Page 80 of The Captain

“What a nice excuse,” she said, not smiling, not looking at me, not even blushing like she seemed to do. “Excuse me.”

She tried to step around me, and maybe I should have let her go, but I could feel her slipping out from under me before I had even a sliver of a chance to get to know her.

“Wait, Cassie, please. I messed up, but I’m not that type of guy.”

She scoffed, and finally, her eyes met mine, and I was hit with a blast of shame at the hurt I saw there. Sure, we only had just met that night, but she felt it too. That connection, she felt it.

“I’m not interested.”

“Cassie—”

“Hey, we’re headed out,” Mickey said, gesturing from me to Cassie, before I could say more. “You two know each other?”

“No,” Cassie answered before I could say something stupid like I’m pretty sure she’s my soulmate. “I’ve never even cared about hockey.”

“Right.” Mickey smiled at her friend and linked their arms. “I’m trying to convert her, but she’s a prickly one.”

“I’ll bet I could convince you to like hockey,” I said, hoping for something playful like last week, a spark of interest, a hint of anything from her that would make me feel less like the shitty human I feel like right now.

“Right, I’m so sure,” she snapped back and then seemed embarrassed at her display in front of my sister.

But Mickey just laughed and said goodbye, taking the woman I was infatuated with down the tunnel and out of my sight.

I stared down that tunnel for a long time, wondering what the hell I could do.

And wondering if I just gave up my one chance at someone great.

TWENTY-FIVE

Cassie

Present

The drive down this road was so familiar, and when I parked and headed inside, it was like I’d done it a million times.

I’ve been to the ice rink a bunch, especially with Mickey over the last two years, coming with her so she didn’t have to sit alone and avoiding watching Lincoln play as much as possible. It was basically impossible to ignore him, of course, but I had tried.

Mick and Victoria had been my first real friends in adulthood that I could trust and count on, and when they asked me to come with them to things, I felt like if I said no, they would replace me as a friend.

Of course, that stemmed from bullying from middle school and high school, when friends expected you to drop everything for them. And Mick and Victoria were not like that whatsoever.

But insecurity was a bitch, so I’d dropped everything to be there for my friends whenever possible.

I was coming off a high of having my first phone “interview” with an agent. She saw promise in me and my book and was working on a contract right now.

It still didn’t feel real. I had an agent.

Well, almost.

The ice rink had a good number of people inside for this scrimmage, parents and siblings littered the stands, watching the game that was already in play.

Lincoln stood in one of the team boxes and Crew was in the other, and to my surprise, Tanner was playing ref for the game, a big smile stretched over his face as he called plays and watched them all go.

I found Mick in the stands and decided it would be worse to not sit with her than to avoid her, so I went to her.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she gave me a big hug. “What are you doing here?”

It was easier to be around her now that the secret was out, and I could reply honestly. “Lincoln told me about it. I couldn’t resist coming to watch a bunch of mini hockey players.”

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