by L A Cotton
He glanced over at me, his lips thinned. “I didn’t go to college.”
“Oh.” The air turned thick around us and I stopped trying to make small talk. Clearly the guy had issues, and I wasn’t about to make my life any harder than it was already.
All morning I’d had a pit in my stomach at the prospect of coming face-to-face with Coach Ford. But the second I’d stepped out onto the field, it was like I splintered myself in two, leaving the guy who was infatuated with his daughter in the locker room, while Kaiden the football player ran drills and worked his ass off to prove his worth.
Xander set up five hoops and some throwing targets. I knew the drill. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t done a hundred times already. But my job wasn’t to ask questions, it was to follow instructions. To push myself harder, to always want to be better.
So I’d follow Coach’s orders and run the drill with Xander because I was his quarterback now, and he was looking to me to set the example and lead the team.
Something had shifted since Friday’s game. I guess part of me had expected it, but I hadn’t been prepared for the sudden spotlight shining on me.
As I walked into school after practice, the air in the hall no longer hummed with the whispers and stares of my classmates, it crackled with a different kind of excitement.
“Holy shit, man.” Bryan nudged my shoulder.
“Hi, Thatcher,” a couple of girls purred as we passed them.
“Hey, man. Good game, Friday,” a random guy said. “Bad luck about Monroe, but we know you can take us all the way.”
“There you are.” Lindsey stopped dead in front of us and cocked her hip, forcing her cheer skirt up her thighs.
“Sorry, Linds,” Bry snickered. “You have to make an appointment now.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Yeah, you know. Now Thatcher is king of Rixon High, you need an appointment.”
“You’re so fucking weird.” She brushed him off, focusing her eyes solely on me.
“So, Homecoming… I was thinking—”
“Not going to happen,” I said without hesitation.
“You didn’t let me finish.” She scowled, trying to reach for me, but I stepped back out of her reach. “People expect us to go together.”
A trickle of awareness ran down my spine and I scanned the hall, finding Lily over by her locker.
Fuck, she looked beautiful.
“I don’t know what’s so difficult to understand, Lindsey.” I levelled her with a hard look. “But I’m not interested.”
A couple of girls snickered, a gasp going through the air as I rejected the Queen Bee of Rixon High. But I was done letting her think she had some kind of ownership over me. There was only one girl I belonged to, and she was currently watching me through hesitant eyes.
I went to move around Lindsey, but her arm shot out and she pulled me back. Leaning in, she let her lips graze my cheek. “I’d be careful if I were you,” she whispered. “We all have secrets, Kaiden. I’m sure you don’t want yours spreading all over school.”
My brows pinched as I studied her face for any sign she was bluffing.
“See you around, guys.” She pinned me with a smug look before taking off down the hall.
“What was all that about?” Gav asked.
“Nothing.” I glanced over my shoulder, watching as Lindsey melted into the crowd.
She was bluffing; she had to be. There was no fucking way she knew about me and Lily. I trusted my guys implicitly and Lily felt the same about her friends and family.
Lindsey was just clutching at straws, trying to unnerve me enough to take what she wanted.
Me.
“Do me a favor and both keep your eye on her,” I said.
“You think she’s out for blood?”
“I don’t trust her, and she already has a problem with Lily. I don’t want to give her any more of a reason to go after her.”
“Sure, man. You know we will.”
“Thanks.”
We approached Lily and the girls. Bryan slung his arm over Peyton’s shoulder. “Looking good, Myers. Lily. Ashleigh.” He gave them both a blinding smile.
“What did she want?” Ashleigh asked, glaring at me. I didn’t blame her. I was protective of Lily too.
“Always wanting things she can’t have,” I said, but my eyes flicked to Lily. Her cheeks turned that adorable shade of pink as I watched her, until she glanced away breaking the connection.
When she looked up again, I smiled.
Fuck. This girl.
How was I supposed to stand here, with her right fucking there, and not touch her?
As if she felt it too, her breath caught, only deepening the shade of her cheeks.
We moved closer like magnets but kept an acceptable amount of distance between us. “A little birdie told me it’s your birthday Friday,” I said.
