In Sequence | H.S.

15.

Harry.

I'm not fucking happy.

My jaw pops in and out of place as I bite harshly into the spearmint gum I've been chewing since I took a piece out of Maddy's bag when she wasn't looking. She's been too busy pacing to notice. My feet are crossed and propped on the desktop in her temporary office here at UBS as I flip through the newspaper I took from a newsstand down the street.

Has my name splattered on the front page, so I'm entitled to a free copy.

"This is bullshit." I murmur under my breath as I skim the drawn out article claiming I went rogue and attacked an innocent man.

Innocent my ass.

The misinformed bullshit is splattered across the front page and all throughout the sports section. It's full of commentary from people who couldn't make it to the big leagues, so they had to find a way to get paid by watching the games since nobody wanted to watch them fumble on the rink.

"Glad you agree." A disappointed redhead scolds me from across the room, glancing down at the treatment table. "Think you have time to pencil me in for PT or are you too busy breaking fingers to focus on hockey now?" Her complexion is still pale from when I told her exactly what had happened. Like everyone in the fucking world, she woke up to a TMZ Sports story linked on every social media platform, but by some fucking miracle, she hasn't come across the video yet.

"You gonna keep throwing digs at me all day, Rosie?" I fold the newspaper in half and leave it behind on her desk. "Because I did it to defend you." I make my way in front of her, grabbing onto her hip. She tips her head up to look at me, trying to make up for the height difference, but instead of smiling at me like she's finally started to do, a troubling frown on her lips is visible. "Don't look at me like that."

"You hurt someone, Harry, and that's not okay." She doesn't condone violence. She made that very fucking clear when I came clean about breaking that pricks fingers. It almost killed me to admit it because she was so adamant that it was some sort of twisted rumor, but part of being a better guy is being honest with her.

I've never had to be anything more than a version of myself that only existed for the public lens. I didn't have to be authentic, decent, or fucking genuine for people to like me. I could put up a wall, talk down to people, and use them in whatever way benefited me.

But I can't do that with Mads.

I actually fucking like her.

"And I'd do it again if someone laid their hands on you." I don't tell her what she wants to hear, but I tell her the truth. "I've been beating myself up over what Preston did to you. I wasn't there to protect you, and it fucking sucks." My thumb rubs small circles against her hip, and her eyes soften their angered haze. "He targeted you to get back at me." Did I know that for sure when they met? No. But I know it now and she deserved a whole lot more than his bullshit. "Just like that fucking pap did yesterday."

"I don't need you to protect me, H." She sighs, but my heart does a somersault. I love when she lets her little nicknames for me slip out, even in this context.

"I know." I nod, scooping her hair behind her ears. "But I want to."

"And I appreciate that, I really do." Her eyes glance over at the wide-open door, then back up at me. I don't know if I'll ever get her comfortable with being affectionate towards me in the workplace, but I'll keep trying until she tells me to stop. "But your professionalism and reputation got put on the line because you wanted to defend me. I can't let you do that..."

Her arms cross over her chest, her frown deepening. I wish I could get inside that pretty little head of hers and be able to understand her, but Madelyn has this wall up that protects her from my superman mentality. She doesn't seem to like depending on someone to protect her, and that's something I need to get used to. I want to keep her safe from the douchebags of the world, but if that's not what she wants, I can't violate that boundary.