All Chapters of Fake dating the captain : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

~Liv~I was still tangled up in Rowan, his arm heavy across my waist, his breathing slow and even against my neck, when my phone buzzed on the nightstand. Once. Twice. Three times. Like it couldn't decide if it wanted to ruin everything or just annoy me to death.I reached for it blind, squinting at the screen in the dark.Caleb.Of course.The message was long. I had to scroll.Liv. I'm sorry. For real this time. I fucked up everything and I know it. All this, it's killing me without you. Can we talk? Please. Just talk. I need to see you.I stared at the words until they blurred. My heart did this stupid flip thing it had no business doing.Rowan stirred behind me, his arm tightening. "Who is it?"I hesitated. Then handed him the phone because hiding it now would be worse.He read it quiet, then let out this low laugh that had zero humor in it. "No. Absolutely not."I sat up, pulling the sheet with me. "Rowan… ""No, Liv, not again." He sat up too, rubbing his face hard. "You're not

~Liv~Three shots in and I was loose enough to text Rowan. Zoe watched me type and delete like five times."Just send it, coward.""What do I even say?""Something honest. Like 'Caleb was a dick, you were right, come over and yell at me in person so we can have makeup sex.'""I'm not saying that.""Fine. Say 'hey' and see what happens."I typed hey. Deleted it. Typed I'm sorry about last night. Deleted that too.Zoe snatched my phone. "Give me that.""No…. "Too late. She typed fast, hit send before I could grab it back.I lunged. "What did you do?""Sent 'Your hoodie smells good and I miss you. Come over if you want.' Boom. Perfect.""Oh my God I'm killing you.""Too late." She tossed the phone on the cushion between us. "Now we wait. Or we do another shot."We did another shot.My phone buzzed ten minutes later. I dove for it like an idiot.Rowan: You okay?Me (with Zoe dictating over my shoulder): Not really. Caleb was worse than usual.Him: Where are you?Me: Zoe's. High on whiske

~Liv~We drove back from the rink in dead silence at first, radio off, just the sound of the truck and the occasional swipe of wipers because it had started drizzling. Rowan’s hand was on the gearshift, knuckles white, jaw doing that ticking thing it does when he’s pissed but trying not to show it. I stared out the passenger window, watching water streak the glass, replaying Kayla’s voice on a loop…. *Didn’t think he’d bring the same one twice.*He lasted maybe five minutes.“You gonna tell me what’s going on in your head or just freeze me out the rest of the day?” His voice was low, tight.I laughed, short and ugly. “Oh, sorry, didn’t realize I was supposed to be all giggles after your ex basically called me a disposable fuck in front of half the team.”Rowan’s head snapped toward me. “She didn’t say that.”“She didn’t have to. ‘Didn’t think he’d bring the same one twice’? Come on, Rowan. I’m not stupid.”He exhaled hard through his nose, eyes back on the road. “Kayla’s a bitter bitc

~Liv~He scrolled, jaw getting tighter with every swipe.“This is from last year,” he muttered. “Look at the date on her story. She reposted an old one. And cropped me out of the original where I was standing with the guys.”I snatched the phone back. Zoomed. Shit. He was right. Tiny date stamp in the corner.My face burned.“So what, Caleb’s just making shit up now?”“Looks like it.” Rowan stepped closer. “And you believed him.”“I. …. ” Words stuck.“You believed him over me. Again.”“That’s not fair.”“Isn’t it?” His voice rose. “Every time something happens you jump straight to I’m gonna hurt you. I’m gonna cheat. I’m gonna dump you for the next girl who smiles at me.”“Because everyone keeps telling me you will!”“Then stop listening to them and listen to me!” he yelled. “I’m right here telling you I don’t want anybody else and you still won’t hear it!”I shoved his chest hard. “Because it’s easy for you to say when you’ve never been the one left looking stupid!”He grabbed my wr

~Liv~The whole night was already a shitshow wrapped in a fake smile, me clinging to Rowan's arm like we were the perfect couple while we barely looked at each other, and then they sat us at this big table with the whole team and their girlfriends and wives and whatever, and of course Kayla had to plop her perfect ass right on Rowan's left.Kayla. Fucking Kayla.The girl who'd been orbiting him since freshman year, the one with the verified Instagram and the brand deals and the fans who screamed her name like she was a pop star. And Rowan? He laughed right back.I sat on his right, picking at my plate, pretending I was super interested in whatever Jake's girlfriend was saying about her dog's Instagram account or some crap, but really I was watching them out of the corner of my eye.Kayla leaned in every five seconds, touching his arm when she talked, flipping her hair, doing that thing girls do when they want you to notice how shiny it is. "Oh my God, Rowan, remember that party at De