Page 28 of The Closed Off Captain

Sebastian grins. “Ah. Young love.”

I shake my head and go back to eating. Thankfully, things settle back into our norm. It’s not actually the first time I’ve eaten with these guys. I’ve done it many times over the years, just not as Gunner’s fiancé. I finish eating before the guys are done and put my napkin down next to my plate. “I’m going to get some photos.” Gunner nods and keeps eating. I make my way around the room taking photos and videos to throw on the team socials later.

“Chloe,” Zac calls out when I get to his table. “Come sit with us.”

“I’m good. Thanks. Smile.” I snap a few photos.

“Yeah, sit with us,” Dylan says, sliding out a chair for me. “We want to know if our captain is treating you well.”

“He is.”

Zac sits back in his chair. “Just how did you guys end up engaged so fast? I mean we’ve all known how cap feels about you, but engaged?” He frowns.

I measure my words carefully. I knew this would probably happen at some point. “It’s not fast, Zac. Gunner and I have worked together for four years.”

“Yeah, remember she threw herself at him the first day?” Dylan jokes.

I feel my face instantly heat up, and I stand to my feet.He’s just repeating what he’s heard; he wasn’t even on the team back then.“She what?” one of the rookies asks.

“She asked Cap out the first day of her job here.”

“What?”

“No way!”

“She was a puck bunny?”

“Hey, leave her be,” Zac snaps at them. “That’s Cap’s girl you’re talking about.”

Mortification sweeps through me, and I take an unsteady step backwards, right into a hard chest. I feel a hand ghost my spine before Gunner steps past me and puts both hands on the table and levels a look around the table. The laughter dies instantly. “I am only going to say this once, so listen up. Chloe is mine. You don’t talk about her, and you certainly don’t make fun of her. What happens between us is just that...between us. You have a problem with Chloe…you have a problem with me, and you don’t want to have a problem with me.”

I notice that it’s gone quiet around the entire room, and I want to die of embarrassment. I keep my head up, like none of this bothers me. Gunner stands up and looks at each of them. “Sorry, Chloe,” Zac says, meeting my eye. I acknowledge his words with a nod. Gunner turns around and takes my hand in his and leads me back to our table. Right before we get there, I tug on his hand.

He turns to look at me. “I’m going to head back to the room.”

“Soon, I promise. But don’t let them see you leave yet, like they got to you.” His words are low and earnest, and I see the value of them. He squeezes my hand and then pulls my chair out for me.

“Don’t worry, Chloe, we’ll get them back during practice,” Sebastian says.

“Rookies,” Rico says, grinning. “They gotta learn.”

Thankfully, Gunner finishes just a few minutes later and stands up. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

We make our way towards the door, but before we get there, Coach waves us over. “You get it handled?” he asks.

“Yes,” Gunner says.

Coach looks at me. “Sorry, Chloe. That shouldn’t have happened.”

“It’s fine.”

I step away while they talk briefly about the game tomorrow, and then we make our way out of the room. Gunner’s quiet, so I stay the same as we make our way through the lobby and into the elevator. There’s a hotel staff member in the elevator with us, so we continue in silence. When we get to our room, Gunner opens it and lets me go through first. “Hey,” he says before I get two feet from him. “I’m sorry, Chloe. They shouldn’t have said any of that.”

I grimace. “How much did you hear?”

He crosses his arms over his massive chest. “Enough.”

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