place or time, Hunter. This weekend is about them not us. We both agreed to that.”

He shook his head as he grabbed the boxes. “Funny how you were so afraid of starting a relationship with me and you played the timid female so well but here you are. Our relationship isn’t even cold yet and you are sleeping with the next guy.”

Madison gasped and couldn’t believe the words he just spoke to her. Mike stepped up to him and stared at him. “Speak to her like that again and your pretty face won’t be so pretty anymore.”

“You do realize that I have a lot of strong hockey players in the other room, right? One yell and they will help me kick your ass.”

Madison tried to separate them but she couldn’t. Mike hit his chest. “I honestly don’t care. Bring it on.”

Hunter laughed. “You know, she thinks that you are this knight in shining armor but she’s so naïve. Do you always prey on women with broken hearts? It’s a scummy thing to do, man. I knew from the minute you laid eyes on you that you wanted in her pants. You didn’t hide it very well. She may not have noticed but I did. You were just waiting in the wings.”

Mike laughed. “You were the one who destroyed her and I’m getting blamed? What would have happened if I wasn’t home that night? You left her in a fucking parking lot, Hunter! She was crying, heartbroken and confused. What if someone came along before I did? Do you ever think of anyone else but yourself? You need to grow up.”

Madison left the room in tears as she heard Mike call for her but she didn’t care. She couldn’t handle the fighting. She ran out the front doors and towards her car.

“Madison? Is that you? Why are you always crying?”

She turned and spotted Dr. Allen standing on the sidewalk. She wiped her eyes again. “You must think I’m a mess.”

He walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “You aren’t a mess but I am worried about you. What is going on tonight?”

She reached into her car and grabbed a tissue. “I’m fine, really. Please just go back to your event. I don’t want to ruin your night.”

He leaned against her car. “I was leaving for the evening, so you aren’t ruining anything. Would you like to talk?”

Her eyes glanced at the front doors as Mike walked out. When he reached her, he looked at Greg. “Who are you?”

Madison spoke up. “Mike, this is one of my professors, Dr. Allen.”

Greg reached his hand out. “Nice to meet you.” Mike politely shook his hand but looked back at Madison. “Are you ok?”

“I need to go. Please tell Alicia that I will be over first thing in the morning. I can’t be here.”

Mike pleaded. “Let me drive you home. I know I was an ass in there and lost my cool.”

Greg looked at Madison. “Are you sure you don’t need help?”

Mike quickly looked back at him. “What does this have to do with you?”

Madison gasped. “Oh my God, why are you being so rude? He saw me crying and wanted to make sure I was ok. What the hell is going on tonight? I need to leave.” She jumped into her car and disappeared into the night.

She knew that she didn’t want to go to her apartment because Mike would find her and she didn’t want to see anyone at that moment. She pulled into Carter’s driveway and sat there. She heard her cell phone ring as she looked at it. “Hey Alicia.”

“What’s going on? I left for a second and all hell broke loose. Where are you?”

“I’m at your place but don’t tell anyone. I’m going to go and sit on your deck until you get home. Since you have my dress for tomorrow, can I spend the night?”

“Of course, Maddy but are you ok?”

“I will be. I will see you when you get home.”

“There is a spare key tucked away by the front porch if you need to go inside. We should be home within the hour.”

Madison walked around the side of the house and up onto the deck. She found a blanket by the sliding door and wrapped it around herself as she sat at their table. She thought back to her life before she moved. It was quiet, peaceful but she wanted more to life than being ignored. But now that she had two men fighting to be in her life, she couldn’t handle it. Maybe she needed to go back home. Maybe this was a failed experiment.

She turned when she heard footsteps on the walkway. She was about to get up when she spotted Hunter waving an invisible flag. “Give me five minutes, Madison.”

“Hunter, I don’t care what you have to say. I wanted some peace and quiet. How did you even find me? I swear I’m going to kill Alicia.”

“It wasn’t her. Common sense told me that you were here. I drove by your place and your car wasn’t there so where else would go? Of course you wanted to be near the water.”

“Hunter, I’m tired. I’m tired of being the center of attention. I can’t handle it. I thought this was what I wanted but it’s not.”

“Madison, don’t say that. You have grown into a confident and strong woman. Don’t let the crap that happened between me and Mike ruin that. I don’t want to hurt you, Maddy. I love you. I’m jealous as hell of Mike.”

