Page 86 of The Closed Off Captain

Gunner turns to me and stops walking. “Has she bothered you again?”

“Oh, no. Quite the opposite. I haven’t heard anything from her, nor has she posted anything online.”

“Good. I told her not to.”

My eyebrows lift. “You told her not to?” He nods. “You talked to her?” He doesn’t nod this time, and I cross my arms across my chest, even as a breeze hits me and I shiver.

“Come on. Let’s warm up your car; we can sit in my truck while we wait.” I don’t argue because it’s really cold.

Minutes later, I’m in his truck, blowing on my hands. “Okay, so you talked to Jenny, even though I advised you not to?”

He meets my direct stare. “I did.”

“Why? I told you not to.”

“You did.”

“Then why did you? That’s exactly what you’re not supposed to do.” I pull out my phone, already looking at her socials to see if this is going to blow up.

“I threatened her.”

I drop my phone in my lap. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

I stare at him. “Are you kidding me right now? Are you trying to throw your entire career away?”

He turns his head and looks out the windshield. “That’s not going to happen.”

“That’s exactly what will happen when she tells the world that Gunner Coftman threatened her. What were you thinking?”

He faces me, and I can see the anger in his eyes. “You.” His vehemence startles me into silence. “I was thinking about you and the fact that she hurt you.” His words are low and slow, as if I need the extra time to take them in. “That’s not all right in my book. And if you think I was just going to sit back while she threatened you, then you don’t know me very well. I can handle her coming after me online and whatever other nonsense, but once she hurts someone I care about...” he shakes his head and looks out the front window again. “It’s over. She won’t ever bother you again.”

Words utterly fail me. Before I make something out of this that isn’t there, I nod and find my voice. “Okay. Well, what’s done is done. I guess we can drop this whole fiancé charade then. I know it was hard on both of us.”

He turns to me, and his eyes run over my face. I feel like he’s searching for something, but I don’t know what. He hooks an arm over the steering wheel. “Okay.”

“Okay. Well, I won’t need this anymore.” I pull the ring off my finger and hand it back to him. At first, I don’t think he’s going to take it, but he finally puts his big hand out and I drop it into his palm. “We won’t make a big deal about breaking up or anything. You don’t need the extra attention right now. Let’s just get some time behind us, and then we’ll deal with all that.” He still doesn’t say anything. “Okay. My car should be warm by now. Thanks for letting me sit here while I waited.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.”

I wave him off. “It’s right there; I’m fine. I’ll see you tomorrow. Good game tonight.” I shut the door behind me and shiver in the cold. It’s like winter has suddenly descended, and I am not ready for it. I get into my car quickly and position the vents to blow on me before I start the drive home. Gunner, always the gentleman, follows me home. I figured he wouldn’t, since the threat with Jenny is over; but nope. He follows me the entire way home. I wave when I get inside my door, knowing that arguing with him is futile.

The next few days fly by, and I barely have time to catch a few hours of sleep at night. Finally, Saturday night arrives. I can’t believe it’s finally here. I walk around the banquet hall, double checking that everything and everyone is in place and ready to go. I glance down at my iPad for at least the hundredth time. I really have done everything I can possibly do ahead of time; now it’s time for everybody to arrive and enjoy the night. The players and guests start showing up, and I stand off to the side to make sure everything runs smoothly.

“Miss Liessman.”

I turn at the sound of my name and recognize the tall man immediately—Jason Knight, the popular forward for Indianapolis’s team. “Mr. Knight.”

He smiles and puts out a hand to shake mine. “It’s an honor, Miss Liessman.”

I smirk because he’s laying it on thick. “Chloe is fine, Mr. Knight.”

“Then call me Jason.” I turn to the man standing next to him. He’s not a player, at least not one that gets time on the ice. I would know if he were. “This is Carl. He works in management for the team.”

I take them both in and cock my head to the side. “Are you crashing my party?”

Jason grins. “Your party?” He chuckles easily and turns to Carl. “See what I mean?” I feel like I’m missing something. “Chloe, I apologize. We aren’t actually crashing your party. We received an invite when we reached out to your organization and told them we were interested in what you were doing here tonight.”

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