Page 40 of The Captain

“Muscles! This is highly unnecessary.” He moved us toward my bedroom and wiggled his arm, carrying me around like I weighed nothing when we both knew this could break him.

“No, it’s necessary,” he retorted, not giving me a good reason, just…stating it.

“Lincoln.”

“Sunshine.”

I huffed, and feeling impulsive, I smacked him on the ass. He was wearing gym shorts, so the effect was good.

“Dammit, Sunshine, do you want me to drop you?” Then, retaliating, he popped his hand against mine.

“Ow!” I whined, and then I was flying and landing on my bed, my hair puffed up all around me, and I was staring at my starry ceiling with Lincoln leaning over me.

I wasn’t going to admit that I’d had this dream once or twice.

“Your room is fucking cool,” he commented, glancing around at the posters and stars and artwork. Every single piece of everything was fantasy inspired.

He walked over to my desk, looking at the dozens of notes taped to the wall around it, the notebooks stacked tall, and the pen cup that was overfull.

Grabbing something, he held it up, and I blinked when I saw what it was.

“You still have this?” He showed me what he held, and I shook my head. “Really? Because I’m holding it in my hand.”

I sat up and wiped my hair away from my face. I looked over at him and decided to just try honesty. “Yes. I do. It was a good night.”

He rubbed the keychain. On it was his jersey number. When he got his assigned number when he was put on the Vapors, the school made keychains for each player with their number on it, and only gave the players a select few.

One of the first nights I’d met Lincoln, he’d given me one.

“It was.” He sighed and gently set it back down, his sad eyes trailing over me. He looked like he wanted to say something, and I braced myself for what was coming.

Instead, he smiled and said, “So, where is this book?”

I cleared my throat. “Uh, well, do you want a hard copy or do you want to read it on your phone?” I stood and made my way to the desk, opening my computer. “I have one hard copy, but it might be easier for you on your phone.”

“Sure, yeah, that’s good. I can read while I’m away.”

Right, he was going away that weekend. It would be a good time for me to get it together. To take a breath away from him and remember why I dislike him so much.

“Perfect,” I told him and felt him standing closely behind my desk chair.

As quickly as possible, I emailed him the stuff he needed to get the book and then stood. “Well, it’s getting late.”

Except standing put me right in front of him until we were nearly chest to chest. His chin was tilted down as he looked at me, and I flushed red at our proximity.

He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, licking his lips and staring at my own. I didn’t know what to say, so instead, I waited and said nothing.

Then, just when I was going to push out of our stance, his arms came around my back, and he pulled me in, resting his head against mine and squeezing me tight.

It was so unexpected that my arms hovered in the air for a few seconds before I realized I wasn’t hugging him back. My arms finally moved around his shoulders, and going against every instinct, I squeezed around his neck.

I let out a deep breath and relaxed into his hold. He flexed his arms around me, and I hated that I had never felt more safe in my life.

THIRTEEN

Cassie

Present

---