“Maybe.” Her cheeks dimpled.
“Can I take you out?”
“Yes.” She smiled, but it quickly became a frown. “I mean… I usually do something with Ashleigh and my family but—”
“Relax,” I chuckled. “It doesn’t have to be your actual birthday. I’d just like to do something with you to celebrate.”
“I’d like that.”
“Okay, leave it with me,” I said.
“We should get to class.” Ashleigh broke the spell over us. “Catch you guys later.”
We all said goodbye, but I lingered, forcing Lily to walk around me with her friends. Right as she passed me, I dropped my hand, grazing her fingers. A bolt of electricity went through me, and her eyes snapped to mine, shining with desire.
She took off down the hall, and I shook my head.
I was so fucking gone for this girl.
And counting the weeks until I could officially make her mine.
The week dragged on. Coach Ford was nervous about the game Friday. It was our first away game against one of the best teams in our division. The atmosphere at home was worse than ever after Mom and Dad had got into it again last night. She’d wanted to come and watch the game and he was having none of it. It had gotten so bad, I’d had to intervene. He hadn’t raised his hand to her in years, but he was becoming more and more volatile. And I didn’t know what the fuck to do about it.
“You okay, man, you seem tense?” Gav asked me as we rode to school Thursday morning.
I ran a hand down my thigh and over my knee, my leg bouncing up and down as tension skittered through me. “Yeah, just this shit with my dad.”
“He’s getting worse?”
I nodded, my jaw popping.
“Maybe you should talk to—”
“Who? Who the fuck am I going to talk to about this? Mrs. Bennet? Coach? They don’t wanna know.”
“They might, if you tried—”
“Just drop it, Gav.”
My old man hadn’t hurt me, not really. He hadn’t taken his fist to me and beaten me black and blue. Maybe if he had, it would have made things simpler. He was a mean drunk, but he wasn’t as bad as some guys.
I let out a thin breath as Gav pulled into the school parking lot.
“Just another day in paradise.” Bryan tapped me on the shoulder from the back seat.
“Yeah,” I grunted.
“Come on, Thatchman.” He chuckled. “It isn’t that bad now your Coach’s star QB. Monroe’s guys are pussies without him.”
“Whatever.” I shouldered the door and climbed out and took off toward school.
Bryan had a point. Things were easier with the team, with Coach, and I had Lily in my corner. But everything felt like it was closing in around me. The pressure. The secrets and lies. Keeping my eye on the game, on my future.
It was fucking exhausting.
I’d barely made it into the building when Coach’s voice boomed down the hall. “My office, Thatcher. Let’s go.”
“I wonder what he wants.”
“Fuck if I know.” I took off down the hall toward the locker rooms. Just a
s I reached the door, my cell phone vibrated. The sight of Lily’s name soothed something inside me… until I remembered where I was headed.
* * *
Lily: I’m sick. Mom made me stay home today. I’ll miss you.
* * *
Kaiden: Are you okay?
* * *
Lily: I think it was something I ate last night. Probably too much dessert.
* * *
Kaiden: Feel better. I wish I could come and see you later.
* * *
My chest tightened. There was every chance I would never be welcome over at the Ford’s house.
* * *
Lily: Yeah, me too. But I’m looking forward to Saturday.
* * *
It was Lily’s birthday tomorrow, and since her family had monopolized all her time this week to celebrate her and Ashleigh’s birthdays, I was taking her out Saturday.
* * *
Kaiden: Me too. I gotta go… but I’ll text you later.
* * *
Lily: Okay xo
* * *
Pocketing my cell, I drew in a shuddering breath, and slipped into the locker room. Coach’s door was ajar.
“Get in here, Thatcher,” he called.
“What’s up, Coach?” I asked.
“I just got off the phone with Coach Forrester and he’s been in discussions with the scouts up at Alabama. They’re interested, son.”
“They are?” I sat up straighter. I’d been waiting for this call after they showed interest last season. But communication had gone quiet and then I’d been transferred here, and it had seemed like my dream of playing for the Crimson Tide was moving further and further out of reach.
“They’ll be at the game Friday.”
“Fuck, okay.” I ran a hand over my jaw.
