Page 93 of The Captain

I nod my head with a grin that can’t be contained. “You know it.”

We all step carefully through the tunnel, one after another, taking to the ice like we were made to be here, and I take a moment to breathe through my nose, readying my body for our first game back on the ice.

I was ready.

Training wise, I had been killing it lately. Even with the looming question of whether or not my professor accepted my paper, I have worked harder than ever to become the best player I could be.

When Tanner told me that my teacher gave my paper a passing grade and I could continue to play this season, I’d been overwhelmed with gratitude. I worked hard on my paper, trying to find an angle that made sense to me.

Not that love made a whole lot of sense.

I’d sent the paper to Cassie days ago, and since then, she has yet to say a single word to me about it.

I didn’t let myself think about the worst-case scenario, knowing that I had more work to do to prove that I was worthy of her love.

Now that I was staying in Rose Hill for at least another year, I knew that I could make her a priority.

The crowd is excited tonight as we skate into the rink. We’ve already done warm-ups, the game puck was just about to drop, and I scan the crowd, looking for that familiar head of blonde hair.

I’d been hoping she would show up and surprise me, even though hockey wasn’t really her thing. I knew that going into the relationship, and I wasn’t about to push it onto her.

But after not hearing from her for several days, I couldn’t deny that worry had settled into my gut like lead.

I skate over to our sidelines as the guest team is introduced and end up next to Coach.

“Hey,” Tanner says, nudging my shoulder. I turn and nod at him, trying to keep my focus on the game. “Ready to win?”

“You know it,” I answer without thought, wondering where the hell Cassie has been. Maybe she’s busy with her new agent or at the diner working for her mom.

That’s what I’ll do tonight. I’ll go to the diner and track her down and just make sure she’s okay. I know the paper was a lot. I know putting it out there like that was not something that she was probably expecting.

But I was an all-or-nothing guy, and if I couldn’t admit to her how much I loved her, how ingrained in my heart and life she was, then there was no point in trying to win her back.

I was ready to tell the world that I was madly in love with her.

I just needed her to be ready for that.

“Mick just got here,” Tanner says offhand, and I turn, seeing my sister moving her way down the aisle, my cousin Joey in tow, and they wave at us. I don’t wave back, giving her a small smile instead before my gaze goes behind her.

Nothing.

My heart drops.

I didn’t invite her to the game, but I’ve said before how much it would mean to me if she would come.

The game starts, and I’m able to put it out of my mind and focus on what I’m here to do. When the game is over, I’ll go figure out where we stand. I was tired of not being with her, I needed her in my life, and I think I’m good for her. I want to be the one who pushes her to do scary things like publish her book. I want to be there for her when I know it’s going to take off and she’s going to see how much her book will be loved.

I want to be there for her, and I need her to be here for me.

The team we’re playing is aggressive and just what I need to work out my frustrations.

Barely into the first period, a player targets me, and I shoot the puck toward Connor before he slams me into the wall. I get back in his face, shoving him off me, and he backs off, just enough to let me go.

I chase down the puck, waiting for my team to shoot it at me, and when I finally get it, I chase it back down to my side, shoot for the net…and miss.

I growl under my breath, breathing heavily, when a body slams into me again. It’s the same fucking player.

Turning, I shove him off me, but he gives me a taunting grin and waves at me like the jackass he obviously is.

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