Page 43 of The Closed Off Captain

“There are a lot of things I know about you, Chloe.”

His words do something to my insides, something I don’t want to put a name to. I turn away from him to give myself some space to try to formulate a thought. I open the box and breathe in the pizza. “It smells good.”

“Taste it and see if it is,” Gunner says.

I take out a piece and hand it to him at the same time. “You try it too. I can’t believe you didn’t get regular pizza for yourself.” I pick up a piece. “Ready?” We both take a bite at the same time. My bite is much more tentative than his. I’ve had dairy free cheese before, and believe me when I say it is often not a good experience. I lift my gaze to his. “It’s actually kind of good.”

“It is.”

I open the other pizza box and take out a piece of the meat lovers. “Let’s try this one.” I nod in approval after I swallow. “Here, try it.” I hold it up to his lips, and he takes a bite. His eyes never leave mine as he chews.

“It’s good,” he finally says.

I turn away from him, busying myself with filling plates for both of us. He grabs water bottles, and I follow him out to the living room. “Want to watch a movie?” he asks.

“Sure.” A few minutes later, he sits next to me on the couch with the remote in hand. “What are we watching?” I ask.

“Whatever you want.”

I wave a hand towards the tv. “I never watch tv. You watch what you want to.” He flips through the channels, and I put my hand on his. “Oh, there’s a game on. Let’s watch that.”

He smirks at me. “I thought you never watched tv.”

“I don’t. This is hockey. Totally different.”

He huffs out a laugh. “Sure.” But he leaves the game on, and we both settle against the couch, eating our dairy free, gluten free pizza.Go figure.

It doesn’t take long before we’re both engrossed in the game. Him because he’s watching his opponents for weakness; me because I love a good game. And this game is an awesome game; the two teams have been neck and neck the entire game. I find myself yelling at the players towards the end of the game. I feel Gunner’s eyes on me, and I turn to him.

He frowns. “You’re supposed to only be a fan of our team.”

I laugh. “Oh, don’t worry. I am. This is just me watching a game of two teams I don’t even care about. You should see me duringyourgames.” The words just spill out.

His eyes light up. “My games, huh?” I bite my tongue at my slip-up but don’t say anything. “You know there’s an entire team, not just me, right?”

I scowl at him. “I was talking about your entire team.”

“Well, that’s disappointing.”

Chapter 21

Chloe

Monday morning comes bright and early, and I’m ready for it. I stride to my office with my coffee in hand. I gave myself a pep talk after I got home from visiting Grandma May. I reminded myself what the rules are, and why I have them in place—so I don’t mistake his acting for the real thing. There is no real relationship between Gunner and I; there never will be. As long as I remember that, and I keep the rules in place, my heart has a chance at surviving this thing. I open the door to my office and freeze. On my desk is a vase of gorgeous flowers. I slowly walk over to them and pick up the small card that has my name on it that came with the flowers.

Thanks for helping me this weekend.

-G

I turn it over, but that’s it. I take a deep breath and remind myself it doesn’t mean anything. I put my computer bag down, take out my laptop, and get to work. This is a day for me to get a lot of work done because we don’t have a game today. The hours pass quickly, and I’m mostly left alone. A little after noon, I make my way to the medical room. The medic staff should be here because practice starts soon. I push open the door and head inside.

“Hey, Chloe.”

“Hey, Carl.” He’s bent over one of the carts, busy restocking.

“Is Trent in yet?” I ask.

“Yeah, he just got here; he’s in the other room.”

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