She whipped her head around to look at him. “Why the hell are you jealous of him?”

“Because he has you, I broke you and he’s fixing you. No matter what happens, as you heal he will always have a place in your heart. If I wasn’t such a coward, none of this would be happening. I own up to it. Finally.”

“Hunter, you jumped to a conclusion with me and Mike. We aren’t dating. We aren’t anything. Honestly, we shared a couple of kisses but that’s it.”

She could see the tension form in his eyes. He sat down across from her and tented his hands in front of him. “The fact that his lips were on you, drives me crazy Madison. Can’t you see that?”

“We aren’t together, Hunter! I can kiss who I want!” She stood up and hovered over him.

He jumped from his chair and smashed his lips over hers. She felt the passion behind the kiss as he parted her lips. She moaned softly as she gave into his lips. She released her blanket and ran her fingers through his hair.

His hands ran down the back of her dress as he pulled her closer to him. She could feel his body respond to her as they finally broke the kiss. Their foreheads touching as she caught her breath. He wrapped his arms tighter around her. “Tell me that you didn’t feel that.”

She couldn’t respond as she tried to catch her breath. This wasn’t how she imagined her night playing out. She tried to step away from him but he didn’t release his grip. “Madison, say something.”

“I need to go, Hunter.”

He let go of her. “Madison, you will be the death of me. You were just grabbing my hair, moaning underneath my lips and now you want to run away. I know I was stupid but I also know what I just felt. You still love me. Just admit it!”

She started to cry as she walked towards the house. She saw headlights fill the driveway as Carter and Alicia returned home. “Hunter, you should leave.”

He walked over to her and caged her against the house. He looked into her eyes but didn’t say anything. He leaned down and captured her lips again. He pulled away and whispered, “Those lips will always be mine. See you tomorrow, Love.”

He disappeared around the corner as he ran into a very angry Alicia. “What the hell are you doing here? Haven’t you done enough damage tonight?”

“Why are you yelling at me? You should be yelling at Mike.”

Alicia smirked. “If he were here, I would!”

Hunter walked around her and looked at Carter. “I still love your sister, man. I’m sorry.”

He walked down the driveway and drove away in his truck.

“What happened?” Alicia asked.

“He kissed me.”

Carter leaned in and kissed Alicia’s cheek. “I will let you girls talk.” He hugged Madison. “Are you ok?”

She nodded. “I will be fine. This weekend is about you guys, not me. It will be a wonderful time.”

He smiled as he walked into the house. Madison turned back towards Alicia. “I’m so confused, Alicia.”

She walked over and sat down. She put her feet up on the bench. “God, I have needed to put my feet up all night. This pregnancy will kill me. I’ve been uncomfortable all night long.”

Madison chuckled. “You are beautiful.”

She looked at her. “Maddy, did you kiss him back?”

She slowly nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you love him?”

“I think on some level, yes. But, I can’t do this. It’s too much. I’m not this type of girl. I’m the quiet, shy type and now I’m being thrown into this fight.”

Alicia smiled at her. “Honey, you need to do what is right for you.” she yawned.

Madison stood up. “Come on, bedtime. You are getting married in the morning.”

“I’m going to be Mrs. Carter Sinclair tomorrow at this time.”

“Yes, you are and it’s a beautiful thing.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The morning of the wedding had arrived. Madison slept in Alicia’s guest room. She eventually turn off her phone since Mike and Hunter were texting her non-stop. She managed to get Alicia up and ready for the salon. Her friends arrived shortly afterwards and helped Madison finish decorating the patio as the caterers showed up. The tent rental company was finishing construction on the tent along the beach as the florists arrived. It was a never ending cycle of vendors as everyone tried to work in the same areas of their house.

Madison rounded the corner to grab her purse from the living room when she ran into Hunter. “Good morning, Maddy.”

“Hey, I was just leaving. I need to get Alicia to the salon. Are you taking Carter to lunch?”

He nodded. “Did you need help with anything?”

She laughed. “Yeah, take your pick.”

He looked down at her. “Madison, take a deep breath. No matter what happens today, they are going to get married. The food can suck and the flowers can wilt but at the end of the day, they will be husband and wife, ok?”