Page 52 of The Closed Off Captain

“He was looking at the injury on my face.”

“He shouldn’t have been touching you at all; you’re my fiancé.”

I come to a stop, causing him to stop as well. I turn to him. “You know I’m not really your fiancé, right?”

He scowls. “Yes, but he doesn’t know that.”

“He wasn’t doing anything, Coftman. He was just looking at my injury because he’s a physician.”

“Hey, Gunner. Chloe,” Rico announces his arrival. He looks between the two of us. “You guys good?” His tone is casual, but I notice his eyes are intense as they look between us.

“We’re fine,” Gunner grunts out.

Rico looks at me, like he’s making sure. I blow out a breath. “Yeah, Coftman is just forgetting that this whole thing isn’t real.”

Rico glances at Gunner and then back at me. “You guys coming to game night Sunday?”

The shift in conversation throws me for a moment, but I recover quickly. “Yes. What can I bring?”

“It’s Aiden and Bri’s turn to host, so you can check with Bri if you want. But we usually just all bring a snack of some sort.”

“And by a snack, you mean a buffet, right? I know how much you all eat,” I remind him.

Rico smiles easily. “Yeah, there’s always a lot of food. But seriously, just bring whatever.”

I take note that he seems to be alone. ”Did Amber not make it tonight?”

“No, Riley’s teething and miserable; so they didn’t come tonight.”

“Oh, sorry.” I don’t know what else to say; I don’t really know anything about babies.

He smiles. “She’ll be fine; she just needs to get these next few teeth in. Have a good night, you two.” He heads for his car, leaving Gunner and I alone. Well, not exactly alone since the rest of the team is starting to make their way out.

“Chloe,” Zac calls out from across the parking lot. “Make Cap show you how to hit back.”

I shake my head but return his wave. “All right. I’m heading home.”

“I don’t think you should go to your house.”

“We already had this conversation. See you tomorrow, Coftman.”

“I won’t be here.”

I turn back in surprise. “Don’t you have practice?”

He nods. “Yeah, but Coach said I could miss since I’m not on the ice anyway.”

“Oh. Well, what are you doing with your day off?”

“Driving to Chicago to catch my brother’s games this weekend.”

“That’s great. Greyson will be excited.”

He shrugs. “I didn’t tell him I was coming.”

I don’t know what to say to that. “Will you see your mom?”

His features relax a little. “Yeah. I’ll be staying with her.”

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