Page 39 of The Alternate Captain
I excuse myself to use the bathroom and get some water, coming face-to-face with Harry as I leave the ladies’ room. He’s giving me Darren vibes. It’s that over familiarity and it’s making me uncomfortable.
“So, when are you leaving?” he asks, leaning up against the wall next to me. “I’d love to see you again before you go back.”
Now the nice Kelly inside is telling me to agree, not to hurt his feelings, but the rational Kelly is telling me not to lead him on like I probably did with Darren.
“I’m sort of seeing someone. I’m sorry,” I say.
The lie comes out of nowhere, but once it’s out, I can’t take it back.
“You’re seeing someone? I thought—”
“Oh, hey, beautiful. There you are.”
Beautiful?
The back of my neck tingles and Johnny’s cologne catches in the breeze. My stomach turns upside down. Of course. Johnny bloody Koenig would pick the perfect conversation to overhear.
I spin around and come face to chest with him, and he leans forward and brushes my cheek ever so slightly with his lips. It makes me shiver. Actually shiver.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you...”
“Harry.”
“Harry. It’s nice to meet you. How’s it going?”
I try my hardest to mask my confusion as I turn to face Harry again. All I can think is ‘who is this guy and what has he done with Johnny?’ But the way Johnny smiles and engages with Harry, I can see that he’s slipped into ‘Johnny the Captain, out meeting fans’ mode.
God, how many versions of him are there?
“Good, thanks. You must be Kelly’s boyfriend?”
“Yes, Johnny. But you can call me John.” I pivot my head and roll my eyes, which Johnny catches. He smirks his most smirkiest of smirks and holds his hand out for Harry to shake.
“Kelly didn’t mention she had a boyfriend?” Harry says, looking between me and Johnny.
“We don’t want to bethatcouple who always talk about their partner, do we, grumpy-pants?” I say.
“Grumpy-pants?” Johnny says, widening his eyes. “I, uh, thought we decided against that?” The confusion hits his face and I stifle a laugh. I don’t even know where that came from but since it’s out now, I have to roll with it.
“No. No we didn’t. See Harry, Johnny here can be grumpy sometimes, so I say it to make light of it. You know, if the skate fits.” Without thinking, I reach up and pinch his cheek, and though I thought Johnny would flip out, he doesn’t. He grabs my hand and laces my fingers in his.
Staring at our hands, I look up to his cobalt stare, which is surprisingly warm. Maybe it’s hot in here.
“Right,” Harry frowns. “Whatever suits you guys, I guess.”
Annoyingly, Johnny grins. “Actually, I changed my mind. I think it fits.”
Damn him to hell.
“What part of America are you from?” Harry asks, and I stiffen slightly as I suppress a laugh.
“Oh, you know Seattle?” Johnny says.
“Yeah, I’ve always wanted to visit.”
“Yeah, well, I’m from a place about one hundred and eight kilometres north of Seattle. A place called Abbotsford, British Columbia.”
I can’t keep it in this time, I snigger into my hand.
