Rumors & Roughing: A Slapshot Novel (Slapshot Series Book 5)

by Heather C. Myers

  The problem?

  Nothing, save for the fact that he was black.

  “Hi, Dad,” she said, hoping her voice didn’t sound as tentative as she felt. “What’s up?”

  “We just got your graduation notice in the mail,” he said. “How many tickets do you get for graduation?”

  Madison furrowed her brow, reaching up to cup the back of her neck. She wanted to ask him why. Technically, she got five. One for each member of her family and one – if he wanted, if they could come out in public – for Alec.

  “I’m not sure,” she forced herself to respond. She was never one to lie but she didn’t particularly trust her father and his intentions, either. “I’ll double-check.”

  “Okay,” he replied. “I wanted to bring Dave along. You remember Dave?”

  Madison suppressed a shudder from sliding down her spine by reminding herself that she was far away from Michigan and Dave Lowe. Dave was one of her father’s co-workers at the factory and the man that caused nightmares to haunt Madison to this day. He never actually did anything inappropriate to her, but he had a lecherous stare that did enough damage on its own.

  “I’m not sure if that’s going to be –“

  “He’s really proud of you, you know,” her father told her, interrupting what she was going to tell him. “I think he just wants to be part of your graduation. You know, since he has no family of his own.”

  Madison nearly gagged. Proud of her? Dave Lowe wasn’t proud of her. He didn’t care about her academic achievements. He cared about the way she looked in a bikini that time their family went to the lake for the day.

  “Okay,” her father said. “Is there anything else going on in your life we should know about?” That loosely translated into: Is there anything you want to confess to me now before I inevitably find out and punish you for it? “Your mother wants to know when she should buy your plane ticket.”

  Madison had already opened her mouth to respond with a resounding no. However, this additional part of her father’s question nearly threw her off.

  “Plane ticket?” Madison managed to get out, hoping her voice didn’t come out like a shriek.

  “Boy, that California sunshine is turning your brain to mush, isn’t it?” her father said through chuckles of laughter. How typical: her father only found something funny when it belittled her or put her down. Other than that, he was a stoic as a statue. “For when you come home. You’re not planning on staying out there, are you? You know you can’t afford to stay out in California without my support and there’s no way in hell I’m funding an apartment in Orange County. No, once you graduate, you’ll come home. Now, I think it would be easier if you just came home with us after you graduate but your mom insisted I ask. Which, o’course, doesn’t make much sense since I’m the one buying the plane ticket so, really, it should be up to me.”

  “Dad,” Madison cut in, her tone biting.

  “Now, don’t you sass me, Madison Ivy,” her father said, his jovial tone suddenly hardening into glaciers. “Just because you’re in an entirely new state does not give you the right to push your father’s buttons like that. Maybe that’s the way they do things in California but it certainly isn’t how things are done here.”

  Madison bit her tongue. She wanted to say that she wasn’t there anymore, that she was a grown woman and could do whatever she wanted. Sure, she understood she needed to respect her father but that did not give him the right to talk to her that way, either. As though her opinion didn’t count.

  “Sorry,” she said, though she couldn’t completely cut out the attitude from her voice. Instead, she rushed to ask a question in the hopes that it would distract him from getting upset with her all over again. “To be honest, I haven’t really thought about what I’d do once I graduated, Dad. I’ve had a couple of job offers here.”

  Her father snorted. “You couldn’t afford to live in California by yourself, Madison,” her father said, his condescending tone grating on her nerves. She had to bury her long fingernails into the skin of her palms to keep herself from talking back or hanging up. “You need me. And there’s no way in hell I’m going to pay for you to stay there. You might not like it but you best start wrapping your head around the fact that you’re coming home. Soon.” He paused, pressing his lips together. “Forget the fact that you get to choose when you want to come home. You’re still my daughter and I’m paying for your ticket. That means I get to make the decision. We gave you too much freedom by letting you go out there.” He sighed through his nose and Madison could visualize him rubbing his temples, like this was stressing him out more than it should. She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from screaming. “No, you’ll come with us after your graduation.”

  “No.”

  The word was out of Madison’s mouth before she could stop it and her eyes snapped open when she said it, listening to the tense beat of silence that hung between them.

  “Excuse me?” her father said in little more than a whisper.

  Madison forced herself to swallow. This was her father’s danger voice. If he didn’t get the right answer from his daughters, all hell would break lose. And usually, that was the last thing she and her sisters wanted.

  The difference now was she was across the country. He couldn’t do anything to her. Even if he threatened to stop paying for her dorm the last month of her time out here, she could use her savings to cover it.

  With that thought, power surged through her veins.

  “I said,” she remarked slowly, making sure to enunciate every word slowly. “I said no.”

  “You, what?” her father growled, his voice like a hungry wolf had just spotted a threat to his only bit of food. “Why in God’s name would you think you have any kind of right to deny me? I’m the one putting food in your mouth. I’m the one making sure you have a roof over your head. Maybe you lucked out and got that scholarship for your tuition and books, but I haven’t paid for June yet, missy, so don’t try me.”

