Hayden burst out of the restaurant, looking back and forth to either end of the street. He spotted Natalie not too far away to his right. He ran after her, unsure of what he was going to say but he imagined groveling on his knees might be involved.
"Natalie!"
She stopped and turned to face him, her entire body tense. "Hayden? What are you doing?"
"I couldn't just let you leave." He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "I'm so sorry for what I said. It was stupid."
She shrugged and turned to keep walking. "It was true. It's fine."
Hayden put out a hand to stop her. "Please, I'm sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?"
Natalie looked at him. She wasn't pulling out of his grasp but she wasn't coming any closer either. Hayden hated that he'd put that wounded look on her face and he couldn't believe he'd let Sidney's words bother him. He couldn't believe he'd repeated them to her.
What man does that?
He mentally smacked himself around.
Gentlemen don't talk that way on dates.
He knew better and he felt like such a jerk for upsetting Natalie and possibly ruining any relationship they might have been able to develop.
She lowered her eyes. "You don't have to make it up to me, Hayden."
"Yes, I do. I was so stupid," he insisted and shook his head as an uncomfortable warmth spread over his face. He couldn't believe how embarrassed he felt. He wouldn't blame Natalie if she never spoke to him again.
"It was stupid." She lifted her eyes to his.
She was frowning at him and Hayden almost went limp with relief. If she was willing to talk to him, even to call him on his idiocy, then maybe he could still figure this out.
"Yes!"
The corner of her mouth twitched and Hayden grinned when he saw a dimple appear in her cheek. He thought she might be trying to hold back a smile.
"I was stupid and you're amazing," he went on when she said nothing.
She did smile then and looked down, a pretty blush creeping up her neck. "I don't know about that."
"I do. Natalie, please. Let me buy you dinner. We can talk and I promise not to say anything stupid, ever again."
Looking back up at him, he was rewarded with her full smile. It made his spine straighten and sent a tingle through his body that was not unpleasant.
"I don't know if
any
man could keep that promise," she said.
"I can damn sure try."
For a long moment, she just stared at him. Hayden waited patiently when all he wanted to do was unzip her jacket and slide his hands inside so he could feel her delicious curves again.
She sighed and shifted on her feet. "Honestly, I'm tired. Do you mind if we do this another night?"
Hayden felt his heart squeeze and his smile faded but he nodded. She wasn't saying she never wanted to see him again. Maybe they had been moving too fast. "Of course."
She offered him a shy smile and Hayden took the opportunity to step closer. He put his arms tentatively around her and she stiffened before relaxing and hugging him back. As much as Hayden wanted to keep her there in his arms, with her intoxicating scent filling his nose, he stepped back and held her at arm's length.
"Can I call you tomorrow?"
"Sure." Then she cocked her head to one side. "Don't you have a game?"
"Yeah, but I'll call you after. It's an afternoon game and we should be done around four."
She laughed and touched his arm. "Don't worry about calling me right away. I'm not going anywhere."
"No?" It was on the tip of his tongue to extract a promise from her but he wasn't going to embarrass himself further.
"No. Call me when you can. Or Monday night, if you end up going into overtime."
He groaned and shook his head. "Don't jinx me!"
She laughed. "I'll talk to you later, Hayden."
"Yes, you will, Natalie."
She gave him one more sweet smile before walking away. He watched her go until she'd crossed the street and disappeared into the evening crowd. With a heavy sigh, he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked the other way.
***
"Why do you want to watch the hockey game?" Madison asked as the two women got their jackets and shoes on.
"I want to see Hayden play."
It was the truth. In spite of how he'd made her feel the night before, she wanted to know more about him.
"Is Louisa going to come too?"
Natalie glanced at her roommate with a frown.
"Why not? What happened? Why were you guys fighting last night?"
Natalie blew out a frustrated sigh and zipped her jacket up. After her disastrous evening with Hayden at the restaurant, she'd come back to the dorm and confronted Louisa. It hadn't been pretty and she was still smarting over her supposed friend's betrayal of her confidence.
"Come on, Nat. You can tell me anything," Madison pleaded as they headed out of their shared room.
Natalie offered her friend a half-smile. "I know. Louisa and I... she just did something stupid and it hurt me."
"What did she do?"
Hesitantly, Natalie explained to Madison about what Hayden had said and his emphatic apology. She'd been hurt by his words and the fact that he'd even repeated them to her. Since his apology had been so sincere, she'd decided to give him another shot. She couldn't deny that she liked him and wanted to get to know him better.
Louisa on the other hand, had no business saying anything about Natalie to Sidney. Natalie had unleashed all her anger and hurt at her friend after changing out of her date outfit. Louisa had at first denied saying anything to Sidney but Natalie had pressed on. Eventually Louisa had admitted that she'd said something but it was supposedly because Sidney had been asking about Natalie.
