Page 40 of The Alternate Captain
“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
“It’s no problem,” Johnny says, holding his hand out for Harry to walk past. “After you.”
I wait until Harry reaches the threshold of the beer garden before I turn to Johnny, halting him in his path.
“You okay, beautiful?” he says, coolly.
“What the hell was that?”
“He looked like he was getting too close. It didn’t sit right with me.”
“It didn’t sit right with you.” I pace my words like I’m trying to decipher a secret code.
“He was too close. And he looked like he was about to eat you alive.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“It is when your mom has tasked me with bringing you home.”
“I—”
I let my jaw hang open, then I snap it shut. If Johnny wants to play games, let’s see how far I can push him.
He looks completely ridiculous crammed onto the picnic table in the beer garden, right next to me, where I made a show of patting the empty space. I half expected him to tell me we’re leaving, but he didn’t. He slipped onto the bench and now we’re so close our legs are touching. There’s a buzz of energy between us. Ican’t deny it. But that’s probably because I’m fired up for a fight of the wits.
“Who’s this?” Charlotte says, her eyes widening.
“Oh, this is my boyfriend,” I say, casually. “Johnny, this is everyone.”
Charlotte and Meg gawk at me.
“You didn’t mention a boyfriend,” Meg gasps.
“It didn’t come up, really. And it’s pretty new, isn’t that right, babe?” I grab his arm, pulling it around me, and snuggling into him, all the while plastering the fakest of smiles on my face.
Or at least I think it’s a fake smile even though my face obliged so quickly.
I expected Johnny to tense up and pull away, but his arm relaxes around me, and it feels... nice.
“Oh, so you’re still in the honeymoon phase,” Charlotte says. “That’s cute. Where are you from, Johnny? How did you guys meet? I want to know absolutely everything.”
“It’s a funny story, actually—”
“It’s not that funny,” Johnny cuts in. “We met online, but we found out that I play hockey with Kelly’s brother, Mike.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot Mike played hockey. Has he gone pro?” One of the boys asks.
“Yeah. We play for the—”
“I know who you are,” another says, pulling his phone out. Then there’s a flurry of conversation as everyone scrambles to see his screen.
“Oh my God,” Charlotte says, her eyes almost bulging out of her eye sockets. “You’re so lucky, Kelly.”
“No, I’m the lucky one,” Johnny says, and my heart stops in my chest.
I honestly have zero idea who this guy is. And then he twists his head to look at me, still snuggled into his hard deltoid. His eyes twinkle as he grins at me. I didn’t realise how blue they were—are they contact lenses? Because they are really pretty. And he’s staring back at me, giving me ample opportunity tokeep looking. Then he wets his lips the smallest amount, but it’s enough to have me leaning in a little.
It must be happening in a blink of an eye, but it’s like everything has slowed down to a trickle as he leans in, too. I draw a breath, feeling the heat of his own. He tilts his head a smidge, and then we’re kissing.
