Kiss Me Captain (Emily and Maddie) novel Chapter 51

[Emily’s POV]

We stare at each other in horror. Someone was listening. Someone heard me tell Maddie I’m in love with her, heard us fighting about the drugged confession, heard everything.

I move first, crossing to the door and yanking it open. The hallway stretches empty—whoever was there is gone. I step out, looking both directions. Nothing. No footsteps, no closing doors, no evidence anyone was there.

I come back inside. Maddie’s still standing frozen on her crutches, face white with terror. Her knuckles are bloodless where she grips the handles. I close the door and lock it. The click sounds too loud.

We stand there, neither of us moving, the weight of what just happened crushing down on us. My heart hammers. Maddie’s breathing too fast, chest rising and falling in shallow gasps. Finally Maddie whispers: “Who was it?”

“I don’t know.” My voice sounds hollow. “I didn’t see anyone.” Maddie sinks onto her bed, nearly dropping her crutches. They clatter before I catch them, propping them against her nightstand. Her hands are shaking.

I sit on my own bed, facing her across the small room that suddenly feels enormous. “They heard everything.”

“Yes.” I nod, because what else can I do.

Maddie’s breathing gets faster, panic setting in. “This is it. This is how it all comes out. Someone heard you say you’re in love with me. Heard us fighting about my drugged confession.”

I move to sit beside her, trying to calm her even though my own hands shake. “Maddie, breathe.”

“How can I breathe when someone just heard everything we’ve been hiding?” Her voice rises. “My entire life is about to implode.”

“What exactly are you afraid will happen?”

Maddie looks at me like the answer should be obvious. “Everything. I’m afraid of everything.” Her voice rises as she lists it: “My parents will find out. Your mom will find out. The whole team will know. Everyone will know.”

“Maybe that wouldn’t be the worst thing,” I say quietly, immediately predicting her reaction and regretting it.

Because it’s never that easy, not for Maddie. Not for the walls she constructed so carefully after going through the most miserable school years imaginable.

After reinventing yourself to survive, it’s not easy to be honest again. Maddie’s eyes flash with anger and fear. “You don’t understand what’s at stake.”

“Then explain it to me.” I lean forward. “Make me understand what you’re so afraid of.”

She’s quiet for a long moment, staring at her hands. When she finally talks, her voice is small. “My parents sacrificed everything for my skating. My mother works three jobs—restaurant in the morning, cleaning company in the afternoon, bookkeeping from home at night. She sleeps maybe four hours.”

She takes a deep breath to steady herself, but it doesn’t work. “My father gave up his own dreams, wanted to open a mechanic shop. They poured every dollar into my equipment, my competitions, my coaching. They believe I’m going to make it to the Olympics, that I’m going to make all their sacrifices worth it.”

“What does that have to do with being outed?” I pry carefully, because as much as I understand her plight in my head, I’m afraid there’s a lot of things I’m still not privy to.

“Everything.” Maddie’s voice cracks. “My father is deeply Catholic, Emily. Deeply traditional. He makes comments about ‘those people’ when queer topics come up on TV. Talks about how unnatural it is, how it’s a sin. My mother stays quiet but never disagrees.”

My stomach drops. “If they find out I’m gay, they’ll be devastated.” She’s crying now. “Not just disappointed—devastated. It will break something in them. Their daughter turns out to be exactly what my father preaches against.”

“I know, I know. I’m terrified of losing everything I’ve worked for because of who I love.” Maddie looks at me with exhausted eyes. The words hang between us. Who I love. She didn’t mean to say it that way, I can see it in her face—the way her eyes widen slightly, the way she catches her breath. But she said it.

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