  “I can pay for it myself,” Madison said, any restraint she might had completely vanishing.

  “You, what?” he repeated. She had to bite her lip to make a smartass comment on his inability to comprehend the words that were coming out of his mouth.

  “Dad,” she told him. “I have a 3.6 GPA and a part-time job. I’ve been saving my money for a rainy day. If you withhold payment for my dorm and meals, I can afford to cover it myself.” She took a breath, surprised by how calm she was. Even more so that her father hadn’t interrupted her yet. “I’m an adult. And I know that for the rest of my life, I have to respect you as my father. But I think I’ve earned your respect as an adult. Which means you don’t get to control me the way you used to when I was a child.”

  “As your father,” he told her, “I get to treat you however I like. And as the one signing the checks that keep you at that dorm, I get to decide when to stop paying for it. Which is now. You think you can do it on your own? Then, do it. You don’t need me anymore. You don’t need your mom. So we’ll pull our funding and you can figure this all out yourself.”

  Madison clenched her jaw before saying, “Fine.” Like she was a child. Like she was petulant and threw tantrums at the drop of a hat. Like she was immature and couldn’t take care of herself.

  He always brought this out in her and she hated that. She hated that she let him make her into this person.

  “Fine,” he told her. “I’ll let your mother know. It’s going to break her heart, you know. Are you going to be okay with that?”

  Madison rolled her eyes, glad he couldn’t see her. “You tell her whatever you want, Dad,” she told him. “We both know the truth.”

  “And what does that mean?” her father demanded to know.

  “It means I don’t care anymore,” she replied, all of her frustration being released at that moment. “It means do whatever you want because I will make it without you. I don’t need your money. I’m grateful, really, I am, for the opportunity you gave me. And I’m lucky I h
ad a father in my life. But I don’t deserve to be treated like some child.”

  “You do not get to tell me how to treat my children,” her father pointed out in a low growl.

  Madison sighed. She wasn’t getting through to him. But she wasn’t surprised. “You’re right, Dad,” she replied. “I can’t control how you treat me or how you feel. But I can control how I respond to it.”

  Without warning, she hung up the phone and immediately turned it off.

  That was much more draining than she expected it to be. She didn’t have time to worry about her father when Alec was still… As far as she knew, he was still at the Newport Police Department, unless something changed.

  Maybe she should keep her phone on, just in case.

  She rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated groan, pushing the power button on her phone so it turned back on. Almost immediately, it went off, with two calls from her father she immediately sent to voicemail. The little chirp indicated he left her one but she decided to ignore it for now. She knew it wasn’t something she wanted to hear.

  Since she was already up, she decided to start throwing some clothes on and get ready for school. She planned to drive to her dorm, pick up her books, and take the bus to campus. And from there, hopefully distract herself enough not to think about Alec and how she was doing nothing to help him.

  Chapter 5

  It was difficult for Madison to focus. She only had six weeks of school left and then she would graduate – hopefully with honors – from the University of California, Irvine. To be honest, she still had no idea what she wanted to do with her life.

  “Hey, Madison!” a familiar voice said from beside her as she left the bus stop and proceeded to head where her classes were located. She glanced over her shoulder and locked eyes with none other than Brady Thomas, someone she met in her junior year and had actually gone out on a date with. He was actually a really nice guy but the spark wasn’t there, and at the time, Alec was worming his way under her skin. However, Madison stayed friendly with Brady; things were a little awkward at first but they both seemed to have moved past it. In fact, Madison believed she heard he had been dating one of the water polo players on and off.

  Whatever made him happy.

  “Hey,” she said, smiling at him warmly. She almost expected his tattered copy of Catcher and the Rye to be under his arm. It was one of the things she first noticed about him. “I haven’t seen you around in a while.”

  “I know,” he said. “I caught sight of your hair and knew it was you. Thought I’d come by and catch up, see how you were doing. Did you want to grab some coffee? Or were you on the way to class?”

  “I’m heading to class,” Madison said, and the regret in her voice was genuine. “Maybe next time.” She cocked her head to the side. “Everything okay?”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said, nodding his head. “Just wanted to check in with you.” He gave her a look she couldn’t quite decipher. “I miss you. Nobody else knows Holden Caulfield quite like you.”

  His statement, had it been said two years ago, would have made her heart flutter. Now, her stomach clenched with unease. She wasn’t the type of girl who thought every time a guy talked to her meant that he was interested in her. However, there was something in Brady’s stare, something that said this whole excuse for coffee might mean more than what it really was supposed to be.

  Which was silly.

  Camilla LaHorn was tall, gorgeous, and strong. Water polo defined her muscles and she was definitely the catch on campus. If Brady had her, what the hell was he doing chasing after Madison who had strong thighs thanks to her skating and no upper body strength? Plus, Madison had no muscles and was just lucky that she was naturally slender. But that also meant she did not have breasts as big she would have hoped.

