Page 91 of The Captain

“Hey, she’s my sister. Teasing is my biological right.”

She shakes her head and settles back against me. “This was nice. Thank you for inviting me.”

I look over at her to see her staring at me, her head resting softly against my arm. “Thanks for coming when I did.”

I lean forward, hoping and praying that she’ll reciprocate and nearly leaping with joy when she does. Her lips press to mine, and I wrap my arm that’s behind her more firmly around her, pulling her as close as possible without making her sit on my lap.

My other hand finds purchase on her neck, my thumb moving her in the direction I want as I tease my tongue along her lips. The kiss is passionate and romantic, and I wish more than anything we were anywhere but on my parents’ porch right now.

I miss being with her. I miss holding her each night and waking up with her in the morning.

We had one perfect week of it. One week, and I felt like it could have lasted forever, and I never would have tired of it.

We slow the kiss down, and I place longing pecks on her lips a few times before I fully pull away.

“Muscles, we can’t get worked up on your parents’ porch swing,” she teases, smiling gently at me.

I return the smile and wiggle the swing. “I don’t know. We could get pretty creative out here.”

She giggles at me and sweeps her bangs away from her eyes, her expression growing more serious. “Hey, just so you know, if you end up going out as a free agent and get picked up by someone far away, that’s okay.”

I blink and shake my head, looking at her. “That was random.”

Cassie shrugs and looks at her nails. “I’m just saying. Don’t let me hold you back.”

Something sharp stings my chest, and I turn myself to fully face her, a frown pulling at my mouth. “Sunshine, you do nothing but make me want to be better. You don’t hold me back.”

“I just don’t want any decisions you make to be based on me,” she says, looking sad as she does. “I know that you feel real feelings for me because I return those, but I also know that you have a long life ahead of you, a long career ahead of you, and I don’t want to be the reason you give up a good thing.”

I bite my lip and decide how I want to proceed. I don’t want to pressure her, but damn, I want her with me. I want every decision I make for the rest of my life to be based on what we want.

“Cassie, I need to tell you something that might make you mad.”

“Okay.” Her eyes turn hesitantly toward me.

“Since you started tutoring me at the beginning of the year, since we decided we don’t hate each other as much as we thought, since you became my absolute best friend in the entire world.” Her eyes well with tears, and I wipe the first one that falls away with my thumb. “Every decision I’ve made has been for us. Me retaking this class, rewriting this paper again, it’s because I want to finish college before I go pro so that when I’m not able to play in the pros anymore, I can get a good job that will support our future.”

I grasp her hand in mine, turning to face her fully. “I don’t know what the future holds, I don’t know if your book will take off and you’ll become a famous author, I don’t know if I’ll go pro and play for ten, fifteen, or twenty years, or if I’ll get injured in my first game. I have no idea.” I reach forward and cup her cheek in mine. “What I know is that my future, whatever it brings, I want you right by my side.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

Cassie

Present

The words are flying across the page faster than ever before, the sentences and dialogue coming to me quicker than I can even type, and I feel a smile spread across my lips as I read back what I wrote.

Finally.

Finally, I’ve been able to put words on a page and make my next book start to come to life.

It’s been months since I’ve written anything, my book falling by the wayside since my life took a dramatic turn after Lincoln and I stopped talking.

But recently, I’ve been feeling that itch to write again, to push past my insecurities and write whatever my heart desires.

Which is the next book in my fantasy series, one that my agent was dying to read after she finished the full length of the first book. Her email to me had been full of exclamation points and excitement that I couldn’t deny gave me a rush of happiness. People enjoyed my book, and not just my mom, it was people in the publishing world.

I’m so wrapped up in my work that I almost don’t notice my phone buzzing with a notification.

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