Page 73 of The Captain

I swore he would be different. I thought he’d matured and grown since the last time he hurt my feelings. But maybe not.

Finally, with reluctance, Lincoln took the last few steps to the door and stepped out into the hallway, closing it softly behind him.

With him out of sight, I let myself fall onto my couch and cry, feeling my relationship crumble all around me and burn to ash.

TWENTY -THREE

Cassie

Two Years Ago

“I don’t even know what we’re doing here,” I told Victoria, a newfound friend of mine here on campus. She was an art major. She wore black clothing and had piercings I didn’t even know you could have. She also seemed out of my league, friend-wise, but she let me hang around her. “This isn’t either of our scenes.”

Vic laughed. “You don’t have a scene, so what could it hurt?”

She wasn’t wrong. If I had any kind of “scene,” it would probably be in a local coffee shop. Not the hockey bar.

“Why are we here again?”

“We’re supposed to meet my friend for a beer, but she’s not here yet. You’ll love her, she’s a goodie.”

Anticipation ate at me. Since I’ve been coming to Rose Hill, I’ve never been able to form real connections with people.

My mother would tell me that it was because my nose was buried in a book half—or more than half—of the time. But it was usually because I didn’t really get along with other college students.

I didn’t have the itch to go out and party like the other students. I was perfectly content at home on a Friday night.

Except this one.

I had been dying to get out of the house. Mostly because I felt myself creeping closer to the end of college, and I had nothing to show for it. Of course, I was entering the master’s program. But my brain told me that that was a completely different thing from college.

We settled up to the bar, the rowdy noise filling with each passing moment. We’re not there for ten minutes when the doors to the bar are shoved open and a group of college boys shove into the bar, grins stretch their faces, and the patrons of the bar start cheering loudly at their presence.

“See, eye candy.” Vic took a sip of the beer that was just placed in front of her. I grabbed mine and took my own sip of the bitter liquid. Blech. I hated beer. “Totally worth sucking down cheap beer.”

“That’s why we’re here? To stare at the hockey team?”

Vic’s wide blue eyes met mine, and she gave me a look. “Duh. Look at those adorable dummies. You grab one of those freshmen or sophomores, and you can really mold them to your liking.”

I eyed my new friend dubiously. “Do you do that often?”

She hummed in the back of her throat. “Not too often.” She then raised her hand and pointed at someone. “See him?”

I tried to discreetly follow her hand, but she was being so obvious about her pointing that the man she was pointing at was staring right at us. Or more accurately, he was staring at Victoria, and the look on his face made me squirm.

“Who’s that? Your boyfriend?” I asked her, turning back to take another sip of beer to save myself from the intensity of their stares.

Victoria barks out a laugh and turns her back to him, and she pats my shoulder. “Oh, my sweet, summer child. No. He’s not my boyfriend. More like…a break.”

“Okay,” I answered, even though I had no clue what the hell she was talking about. I cursed my naivety right then. Not understanding what she was talking about made me feel like I was sixteen instead of twenty-two.

“He’s just a way to pass the time. He’s real good at distracting me.” She threw another glance over her shoulder, and curiosity got the best of me, so I looked too, and sure enough, he was still staring at her.

He was tall from what I could see, had wavy brown hair and intense brown eyes that made me shiver. It wasn’t even a good shiver, more like a “Look away!” kind of shiver.

“He’s intense.”

“He’s a wonderful student,” Victoria purred, letting out a laugh when she saw the look on my face. “Don’t you worry, I won’t leave your side tonight.”

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