Fake dating the captain

Thirty two

~Liv~

I wiped my nose on the back of my hand after grabbing the tissue, because who cares about manners at this point, and mumbled something that was probably supposed to be thanks but came out more like a croak. The guy stayed crouched for a second, then straightened up and just kind of plopped down on the curb a couple feet away, not too close, not too far, like he knew invading space right now would get him punched.

I sucked the last drag out of the cigarette, burned my fingers because I forgot it was almost gone, and flicked it toward the ground . Missed the storm drain by a mile. Great aim, Liv. Really crushing life tonight.

He didn’t say anything at first, just sat there staring at the parking lot lights like they owed him money. I kept waiting for him to ask if I was okay or what happened or some dumb pickup line, but he didn’t. Finally I side-eyed him and caught him looking at me, not creepy, just checking if I was gonna bolt or burst into flames or whatever.

“You good?” he asked, voice low, kinda rough around the edges.

I snorted. Actually snorted. “Do I look good?”

He huffed a laugh. “Nah. You look like your date just stood you up and called to give some lame excuse.”

That got me. A laugh ripped out before I could stop it, sharp and ugly and mixed with snot. “Close enough.”

He shrugged, pulled out his own pack of smokes, tapped one out, offered it to me without a word. I stared at it like it might bite me, then took it because why the hell not. My lungs were already filing for divorce.

He lit it for me, cupping the flame with his hand even though there wasn’t much wind. He had really long and pretty fingers.

“I’m Kacy,” he said, lighting his own after mine caught.

“Liv.”

“Cool.” He nodded like that was that, took a drag, blew it out slow. “Saw what happened on the monitors inside. Kiss cam bullshit, right?”

I groaned and dropped my head into my hands. “Oh my God, you saw it too?”

“Hard to miss. They had it on every screen backstage. Whole crew stopped working for like thirty seconds. That’s a big deal when you’re running cable.”

I peeked at him through my fingers. “So the entire arena plus backstage all watched my boyfriend get molested by his ex?”

He barked a laugh. “Molested is a strong word, but yeah, pretty much. She went for it like she was starving.”

“Great. Love that for me.” I took an angry pull on the cigarette. “He didn’t even fight it at first. Just leaned right in like ‘sure, why not, pucker up.’”

Kacy made a face. “Dude looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him after. Not that it helps you any.”

“Nope. Doesn’t help at all.” My voice cracked again and I hated it.

“I just stood there like a f*****g i***t watching it happen.”

“Hey.” He nudged my shoe with his boot. Not flirty, just getting my attention. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Guy’s the one who froze. Or leaned. Whatever the hell that was.”

I laughed again. “Yeah, well, freezing is still a choice.”

He didn’t argue. Just nodded and smoked.

We sat there quiet for a minute, me dragging too hard on the cigarette, him chill like he had nowhere better to be. I kept waiting for him to hit me with some line, ask for my number, anything sleazy, but he didn’t. Just existed next to me while I fell apart.

My phone buzzed in my purse. I ignored it. Buzzed again. And again. Probably Zoe losing her mind over the voice note I still hadn’t sent. My thumb had been hovering over send for five minutes, but hitting it felt too final. Zoe was with Mia and when I had decided to text Mia first, I can bet my last card Zoe was with her.

Kacy glanced over. “You gonna get that or let it go to voicemail forever?”

“Thinking forever sounds good.”

He smirked. “Fair.”

I sighed, dug the phone out anyway. The screen was wet from my tears earlier, fingerprint smudged to hell. The voice note was still paused, twenty-seven seconds of me ugly-crying into the void. I stared at it.

Kacy didn’t push. Just waited.

“f**k it,” I muttered, and hit send before I could chicken out.

It whooshed off into the world. Ten seconds later my phone exploded.

Zoe calling.

I answered with a groan. “Hey.”

“Liv?? What the f**k did I just listen to? Are you okay? Where are you? I’m coming to get you right now… ”

“I’m fine,” I lied.

“You are not fine! You’re crying and smoking and talking about moving countries! What the hell happened? Was that the kiss cam? I saw clips starting to pop up but I thought it was edited or something… ”

“It wasn’t edited.” My voice sounded flat even to me. “It was very real. Very tongue-forward.”

