Page 35 of The Captain

I rub my forehead as Joey replies, “Oh, so you’re Cassie?”

Cassie glares at me, and I shrug my shoulders, unsure what she wants me to say. “Yes. I’m Cassie.”

“It’s so nice to meet you! I swear every other text from this one is about you.” She gestures to me with her thumb, and I freeze.

Fuck, Jo, what are you doing?

It was true that we were close, and I may have spilled the beans to Joey about my entire relationship with Cassie. It was something only she and Crew knew about me.

Everyone else was still under the assumption that Cassie and I were grave enemies, destined to fight until we the end.

I was fine with that scenario, so long as there was a little love thrown in.

“Oh really? Seems a little inappropriate to text you about me,” Cassie says casually, smiling broadly as the waiter sets her drink down.

“Oh, no. We just talk about Mick’s friends and what she’s been up to. Your name came up casually when I asked about who’s in the wedding party with us.”

Without meaning to, Cassie’s eyes narrow and she clears her throat, turning to Mick who is on her other side. She whispers in Mick’s ear, and I can’t figure out what’s being said because, at that moment, Devon stands and makes a toast, leaving no room for talking.

I raise my iced tea in toast, my eyes flicking to Cassie again. She never did text me back the other day, and I wondered for hours how I was going to get her to open up to me again.

Joey turns to Vic, giving me her back, and Cassie’s glare returns to me. “So much for the book, huh?”

I blink, confused about where she’s going with that. “What do you mean?”

She scoffs, glancing to make sure Mick isn’t paying attention to the conversation. “Come on, you send me a basket full of my favorite things and then show up with a date?”

“I—” Hold the fucking phone. She thought Jo was my date? I shake my head. That’s not what I want her to think—that I’m dating someone else. I fucking told her in my parents’ bathroom how I feel about her.

How could she doubt me?

It makes my blood boil underneath my skin. “Why do you care?” I ask, throwing a cruel smirk across my lips, and sit back in my chair like I don’t have a care in the world.

“I don’t,” she snaps, slipping into the Cassie I know all too well. “I don’t give a shit.”

Her voice is quiet enough to keep from drawing attention to us, and I lean forward, resting my forearms on the table. “I think you do give a shit.”

Fire ignites in her eyes, and if I were close enough, I just know she would press her hands against my chest and shove me as far away from her as she could. “I don’t.”

I purse my lips, giving her a slightly taunting look, and take a drink from my glass.

“I don’t,” she repeats, getting my full attention again. I can see the anger there. “You can fuck whomever you want, Lincoln.”

I glance around the table and lean forward, thankful that the table is narrow enough that I can get close to her. “That’s not what I fucking want, Cassandra.”

Suddenly, a foot strikes me from under the table, and I yelp, grabbing for my shin and biting back the curses that want to spew out of my mouth.

Mick smirks and taps her glass against Vic’s. “Looks like the same old Cassie and Lincoln wars never stopped.”

Cassie looks mortified by what she did and apologizes to Mick, standing and making an excuse for the bathroom. “Be right back.”

Yeah, she’s not getting away from me that fucking easily.

I stand, nodding at my sister, and not so casually trail after the woman who owns my stupid fucking heart.

I see her disappear into the women’s restroom and take a gamble that no one else will be in there. Following right behind her and locking the door, glancing around quickly tells me that the gamble paid off and we’re alone.

Cassie spins, her face twisting with anger and hurt, her dress moving with her in the most delicious way, and for a moment, my brain forgets the reason I came here.

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