Page 35 of Hooked
Even over a text message,Hunter Rockwell had a way of stealing my breath away and leaving me all sorts of confused about what to do or say … my throat tightened, and I gasped for air, but with a deliriously happy grin on my face.
And then there was a presence right behind my shoulder.
“Who ya texting?” It was Madison, of course.
I shut the screen off in a hurry and stuffed the phone under my thigh.
“Nobody.”
Madison chuckled. “Just so you know. Youdefinitelywouldn't be the first.”
“… First what?” I muttered.
“Don't play dumb, Honor.” Madison shook her head. “Say, did you ever hear anything about Allison?”
“Who?”
“Allison. She was the girl you were hired to replace.”
Oh, god damn it.Did Hunter fuck this Allison girl and get her fired? Was I just another Allison, in a long line of Allisons? A shamed heat boiled in my neck. I felt like such a sucker.
“Um … no.” I blinked at Madison, hoping she hadn't noticed the way my cheeks had caught fire.
“Oh no? Really? Huh!” Madison faked a laugh. “Maybe you should ask Rockwell about her next time you two are texting.”
Without another word, Madison strutted off, reveling in her victory.
I typed out a message: “So who's Allison?” My thumb hovered over that send button while I tried to muster up the courage to send it.
But Cora interrupted me. “Hey rookie!”
“Hey Cora.”
“Looks like we're all wrapped up here. You wanna hang? Walk downtown and grab some dinner?”
I smiled, dropping my phone in my bag and saving that text for another time.
“I'd love to.”
***
The two of us grabbed salads for dinner at the Chophouse. Afterwards, we ended up at Next Door, a sports bar packed with Blizzard fans. The pre-game show played on the TV, showing clips and interviews.
Cora and I got to learn about each other. She was a pre-med undergraduate student at Denver U. And like one might expect from a future doctor, she had a very calm and even-keeled disposition about her. To her, the ice girl thing was just a job that fit her student schedule nicely—and she'd mastered the art of staying out of all the unwanted drama.
“Most girls burn out after their first year,” she admitted with a laugh. “The central clique is … well. You know. You can see it. It's like they're straight out ofMean Girls.”
I felt so relieved that she'd acknowledged it. “Yes.Thank you.”
“It bothered me my first year, too. I came really close to quitting. All those girls are gone now. Me and Madison are actually the only two still on the team from my rookie year.”
“What was Madison like back then?”
“She was a second-year. So, she wasn't asalphaas she is now,” Cora admitted with a sly grin. “But she was growing into the role, for sure.”
“I feel like she hates me.”
“She doesn't hate you. Sheisintimidatedby you, though.”
