Page 50 of The Captain

She was actually there.

She sat, her book propped up on her legs and a shy smile across her lips, staring at me as I warmed up.

I waved, and my sister, obviously thinking I was waving at her, waved back. I smiled at my sister, but my eyes shifted back to Cassie. Making sure Mick’s gaze was elsewhere, I winked at Cassie and placed a hand to my chest.

Her blush had been instant, and my grin just widened.

Until… “Fucking hell, she’s here.” Crew breathed hard after his warm-ups, smiling at the same woman who I held in my arms last night.

I glared at him. “She’s not here for you.”

Crew, cocky and kind of a dick, at least recently, turned to me and said, “Oh yeah? Then who is she here for?”

I swallowed and wanted to shove it in his face. Wanted to tell him that she was only here because I’d asked her to come, but I shrugged. “She’s here with my sister.”

“Nah.” He shot his own wink at her. “She’s here for me. I’m almost there with her.”

I knew for a fact this wasn’t true, that she’d seen me nearly every day this week. And I knew Cassie, she wouldn’t have laid with me last night if she was dating Crew. “You need to back the hell off.”

“Oh?” Crew asked, pretending innocence. “Who’s going to make me?”

I gritted my teeth and got in his face, our chests bumped together. “You don’t want to fucking go down this road, Thatcher. I won’t go easy on you.”

He lifted a brow. “Are you staking your claim?”

Before I knew what I was saying, my mouth moved. “You bet your ass I am.”

Finally, after staring at me for a long moment, my once-best friend patted my fucking cheek and said, “It’s about fucking time.”

I blinked at the words glancing between my friend’s retreating back and the woman in the stands, but before I could clarify, the whistle was blown, and it was time to start the game.

The high you felt after a game was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Granted, I hadn’t experienced a whole lot yet, but there was nothing better than winning a game that you trained hard for.

Unless, after said game, you had plans with the woman who made you lose all train of thought.

Then that won out every time.

After the game and the celebrating in the locker room, the victory speeches, and the slaps on the back, I’d showered in the locker room, being thorough before getting dressed and slinging my bag over my shoulder.

“Come on, man! Let’s go celebrate!” Crew threw his arm over my shoulder, back to being my friend after his whole speech on the ice.

“Nah, man. I can’t.” I glanced around the player’s lot, even though I knew Cassie got a ride home with Mickey. I was way too eager to see her, and I knew that I should tone it down a notch, not wanting to scare her away, but a bigger part of me wanted to express to her how excited I was to spend time with her.

“Dude, we just won.” He turned, grabbing on to my shoulders and shaking. “You’re not seriously going to bail on us, are you?”

The guilt trip was nice, but I nailed him with a look. “Really? You’re using that?”

“What?” Crew pretended innocence, pursing his lips like he had no idea what I was talking about. “Are you mad at me?”

“A little, yeah.” I nodded, thinking about how he was fucking with me the entire time about Cassie. “Pretending to be close to Cassie to make me, what? Pursue her? I didn’t need that.”

“Yeah, you did.” He shook his head. “I’ve watched you pretend to hate her guts since freshman year. It was about time you got your head out of your ass and acted on your feelings.”

“What about jerking her feelings around, huh? What about that?”

He rolled his eyes and glared down at where I slapped him on the chest. “I wasn’t. She and I hang out and talk about books, you dick. Nothing more. I’ve never gone there with Cassie. I know she’s yours.”

I know she’s yours.

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