Silence on her end for a beat. Then, “That motherfucker. That absolute piece of s**t. I’m on my way. Tell me where you are.”

“Parking lot. Staff side. But I’m… ”

“I’m coming. Stay there. Do not move. Do not talk to Rowan if he comes looking. I swear to God I will run him over.”

She hung up before I could argue.

I dropped the phone in my lap and stared at it. “My best friend’s gonna commit homicide tonight.”

Kacy raised an eyebrow. “Should I be worried?”

“Only if you’re a six-foot-three hockey player with commitment issues.”

He laughed. “I’m safe then. Six two on a good day and I commit to overtime pay.”

I actually smiled. A small one, but real. “Lucky you.”

He stubbed his cigarette out on the curb, careful not to litter, which was weirdly cute. “You got a ride coming or what?”

“Zoe's on her way, but she’s probably twenty minutes out. I was gonna Uber.”

“You shouldn’t drive like this,” he said, nodding at my shaking hands. “Or be alone, honestly.”

I opened my mouth to snap that I didn’t need a babysitter, but the words died. Because he wasn’t wrong. I felt like I might shatter if someone breathed on me too hard.

He stood up, brushed off his jeans. “Come on. I’ll walk you to the pickup zone at least. Make sure you get in the car okay.”

I hesitated. Stranger danger and all that. But he’d been nothing but decent, and I was too tired to care. “Yeah. Okay.”

He offered a hand to help me up. I took it. His grip was warm, steady. Mine was ice cold and trembling. He didn’t mention it.

We started walking across the lot, my heels clicking too loud again. Every step felt like running away, which I guess it was.

“So,” he said after a minute, “you a big hockey fan normally or just here for the boyfriend experience?”

I snorted. “I used to like hockey just fine. Now I think I might be allergic.”

“Fair. Sport’s ruined for me too sometimes. I do lighting for the jumbotron. Every time they put up another slow-mo of some guy’s ass I die a little inside.”

That got another laugh out of me. “You see a lot of weird s**t back there?”

“You have no idea. Last week some kid proposed during a timeout and she said no. On the big screen. Brutal.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah. I turned the spotlight on them by accident. Felt bad for days.”

I shook my head. “Tonight wins though. Nothing tops public tongue assault.”

He winced. “Yeah. That was… a choice.”

“His or hers?”

“Both? I dunno. She grabbed him pretty hard. He looked shocked after.”

I kicked a pebble. “Doesn’t matter. He still leaned in first. That’s what everyone’s gonna remember.”

Kacy didn’t argue. Smart guy.

We reached the pickup area near the exit. Couple other people waiting, but not crowded. I pulled up Uber on my phone, fingers still shaky.

“Black Honda’s three minutes out,” I said.

“Cool.” He stuck his hands in his pockets, rocked back on his heels. “You gonna be okay?”

I looked up at him. Messy dark hair under a beanie, tired eyes, faint grease smudge on his cheek. Not gorgeous like Rowan or maybe more I don't know, but real. Human. He looked familiar too but it was a little too dark.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “Probably not tonight.”

He nodded. “Yeah. That’s fair.”

Headlights swept across the lot. My ride.

I took a step toward the curb, then stopped. Turned back. “Hey. Thanks. For the tissue and the… not being a creep.”

He grinned, lopsided. “Anytime. Hope tomorrow sucks less.”

“Me too.”

The Uber pulled up. I opened the door, paused. “Night, Kacy.”

“Night, Liv.”

I slid in, gave the driver Mia’s address even though she was probably already halfway here. Didn’t matter. I just needed to be somewhere that wasn’t the arena.

As the car pulled away, I glanced out the back window. Kacy was still standing there, hands in pockets, watching to make sure I left okay.

Then the car turned the corner and I saw him.

Rowan.

He came barreling out a side exit, hair messed up, jacket half-on, scanning the lot like a crazy person. He spotted the Uber, started jogging toward it, yelling my name.

“Liv! Wait… Liv!”

His voice cracked on the second one.

I couldn’t hear him anymore through the glass, but I saw his mouth moving, saw him reach out like he could stop the car with his hand.

The driver didn’t slow down. We rolled right past him.

Rowan stood in the middle of the lane, chest heaving, staring after me.

I turned around in my seat, watched him get smaller and smaller until the car turned again and he disappeared.