All Chapters of The Captain Wants Me Back!: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Joey's POV"Is that right, Joey?" Juan repeated, this time to me, his grin widening slowly, as if he had just been handed something amusing instead of something threatening.He looked between the two of us once more, unhurried, clearly enjoying whatever picture he thought he was piecing together, before shrugging as the whole confrontation had abruptly stopped being worth his time."Whatever this is," he said, shaking his arm free of Gabriel's grip at last, "enjoy it while it lasts."He turned back toward the car, and in the same motion, without any real warning, he shoved Gabriel hard in the chest. It wasn't enough to knock him flat, but it was enough to make Gabriel stagger back a full step, his whole body twisting awkwardly as he fought to catch his balance."Gabriel!" I cried out, too slow to help.I heard the sharp hiss of breath through his teeth, watched his hand fly instinctively toward his shoulder, wincing, before he caught himself and forced it back down to his side, jaw lo

Gabriel's POVThe slap had landed hard.For a second I couldn't even process what had happened. I just stood there with my cheek stinging and my mind blank.Joey didn't step back. She stood right in front of me, chest heaving, eyes bright with tears she refused to let fall."You want to talk about my mother?" Her voice shook, but it didn't waver in strength. "Fine. Let's talk about her."I opened my mouth, about to say something, but she snapped."Shut up. You don't get to talk right now. You listen."I did. I closed my mouth."Yes," she said. "My mother was a stripper. She slept with different men. Lots of them, actually. And I don't even know who my own father is. Cassian and I don't even share the same one. There. Now you know."Her voice cracked, but she kept going, like stopping now would cost her more than finishing."Here's more: she brought men home all the time. Most of them tried to hurt

Joey's POVMom glanced at me, something in her eyes that I couldn't decipher.Then she let me help, standing very still under my hands as she watched my face in the mirror instead of her own reflection."How do I look?" she asked once I had finished, something almost vulnerable in the question."Perfect," I told her, and I meant it.She let out a long breath, something like relief moving through her whole body. "I couldn't afford a cake this year. Not after the truck. So, I got pizza instead.""Pizza's perfect too," I said, steadying my voice so it wouldn't match the ache in my heart.I didn't care about any cake. I just cared about her."I have an idea," I then said, already moving toward the kitchen, some weird idea rising in me.I opened the box and pulled the slices out one by one, stacking them carefully on top of each other on a plate, layer after greasy layer, until the whole thing rose into a lopsided, leaning triangle that looked, if you squinted hard enough and wanted to bel

Joey's POVI finished reviewing the last subtopic with my student, an anxious freshman named Priya who kept apologizing for every wrong answer, even after I told her it was fine to get things wrong while learning.I packed up my folder, said goodbye, and headed for the library exit, thinking of what to do next when I heard my name."Joey?"I turned and found Ryder standing near the entrance, hands in his pockets."Ryder." I blinked at him. "What are you doing here?""Funny running into you." He said lightly, but something in his face didn't match his tone. After a second, he sighed. "Okay. That's not true."I raised a brow, confused. "What do you mean?"He continued. " I knew you were gonna be here. Winona told me your schedule. She thought it might be a good idea if I happened to run into you right after."I almost laughed.After my talk with her a few days ago, I had agreed to reply to Ryder's texts, but only if he sent new ones, which he didn't. I guess she had to pull off a meet-c

Gabriel's POVI drove home with my jaw clenched so tight it ached, Joey's voice looping in my head no matter how many times I tried to shove it out.'Maybe I really am more like my mother than I ever wanted to be.'She was lying. She had to be lying. It was definitely some twisted performance meant to hurt me, to make me feel exactly as unsteady as she had felt standing in that parking lot three nights ago.That was all it was. A weapon aimed and thrown, nothing real behind it.I told myself that the entire drive home. I told myself that when I pulled into the driveway, when I walked up to the front door, and as I stood there for a second before I even went inside.I didn't believe it. Not really. That was the part that made me want to put my fist through something. Because if it wasn't a performance, if there had been even a shred of truth buried in what she said, then she had made me fall for her and used me all those years ago.Shit!I needed something else to think about. Anything