  Which she accepted her senior year of high school.

  This was stupid anyway. She didn’t have time to worry about Brady possibly being into her and Brady still dating Camilla LaHorn. She had one more essay she needed to write, two finals she had to study for, and six more lectures of each class before everything was due and everything was over.

  Her class was Asian Literature and it was much more interesting than she expected it to be. In fact, she wished some of her reading assignments had been added to her high school honors curriculum, if only to get a good sense of cultural literature rather than that same English and American novels they read every year.

  The problem was, she could barely concentrate. Her professor was giving out key tips to writing an excellent final paper, but all Madison could think of was Alec still in jail, waiting for his court date, and her father, reminding her that once she graduated, she was going home.

  Except, South Haven wasn’t her home. Not anymore.

  Orange County was.

  Yes, it had its flaws. She understood that. It was expensive and the weather was too perfect and the people here seemed to live as though they were in a bubble.

  But that was why she loved it.

  Plus, Alec was here. And wherever Alec was, that was where she wanted to be. Whether he stayed with the Seagulls his entire NHL career or was traded across the country. She didn’t care.

  Of course, they hadn’t really talked about their future. They talked about marriage and kids, but not seriously. Madison wanted to wait until she graduated to even think about that sort of commitment. And now, graduation was in one month and she had no idea what she was going to do afterward. Her father seemed to have everything planned out for her: fly back to Michigan, move back in with her parents, and get some part-time job in South Haven.

  There was nothing wrong with that life. The majority of her friends from high school had that life. They got married to their high school sweethearts and took up part-time jobs until their husband had a job that could support them and their growing family. They never left South Haven.

  And that was fine.

  But that was not what Madison wanted.

  Her father wanted her to be the picture-perfect small town girl who let the man decide everything. He humored her college whims and even paid for her education, which was surprising, to say the least. And Madison was grateful for the opportunity, for what her father gave to her. But that did not mean she should be forced to pay him back by sacrificing her happiness.

  However, he did make a point, whether she wanted to admit it or not: she couldn’t afford living on her own in Southern California being a Gulls Girl.

  Maybe she could move in with Amanda. They had been talking about it already. The problem was, Madison had a feeling Alec was going to ask her to move in sometime soon. She didn’t want to start a lease with Amanda and screw her over by having to move out after a couple of months.

  But that was based on the assumption that Alec would ask her to move in.

  He might not actually ask her. Maybe not for a while. Which meant if she wanted to stay out here, moving in with Amanda was her best bet. Except, Madison didn’t want to invite herself to be Amanda’s roommate. She knew Madison graduated in a month, so she would need to vacate her dorm by then so it would be the perfect opportunity for them to come together anyway.

  This was stupid. Her father always brought out this unnecessary worry out in her.

  There was no need to worry. It would all work out. She should be focused on what was going on with Alec. She needed to give him her full attention.

  The problem was, it didn’t help when her father brought up Dave. She shuddered yet again, feeling slimy tentacles wrap around her skin and tug at her flesh. It amazed her that he had this effect on her, considering he hadn’t actually done anything to her.

  There was no way in hell she would allow Dave to get anywhere near California. To be honest, Madison had no idea why her father even befriended Dave in the first place. She knew they both worked at the factory together but you didn’t go to work to make friends; you went to work to make money. And the funny thing was, he always told her things like that.

  Yet Dave would be inv
ited to dinner or asked to attend soccer games or choir performances or graduations. She had no idea what made Dave so special. Why her father insisted he be part of the family, Madison didn’t know. Normally, she didn’t care because the majority of the time, he was working anyway. But to invite Dave to her college graduation without even asking if it was okay…

  Madison bristled just thinking about it.

  Class went much slower than it typically did, and when she got out, she headed back to the bus stop to wait for the bus. Her eyes were careful as she walked, not sure if she would run into Brady again. Not sure if she wanted to.

  Everything was throwing her off. She needed Alec to make things better.

  Bullshit, a voice said that sounded suspiciously like her little sister’s. You don’t need Alec. You can do it yourself.

  She pressed her lips up and nodded. Rhine, as usual, was right. Madison had always been bright but Rhine was exceptional. If she wanted, she could get into Harvard or Stanford or Brown. Of course, her father would never be able to afford that tuition so Rhine would have to take out loans, but Madison always encouraged her to do so. It was why Rhine was looking at Stanford – to get away from the Midwest as far as possible. There were even a couple of universities she had heard from abroad – Cambridge and Oxford. She had to choose, and soon, but she was holding off until she could talk to Madison about this in person – away from her father’s bullshit.

  Rhine was just excited to get out of South Haven. Her father wouldn’t let Rhine visit Madison in California alone so she had never even been out of the small town, except to neighboring towns and to the mall in Grand Rapids. Rhine wanted to see the world. And Madison wanted to help her do that in any way she could.