Fake dating the captain

Chapter14

~Rowan~

I couldn’t f*****g sleep.

The one night I actually needed my brain to shut up, it decided to throw a goddamn party. Every time I closed my eyes I saw her hand coming at my face, heard the slap echo, felt the sting all over again. And yeah, part of me kept thinking I had it coming, but the rest of me was pissed that she’d done it, pissed that I’d pushed her to it, pissed that I cared this much.

I rolled over for the hundredth time, punched the pillow, staring at the ceiling.

The clock said 3:17 a.m. Awesome.

I grabbed my phone off the nightstand. Screen lit up my face like an i***t spotlight. No messages. Of course not. Liv wasn’t the type to text apologies in the middle of the night. She was the type to stew and then explode later.

I opened our chat anyway. Thumb hovering over the keyboard.

I typed: We need to talk. Can you come over tomorrow?

Stared at it.

Deleted it.

Typed it again.

Added: I can’t sleep.

Deleted that too. Made me sound weak.

Just left the first part.

We need to talk. Can you come over tomorrow?

My thumb sat there forever. Then I hit send before I could overthink it more.

Message delivered.

I tossed the phone on the bed, got up, paced the living room like a caged asshole. For some reason her smell was taking too long to leave the room.

I went to the kitchen, poured water, drank it, poured another. Set the glass down too hard. It clinked loud in the quiet.

My cheek still had that faint burn. I hadn’t looked in the mirror, didn’t want to see how pathetic it looked.

Phone buzzed on the bed.

I practically ran back to grab it.

Liv: Tomorrow’s fine. What time?

Short. Cold. Exactly what I expected.

I typed back: Whenever. I’ll be here.

Waited.

Those three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.

Then nothing.

Great. Now I felt even worse.

I sat on the couch, leaned forward, elbows on knees, hands in my hair.

Good thing I’d locked myself in the bathroom instead. Bad thing she’d followed and slapped me anyway.

I huffed a laugh that wasn’t funny at all. “Smooth, Rowan. Real smooth.”

Another hour dragged by. I tried watching some hockey highlights on my phone, but I couldn’t focus. Kept checking if she’d texted again. She hadn’t.

4:12 a.m. now.

I got up, made coffee even though it was stupid this late. Black, no sugar, burned my tongue on the first sip.

Stood at the window looking out at the empty street. Wondered if she was awake too. Probably hating me. Definitely hating me.

Then knuckles hit the door. Three sharp knocks.

I froze.

Who the hell…..

More knocks. Harder.

I walked over, looked through the peephole.

Liv.

Standing there, in my other hoodie… hair messy, eyes red like she’d been crying or not sleeping or both.

I opened the door fast.

She looked up at me, arms crossed tight. “I got your text.”

I blinked. “It’s four in the morning.”

“Yeah, well, I was already awake.” She shifted. “Can I come in or are we doing the hallway thing?”

I stepped aside.

She walked past me, stopped in the middle of the living room, turned around.

We stared at each other.

“You okay?” I asked. Dumb question.

“No.” She rubbed her arms. “You?”

“No.”

She nodded like that settled something.

I closed the door. Leaned against it. “You didn’t have to come now.”

“I know.” She shrugged. “But tomorrow felt too far away and I was going crazy at home thinking about ” She gestured at my face. “That.”

I touched my cheek without thinking. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not.” Her voice cracked a little. “I’ve never hit anyone before. Not like that, not even when my ex chose to marry my twin sister over me.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve never been hit before. So we’re even.”

She huffed. “That’s not how it works.”

“Sure it is.”

She rolled her eyes, but it wasn’t mean. More like exhausted.

I pushed off the door. “Want coffee?”

“It’s four a.m.”

“I just made some.”

She sighed. “Fine. Black.”

I went to the kitchen, poured her a mug….her mug, the one she liked to use. Handed it over.

We stood there drinking in silence for a minute.

Then she set the mug down. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“No, listen.” She stepped closer. “I was mad, okay? You were being a complete asshole, yelling like you get to decide my life, but I still shouldn’t have…” She mimicked the slap. “That.”

I nodded. “I was an asshole.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry too.”

She looked surprised. “You are?”

“Don’t sound so shocked.” I smirked a little. “I can apologize when I f**k up.”

“Rare sighting.”

“Shut up.”

She licked her bottom lip and tugged a smile at the corner of her mouth.

Then her face got serious again. “Why’d you text me?”

“Because I couldn’t sleep either.” I set my mug down. “Kept thinking about how you looked when you left. Like I’d ruined everything.”

“You kinda did.”

“Yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I did.”

She bit her lip. “So what now?”

“I don’t know.” I took a step closer. “I don’t want this to be over.”

“The fake thing?”

“All of it.”

Her eyes flicked up to mine. Held.

The air got thick fast.

She set her mug next to mine. “Me neither.”

Next thing I knew I had her against the counter, hands on her hips.