"That shouldn't have made a difference!" Natalie had yelled at her. "You're supposed to be my friend."
"I am your friend!"
"Then why did you tell Sidney that I'm a slut?"
Louisa had gaped at her before giving an indignant reply. "I didn't say that. I only told him that that wasn't your first one-night stand."
At which point, Natalie had thrown her hands in the air. "You may as well have. That's how he took it, anyway."
"That's not my fault if he did. It's not my fault he said anything to Hayden either."
"You shouldn't have said anything about me at all!" Natalie had exploded.
"What was I supposed to do?"
"Anything but talk about me, Louisa."
Louisa had stared at her with a wounded expression, as if she were the wronged person. Natalie had been so upset that she'd stalked away without another word.
Although she and Louisa hadn't been the closest of friends, they'd known each other for long enough that Natalie would have thought she could trust Louisa. What hurt the most was that Louisa didn't think she'd done anything wrong. She hadn't even bothered to offer an apology.
"That's crazy, Nat," Madison said after Natalie finished recapping everything.
They were outside, walking to a nearby bar to watch the hockey game.
"I can't believe Louisa would do something like that."
"Neither can I," Natalie replied with a heavy sigh.
She shoved her hands into her jacket pocket. It was nearly Halloween and the air over the weekend had taken on a biting chill. "Whatever. When she's ready to apologize for what she did, I might listen."
"I hate to see you guys fighting."
"I don't like fighting either but she was being stupid."
They fell silent for a block and then Madison shook her head. "What was she thinking? That spilling some gossip about you might get that Sidney guy to like her, or something?"
Natalie confessed that she hadn't given much thought to Louisa's side of the story. She'd just been furious with Louisa for betraying her. Natalie had told Madison and Louisa about her one-night stands and no one else. Now Natalie felt like she couldn't confide anything to Louisa.
"Is this the place?" Madison asked as they crossed a busy intersection.
Natalie nodded and they went inside to find a place to sit. The bar wasn't busy, being a Sunday afternoon. There was a big screen TV on one wall and the two women sat across from it just as the first period was starting.
Natalie's knowledge of hockey was limited. She recalled the basics from her childhood of watching with her father, but most of the rules and nuances were lost on her. After their first round of drinks and some appetizers, Madison made an annoyed sound.
"I don't get it." She shoved a nacho heaped with salsa in her mouth.
Natalie laughed as she glanced at her friend. "I'm not up to speed on the rules either."
"Which one is Hayden?"
"He's the goalie for the Rangers."
They fell silent again as the commercial ended and the game returned. Hayden was in net for this game but there didn't seem to be much action on his end. That was good for the team as a whole, but Natalie had been hoping to see more of him.
Maybe I will have to go to a live game.
She smiled and reached for her fresh drink.
"How much longer is this going to be?" Madison asked at the start of the third period.
"You're not having fun?" It had taken Natalie a little while to pick up some of the plays but now that she was staring to remember different things, she was enjoying it.
Madison shrugged and turned her glass around in her hands. "I don't mind staying if you want to."
"It's all right," Natalie said and downed the last of her drink. "We can go. I should get in some studying before classes resume tomorrow."
Madison nodded and they waved the waitress over so they could pay their tab. They chatted as they walked back to the university and up to their room. Madison left right away again, going to the library for some research. Natalie straightened out her desk and sat down to get some work done. She'd been at it for about half an hour when she realized she wasn't getting anything accomplished. So she moved to her bed and made herself comfortable with a book.
Dinnertime rolled around and she went down to the cafeteria with Madison. They ran into Louisa who gave them the cold shoulder. Miffed, Madison told Natalie she was on her side, no doubt about it. Natalie merely smiled and shrugged. She didn't want Madison choosing sides, but if Louisa was going to continue to be so immature, Natalie wasn't going to dissuade her.
While Natalie headed back to their room, Madison caught up with some of her other friends from one of her classes. As Natalie was settling on her bed again, her phone rang and her heart leapt in her chest.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Natalie." Hayden's smooth, accented voice came over the line and Natalie suppressed a shiver.
I guess I'm over what he said to me last night,
she thought with an idiotic grin. "Hi, Hayden. How was your game?"
"Good. We won."
"That's great!"
Hayden chuckled. "It is great."
"Me and Madison went to a bar down the block to watch."
"Did you?" He sounded surprised. "What did you think?"
"I was kind of disappointed that you weren't on screen more," Natalie confessed.
Again, Hayden's deep laugh filled her ear. Natalie reclined on her pillows and squeezed her eyes shut. She was so attracted to this man and knew she should still be at least a little upset over what he'd said last night. Somehow, she just wanted to see him again, preferably naked.
