“As I said, it won’t be that way. And I’ve learned a lot since Layla. I don’t want to be like my father. I have better people in my life I look up to.” I didn’t want to tell him how much I looked up to him. Or that he was the man I wanted to be like and was probably more like than my own father. But I felt he knew it. I sighed and said it again. “She won’t be a problem.”
He gave me a regretful look. “From what I hear, she already is. It’s a hard choice, but if it’s meant to be, she’ll be there after you’re done with the season. Think it over. I’m trusting you.” He got up from the bench and turned to give me a hard look. “Don’t make me regret putting my faith in your talent above the others.”
I felt another punch in the gut with the thought of regrets. My own father regretted having me. He had a son who he loved more than life, and when my brother Bryan was taken away, he was lost without him. Lost to the point that he had told my uncle that if God had to take one of his sons, he wished it had been me. He didn’t know I was listening, and I later found out that he had treated my mother so badly for all of my life because he never thought I was really his. Turned out, he was wrong. And by the time it was proven I was his, it was too late.
My brother had so much promise that I had been the disappointment long before I ever played sports. Once I found my niche in something and actually succeeded enough to get a scholarship to Providence University, my father had decided that I might be worth something after all. I was the only thing he had left.
Too bad I was already done being his son.
During my senior year, I met Coach Carr, who offered me the scholarship to Providence University. He’d been interested in me since my glory days in high school and been to more games than my own mother and father.
Bryan, my older brother, was the only other person who had really pushed me to be my best, and when I lost him, Coach cut me some slack that season, but he wasn’t so good about me letting my grief return over Layla.
And now he was worried I’d let Avery be the same kind of emotional distraction.
He got up without another word and went back to his office. I finished up in the locker room and headed out to my Jeep, only to find that Avery had stayed behind to wait on me.
“Wow, you’re late,” she said.
I guessed with Coach’s words and all of the conflicts in the locker room, I wasn’t that glad to see her. I didn’t want to give them any room to be right. “Was I supposed to be here sooner?” Aside from all of that, I didn’t want a girl who expected me to be where she wanted me to be at all times.
She gave me a look. “Of course not. I just meant that everyone else has been gone for a while.”
“Well, you didn’t have to wait on me,” I said. I felt myself growing frustrated, but I didn’t know why. I turned and looked over my shoulder, hoping Coach and the others weren’t watching me choose her over the game. I felt a sting in my gut that I couldn’t stop the thoughts, even though I didn’t want to agree with them.
“I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to.” She was so sweet and cheerful. “I missed you.”
I felt a tug in my chest that had always bothered me. “You just saw me, and we’ve talked. It’s not like you’ve had time to miss me.” I didn’t want her to be the type of girl to overdramatize everything either.
She’s not like that. She’s different.
“It must mean something because it’s true. I do miss you.” She reached for my hand, and I busied myself, putting my bag in my Jeep instead of letting her.
“It’s been a rough practice,” I said, keeping my hands on my bag.
She grabbed my hand with a worried look on her face. “What happened to your knuckles?” They were bruised, and one had a split that kept trickling blood.
“It’s nothing. I just punched Motor in the face and knocked him out.” She may as well know what kind of guy she was dealing with.
“Motor, is that the big guy?” she asked with a smile. “I’m sure whatever he did, he deserved it, right?”
Her response surprised me. “Yeah, and it’s true.”
She gave me a narrow look. “What’s true?”
“Big guys do fall harder.”
She giggled. “You’re not kidding. You really punched him out?”
“Yeah, and while I’d love to sit around and impress you with the story, I should get home and ice my hand and get some rest for the game tomorrow. I’m on everyone’s shit list right now.”
“Oh, well, I thought after our date that you’d want to go out again. I thought I could buy you a burger or something.”
“I’m not that hungry.” A burger would be nice, but I couldn’t be seen with her in town with everyone on my back. It would be more ammunition for them, and I knew it would upset Coach.
“Really? Wow, I’m always starved after practice.”
I looked at her lips and thought about kissing them and watching her eat. She was even sexy with a fork in her mouth, which was a look that most women couldn’t pull off. It made me want to put other things in her mouth too, but I wasn’t in the mood for anyone who was playing hard to get.
“I should go, Avery. I’m not good company, and I have a game tomorrow. I’m just going to go home and rest.” If I put my all into the game and proved I
