Page 47 of The Captain

I smile at Heather, pretending Cassie brushing me off doesn’t sting like hell, and make my way to the booth, plopping down and giving my full attention—well, more like ninety-eight percent of my attention—to my work. The other two percent is on the blonde avoiding me from across the diner.

Marie brings me water without asking and winks. Seems everyone here is on my side.

Then, I dive into my work.

Or I try, at least. It’s a little distracting having Cassie so close to me while I’m trying to focus on work, but it’s comforting being in the same vicinity as her. I’ve missed coming here and working together. My emotions ranged from dreading tutoring sessions, knowing that I was going to have to sit on my hands and let her teach me without doing any of the things I wanted to do, to looking forward to each and every time I was going to get schooled.

The mindset shift was real.

When planning to work toward this paper for the second time, I decided this was the only place I could focus. It wasn’t even because the hockey house was loud, because a lot of guys were home for the first couple months of summer, only coming back in August when pre-season training would begin.

So, really, I had no excuse except that I wanted to be here.

An hour into my work, the door signals a new customer like it’s done several times throughout the time I’ve been here, but I glance up to see a tall guy with glasses, a button-down, and slacks entering. Heather goes to him, and he pulls her into him slightly, making my brows raise as he places a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Heather escorts him to a table and has him sit, then holds up a finger before rushing back to the kitchen.

I watch the guy who just kissed Cassie’s mom’s cheek and furrow my brow. He licks his lips and tugs at his shirt. His hands disappear under the table, and I can only guess he’s wiping sweaty palms on his pants.

Who the fuck was this guy?

A minute later, Cassie trails her mom out of the kitchen, her eyes track to me briefly before switching to the guy. She looks shy, apprehensive, but pastes a slight smile on her face when the man stands and holds out his hand for her to shake. She does, and they make small talk while I gawk like a fucking stalker.

Was this Heather’s boyfriend or something? Or something else? I couldn’t get a read on anyone. Heather seems excited but reserved, the guy looks like he’s trying hard to be pleasant, even if you can see the nerves all over his face. And Cassie looks like she wants to enjoy herself but is having a hard time doing so.

I stand, without any other thought other than Cassie needs someone in her corner, and march up to the group that’s still standing beside the booth.

Heather sees me coming, and her shoulders sag in what I hope is relief.

“Oh, George, this is Lincoln, he’s Cassie’s good friend,” she says when I’m close enough, smiling brightly.

“Oh.” He blinks in surprise and puts his hand out for me to shake. I smile pleasantly, still unsure of what is going on, and shake his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” I reply, taking a step toward Cassie. When she sways in my direction, I take a bold move and wrap my hand around her hip, holding her to me.

“So, George,” I start, lifting a brow. “Come here often?”

I smirk to ease the tension, and he chuckles. Heather smiles at me, grateful, I think, for my ability to steer an awkward conversation.

“Pretty often, yes.”

Cassie clears her throat, and I look down at her, smiling when her gorgeous eyes meet mine. “George is Mom’s boyfriend; we were just meeting.”

“Oh wow.” I nod and smile at Heather, who’s now beaming at her daughter’s words. I guess that confirmation of boyfriend really did the trick. “That’s great. We should all have dinner sometime.”

Heather latches onto that before Cassie can argue. “Yes! Let’s do that. Saturday?” She looks hopefully between the three of us, and I nod my agreement.

“I can make that work,” George replies, giving me a nervous grin.

“Okay,” Cassie says and pushes into me slightly.

I take the cue. “Cass, could I get your help with something really quick?” I nod over to our booth, and she nods quickly.

“Sure, nice meeting you, George,” she says and waves as we walk away. I steal a glance over my shoulder to see Heather turned toward George, who’s wiping a hand over his forehead.

I was glad he was nervous about meeting Cassie, that meant he knew how important she and Heather’s relationship was.

I settle Cassie into the same side of the booth I was working on and scoot in beside her. She seems a little shell-shocked, so I grab my water and hand it over to her, watching her carefully as she takes the straw between her teeth and wraps her lips around it, drinking thoroughly.

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