That shut her up quickly, and another reporter jumped in, their questions all jumbling together as I answered on autopilot.
The only bright spot of the evening was that the Speed had won the game.
It was going to be a long season, especially if a certain redhead continued to egg me on.
Lord, give me the strength.
Chapter 13
Bristol
“I’ve noticed your articleshave been especially tough on Maddox,” Dakota remarked as she sat beside me with a bowl of popcorn.
I groaned, reclining on the couch in the living room of the house she and Braxton had bought in Indy a year ago. “It’s my job to be critical.”
She gave me a pointed look. “There’s being critical, and then there’s bias. You might be lucky enough that others haven’t noticed because they don’t know your history with him, but you need to lock it up.”
“History.” I scoffed. “I slept with the guy once.”
“Bristol.” There was a note of warning in Dakota’s tone. “You’re better than this.”
“I know.” Throwing an arm over my eyes dramatically, I whined, “He doesn’t make it easy, though.”
“Are we talking about what happened on the plane?”
“More like what happened after,” I grumbled.
The sound of the popcorn bowl being placed on the coffee table reached my ears before Dakota’s hands peeled my arm away. She wasn’t going to let me hide from what was going on in my life.
“I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me,” she said softly.
I blew out a heavy breath, my hand floating to my throat where the scratches were no more than a distant memory. “I don’t know what to do.”
Dakota took my free hand. “Is there something there with Maddox? And you’re purposely distancing yourself because you’re afraid of how it’ll look?”
Huffing out a wry laugh, I countered, “How it’ll look? There’s no scenario where I don’t look like the slut who slept with the head coach to get ahead. It won’t matter to anyone when we hooked up. If it was before I started my job, it looks like I spread my legs to get the position. If it’s after, I’m fucking my way to better interviews.”
“So, that’s a yes.” She twisted her lips in thought. “But it still doesn’t touch on how you feel about him. You said the sex was next level, but what about the rest? Like the part where he went out of his way to apologize to you after you made that call to me from the bathroom. Or when he was the one who pulled you from your panic attack on the plane and made sure you got medical attention the minute you landed?”
“You’re forgetting the part where he turned those tender moments into something sexual, making it exceedingly clear he’s all too eager to get back into my bed,” I pointed out. “I’m sick of the playboys who are only down to fuck, not caring about the trail of broken women they leave behind.”
“They’re not all like that.”
“I know.” I couldn’t help the sad smile that turned up my lips. “You got a really great one, and his brother’s one of the good ones too, as are all of his closest friends. I just keep finding the duds.”
“You’re really ready to write Maddox off so quickly?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I can’t keep doing this. How many times can I let my heart be broken before it completely shatters, and I’m left with nothing?I already had to move away from the only home I’ve ever known after the last one. This one could cost me my job, my fresh start.”
“Do you know why Braxton invited Maddox to Pipes that night?”
“Why?” I let out an exhausted sigh.
Her mouth curved into a soft smile. “Because you’re both starting over. He thought you might find common ground. That it might make your first day easier, with another friendly face at the arena besides him.”
Arching an eyebrow, I countered, “He didn’t seem too keen on the idea of us being chummy when he lost his shit on Maddox and got punished in front of the entire team.”
Dakota’s head tilted from side to side. “Well, to be fair, he didn’t expect you two to hook up. I think he still has PTSD from the whole Nix situation.”
