Page 90 of The Captain

“Um, well.” Cassie licks her lips and glances around the table. “He found out from my mom that I wrote one and wouldn’t stop pestering me about it.”

I don’t know if I pestered her, but I go with it. “It’s true. I wasn’t about to sit around and not read my girlfriend’s book. It’s good material.”

“Lincoln!” Cassie hisses at me, grasping my thigh with her hand tightly. I want to tease her and whisper higher in her ear, but I keep my mouth shut.

“Ooh, is it spicy?” Mick whispers across the table.

“Spicy? What’s that mean, spicy?” Mom asks, looking back and forth at the four adults around her table. Not one of us says a word, and she sighs, then looks at my dad. “It’s like they’re speaking a different language.”

“It’s best we don’t learn it, dear,” Dad says calmly before changing the subject. “Lincoln, son, have you made your decision about school?”

Right. Our conversation the other day got derailed when they found out about Cassie. “I’m not completely sure.”

“What about school?” Cassie asks curiously, and I wish I’d talked to her more about my current situation.

Whenever we talk, I try to keep it light and fun. Delving into the serious topics made us both tense, and I didn’t want that. I want to be a safe place for her to be, for her to talk about her life problems and her work problems.

“Well, I wrote my paper. But if they don’t give me a B or higher…” I trail off, embarrassed that this is still an issue.

Some people weren’t cut out for school, and I was definitely one of them.

“You’ll drop out?” Cassie asks, looking at me with concern.

“Probably.”

“You’ll get it, Lincoln,” Tanner says confidently, giving me a nod of his head. “You’ve been working hard. I know you can pass, and you’ll be playing when the first puck drops.”

I appreciate the confidence from him, knowing that he’s been through this himself and probably wouldn’t blow smoke up my ass, just knowing who he is as a person.

“But if you don’t,” Dad starts again, lifting up a fork full of food. It was Mom’s baked chicken, one of my favorites. “You have to decide where you’re going with your career.”

“Dad, maybe we can talk about this later,” I hedge, feeling like the first dinner we have with my girlfriend—whether she admits to being that or not—was not the time to talk about my future.

“I’m just curious, is all,” Dad says, and I see behind his statement that he’s genuine. He’s not trying to cause problems.

“I know. I’ll probably enter as a free agent,” I say, putting the conversation to bed.

Or so I thought.

“Free agent?” Cassie asks, looking at me with a tinge of worry in her eyes. “Like, to get picked up by any team?”

I nod my head slowly, not wanting to put this kind of stress on her. She had enough going on. “Yeah, don’t worry, though. I’m probably going to be fine with school and will be back to playing hockey in no time.”

Later, after dinner is finished and my family has properly interrogated Cassie enough, Tanner and Mick leave, and Cassie and I head out to sit on the front porch.

I sling my arm around her shoulders, and I breathe a sigh of relief when she nestles into my side, stealing my warmth as the nighttime summer breeze blows across our bodies.

“Well, I already knew this, but my family adores you.” As do I, I add silently.

“Your parents are great.” She smiles in thought and adds, “Mick wants to read my book.”

“I know.”

“Are you going to hold it over her head forever that you got to read it first?”

“Yup.”

Cassie moves her hand over and pinches my side, making me jerk. “Be nice to your sister.”

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