Page 65 of The Captain

“Oh? What did you expect?”

I know what she expected. We’d never gotten around to discussing our past when we had our brief time together before I blew it all to shit. But I was ready when she was. If she was opening this can right now, I would tell her the truth.

“When we met, you were pretty inclined to drinking,” she blurts and I’m half-thankful that my sister and her fiancé aren’t paying us any attention.

“That’s true.” I don’t hide it, and Cassie looks on in surprise that I don’t skirt around the subject.

“What happened that changed that?” she asks, looking genuinely intrigued.

“I fucked up something that I wish I hadn’t.”

Her small grin drops, and she pushes some hair behind her ear, glancing around at the table to see if anyone is looking. If anything, it looks like everyone is purposefully not looking at us. Do they know something?

I’m frowning at them when she speaks again.

“That changed things for you? Drinking wise?” The waitress comes back and sets our drinks down. Cassie eyes her beer like she doesn’t want to touch it.

“Go ahead.” I nod at it. “It’s fine, really.” I’m not the type who can’t drink at all or who won’t have one occasionally, and others drinking doesn’t bother me at all. But when people find out I refrain, they get weird.

She takes a sip of her beer, trusting my words, and I answer her question. “But yes. That next day, I woke up feeling like the worst failure on the planet. I told myself I would be and do better.” I shake my head, glancing down at the table again. “Not just for me, but for the people around me.”

Cassie licks her lips, her blue fingernails tapping on the side of her beer glass. “I had no idea you didn’t drink anymore.”

I shrug. “It’s not something I advertise.”

Again, she nods, and I brace myself for more questions. If Cassie needed to know more, I would tell her anything she wanted. This was the time to be completely transparent when it came to us.

She opens her mouth, but before she can say anything, Victoria yells her name from down the table, dragging her attention away.

The nighttime here was even better than the day because you could see every star in the sky. Back home, there were too many lights obstructing our view, but up here, you could see everything.

I sit on the balcony off my room and watch, relishing in the day we had. Since our beer date yesterday, Cassie has been busy with everyone else, and it’s been hard to get time alone with her. That was okay, because we were here to celebrate with my sister, not rekindle our relationship, but I couldn’t help but hope we’d get some time together.

I hear a knock on my door and sit up, turning to see her head pop around the door, peering in to look. She sees me through the open slider and smiles slightly before coming into the room and shutting the door behind her.

I hold myself to the chair, waiting to see what she’s going to do, and I smile when I see the book in her hand.

There’s another seat on this little balcony, and she comes and sits in it, keeping a smile on her face as she does so.

“How are you?” she asks, and I blink at the most basic question.

I chuckle before answering. “I’m all right. How are you?”

“Honestly?” She brings her brows together before looking at my bedroom door. “I’m overwhelmed.”

I nod, not surprised in the least that she feels that way. Tanner’s old teammates showed up this morning, and it’s been a full day of activities since they did. Some of us went tubing, and I was shocked when Cassie joined that activity, thinking she’d rather go hunker down and read somewhere.

Mick had told me discreetly that she was trying to get out of her comfort zone lately, pushing herself to do more things.

I was only slightly pissed when one of Tanner’s teammates, Isaac Gasper, right wing for the Bandits, got on a two-person tube and rode down with her, his intentions and attention growing more and more clear with every hour that passed.

Cassie had been polite, but from what I could see, she wasn’t interested.

It had been a relief to see.

“It’s been so busy. And Mick says there’s more activities tomorrow.” She shakes her head and relaxes into her chair, her ever-present hoodie still on her body. “I had this thought in my head that a cabin weekend getaway would be relaxing.”

I chuckle lightly. “Not with this group.”

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