Page 71 of The Captain

But, of course, I should have.

Lincoln’s head swivels to me slowly, and I brace myself for being on the end of his stare. I didn’t love how it felt, but I’m sure he’s not pleased that I kept it from him.

“You knew?” His words are whispered to me, and his brows furrow in confused anger. “You knew she was with my coach?”

I cross my right leg over my left, fiddling with the sleeve of my hoodie. “I’ve known for a little bit. Mick’s my best friend, Lincoln.”

“I’m your boyfriend, Cassandra,” he accused me, and I shook my head at the use of my full name.

No one ever accused Lincoln of not having enough flair for drama.

“You’ve been my boyfriend for a week, Muscles.”

“I thought we’d been friends for longer than that,” he threw back, making me flinch.

“Come on, don’t make me feel bad.”

“You should have told me.”

I frowned, getting angry myself. “It’s not my secret to tell.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” He turned, running a hand through his hair and turning back to face her. “How could you keep this from me?”

I straightened my spine and looked at him head on. “As I said, it’s not my secret to tell, but when I tell Mickey about us, I was going to tell her I didn’t want to keep her secret from you.”

“Oh, how noble,” he replied, making me flinch.

“Lincoln,” I said, hurt that he was making this about us. I knew he was really just mad at his sister. “I had plans—”

“And when would that have been?” He cut me off, not giving me time to say what I wanted to. “When you graduate? When I graduate? When I’m signed to a pro hockey team?”

I couldn’t help the little scoff that escaped my mouth, even as hurt tore me up inside. “We’ve been together for a week. I didn’t think you were mad we were keeping it quiet for a bit.”

“I asked you to come to my game, to wear the jersey I got for you, but you did neither.”

“I—” I had nothing to say to that. Not because I had no feelings on the matter, I did. But because he was purposefully trying to hurt my feelings, and I didn’t like that one bit.

“I can’t believe they did this. I can’t believe you lied to me.”

I stood, crossing my arms over my chest, and glared at him. “You don’t get to accuse me of lying to you, Lincoln. I’ve been nothing but honest with you about everything. Including my feelings.”

“Oh? Then why not tell me about my sister?” He took a step forward until he was towering over me, but I had no fear that he would hurt me. I knew him well enough to know that’s not something he would ever, ever do.

“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” I ground out, my jaw aching at the anger that made me clench it so hard. “Mickey told me at Thanksgiving, and—”

“Thanksgiving?” His eyes widened. “You’ve known since Thanksgiving?”

I pursed my lips together, growing more and more pissed every time he cut me off.

“Yes. I have. She told me and Victoria.”

“What about my parents? Do they know?” His eyes searched mine, and for a moment, I saw what it was that was eating him up inside. He was being vulnerable in this moment with me, and judging by his question, he was terrified that everyone knew except for him.

That he was left out.

“No. I don’t think so. Mick never said they knew.” I reached for his hand, interlocking our fingers together and stepped close. His forehead met mine, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s going to be okay, Muscles. Tanner is a good guy; he treats Mick well.”

He pulled away from me, his hand leaving mine, my hand left suspended in the air. “Oh, hell no. They’re not staying together, are you serious?” He looked at me like he didn’t know me, and the shock of that look burned into my brain and scorched my heart. “He’s a playboy. He’s been in pro hockey for years. He’s also fifteen years older and probably ready to settle down! Mickey isn’t ready for all of that.”

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