Page 87 of The Captain

“Really. I only just found out about you and Cass before our weekend away.”

“What?” Mom’s sharp tone cuts off whatever I was going to say, and Dad looks up from where he was studying something on my desk. “You and Cassie are a thing?”

Oh crap. This will not go well. “No.”

“Not anymore.” My sister sing-songs the words, making me want to pull her under my arm for a noogie.

But I’m more mature than that.

Sometimes.

“Well, wait, what happened? Lincoln David, don’t tell me you had an opportunity to give me a wonderful daughter-in-law and ruined it.”

I bite my tongue hard enough to draw blood and sigh, tilting my head up to the ceiling. “We…were together. For a minute.”

“What happened?” My dad, who usually couldn’t care less about these types of things, leans forward on the cane he’s used since he got out of the military.

Mickey looks at me like she’s waiting for me to tell them everything, like she already knows the story.

“She told you?” I ask quietly, unsure what I was feeling about that information. But I was…glad. If Cassie told her best friend what was happening between us, then maybe I could actually win her back.

“Yeah, she told me.” Mick gives me a sad smile.

So, with that, I spill the story to my parents, keeping everything G-rated so that I don’t scar myself and them along with me. But I tell them about her tutoring me, about how hard she works, how she wrote a book, how she just got an agent, and how we’ve been talking recently, even though I almost lost her.

I tell them how I fell for her two years ago and how I’d screwed up.

“That’s why you don’t drink as much anymore?” Mick asks, awe in her voice like I just revealed something miraculous.

“I screwed that up so bad, I didn’t ever want to make a mistake like that again.” Especially where Cassie was involved. I think I loved her from the moment I saw her. Maybe it wasn’t “in love,” but it was a type of love that drew me to her, that made me want to be around her more, that made me want to know everything about her.

“Okay,” Mom starts, holding up a hand. “Let me get this straight, you met Cassie before Mickey did?” I nod my head, feeling overwhelmed by…everything. “And you fell in love with her?”

“I don’t know if I was in love, but…yeah.”

My mom’s face softens, but she continues. “Then you failed your class, and Tanner got her to agree to tutor you, after you hurt her feelings like that?”

“Yes,” I ground out, not mad at my mom, but mad at the situation.

“Then you two found some common ground, finally talked, started dating and fell in love again?”

“I guess,” I say on a sigh. “Lot of good that did me when I attacked her for not telling me about Mick and Coach.”

“Yeah, that was dumb,” Mickey says, looking at her nails. “But I do apologize for that. I had no idea she was working with you. I feel guilty that she felt like she couldn’t say anything. That wasn’t fair.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I agree, then shake my head. “Still doesn’t excuse what I did.”

“But you two are talking again?” Mom asks, that glimmer of hope still in her eyes.

“Yes,” I answer confidently. I was thrilled Cassie was letting me back in again. Even after everything we’d been through, I could see a glimpse of relief on the horizon.

“Okay, family meeting!” Mom calls, too loud for the small room.

Mick laughs, and I say, “Mom, we’re already having one.”

“This is now official. We need to help you win back Cassie.”

I shake my head, having no intention of my family helping me with anything. “No.”

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