Page 13 of Hooking the Captain
Maybe that was true. He was probably used to changing in front of his teammates and didn’t think switching out his shirt would draw my attention.
“Well, I enjoyed the view.” I waggled my eyebrows. “Nice tattoo by the way.”
He chuckled as he glanced down toward the left side of his chest at the large black and gray tattoo of a cross and rose. “Thanks.” He slipped his clean shirt down and then paused before giving me a grin. “I had a good time today.”
“Me too.” It had been the best day I’d had in a long time, and I found myself wanting to hang out some more. “I’m in desperate need of a shower, but would you maybe want to grab dinner tonight?”
He looked around, and I braced myself for rejection.
“Look, everyone around here knows me, but they don’t know I’m?—”
I held up my hand. “No need to explain. Trust me, I get it. Thanks for the hike. I had a good time.” Spinning around, I took a step toward my car, my face heating with embarrassment.
“Ford, hold on.”
I turned back and waited for him to speak.
“Maybe we could go for a drive or something instead.”
I smiled warmly. “I’d like that.”
Later that evening,I pulled into the parking lot of the Thirsty Cow and stopped next to Coop’s truck. He’d texted and suggested we meet somewhere rather than me picking him up at his parents’ house or him picking me up. Having spent my last relationship in hiding, and still not ready to be out, I could relate to his need to be secretive.
After getting out of his truck, he climbed into my car. “Hey.”
“Hey. So, where are we going?”
“Take a right out of the parking lot and then turn left at the stop sign. There’s a secluded area near the Connecticut River that I thought might be a nice place for us to talk without any … ah,distractions.”
I grinned as I glanced over at him. “Sounds perfect.”
Eventually, we pulled into a small, wooded area overlooking the water. The sun was just starting to set, casting a soft pink hue in the sky. No one else was around, so we rolled down the windows to enjoy the cool evening breeze. I shut off the car and took off my seat belt and turned to face him. He did the same. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he was the first to speak.
“You mentioned you were visiting family here?”
I nodded. “Yeah, my grandparents recently moved to Hartford after my grandfather retired.”
“From where?”
“We’re all from Boston too, actually.”
“Oh wow. Small world. How long are you in town for?” he asked.
“A few weeks at least. Thought I would spend some time with them before settling down with a job. Don’t know how much time I’ll have to visit them once I’m working.”
“What kind of job are you looking for?”
“I have a degree in marketing, so something in that field. A friend of mine actually just called me with a possible job lead, and I’m hoping to hear about an interview when the position opens in a few weeks.”
“That’s cool. You mentioned college last night. Did you just graduate?”
“I did.”
“Where’d you go to school?”
It was the question I’d been dreading since we met. If I answered, it would likely lead to him mentioning the charity event he’d attended at Hawkins, and I worried he might be upset that I hadn’t said anything earlier.
“Hawkins University.”