“Look, Kaiden, I know we had a rocky start. But this is your time now, son. I want you to know that I take the future of my players very seriously, and if you want Bama, I’ll do everything in my power to make it happen.”
“Thanks, Coach, I appreciate that.” I could barely look him in the eye, the sticky trail of regret snaking through me.
“The team seems to be working well with you at the helm,” he added, relaxing back in his chair.
“I guess.”
“I’m sorry, about before. I knew what they were doing, freezing you out and giving you shit, and I stood by and let it happen.”
“It’s nothing I didn’t expect,” I said, honestly.
“Maybe.” Coach grimaced. “But it shouldn’t have gone down like that.” He regarded me for a long second and then added, “You’re not at all what I expected.”
“I’m not perfect.”
“No, you’re not. And I should have known that one incident didn’t define you. We all make mistakes. God only knows I made enough back in high school.”
I gave him a curt nod, not trusting myself to answer. A beat passed between us and he let out a steady breath.
“What did happen that night?” he asked.
“I wasn’t in a good place and let my anger get the better of me.”
Coach snorted at that. “Humor me.”
“I’d had a fight with my dad and one of their players kept pushing and pushing, and I snapped.” I’d beaten him pretty good before I was hauled off the field.
“Does that happen a lot?”
My spine stiffened. “Does what happen?” I played dumb.
“Kaiden, come on…”
“I appreciate the pep talk, Coach. I do. But if I want therapy, I’ll go talk to Mrs. Bennet.”
“Fair enough.” He held up his hands. “I guess I’m just trying to say if you ever need to talk, about anything, my door is always open.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Okay. Get out of here. It’s a big night Friday, you have a lot of preparation to do.”
“I’m ready,” I said with a hint of cockiness.
“Oh, I don’t doubt it, son.”
I hauled ass out of there, exhaling a shuddering breath the second I was outside his office.
Bama was the dream.
My ticket to freedom.
It was everything I’d ever wanted.
Yet, as I walked to class, I didn’t have the buzz of excitement I’d imagined. If anything, I felt conflicted. Because while I wanted it, and I really wanted it, I also wanted a girl with big blue eyes and a haunted smile.
And that was a huge fucking problem.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lily
“Good morning, baby. How are you feeling?” Mom came over and pressed her hand against my forehead.
“I feel better, Mom. Stronger.”
It had been a grim twenty-four hours. I’d spent more time hugging the toilet bowl than I had in bed. But I finally had the rumblings of hunger after eating nothing but a handful of crackers and ice chips yesterday.
“Just in time for your birthday, thank goodness. Happy birthday, Lily Star.” She hugged me.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Gosh, my baby is all grown up. I’m not going to lie, sweetheart, it makes me feel too old.”
“Old, who’s old?” Dad breezed into the kitchen carrying a gift card and small box.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart.” He dropped a kiss on my head. I’m sorry I can’t get out of tonight’s game to celebrate with you all.”
“Don’t be. We had dinner Wednesday.” It had been chaos. Our family, my cousins, and the Bennets. But it was my favorite kind of chaos. It was just unfortunate that I’d gotten sick.
I slid the card out of the envelope and beamed. It was one of those personalized ones with a collage of photos from my life.
“I love it.” I hugged them both again.
“Now your big gift.” Mom glanced at Dad and they shared a tentative look.
“What did you do?” My eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“Open it and see,” Dad urged.
Pulling open the bow, I snapped the lid and gasped. “Tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”
“Me and your mom thought it was time, baby. You're eighteen now. You’ve been doing so much better…”
Tears pricked my eyes as I plucked the key from the box. “You got me a car.”
“We did. But we want you to know, you don’t have to take driver’s ed. yet if you’re not ready. We just wanted you to have the option.”
“Thank you.” I swallowed over the giant lump in my throat. I didn’t know what else to say. They were both looking at me with so much hope, so much anticipation, I didn’t want to ruin their big moment… I didn’t want to tell them that I still wasn’t sure I was ready.
It was silly because a car was freedom, it was the ticket to spreading my wings further… but it was also a big step in flying the nest.
“Do you want to see it?” Dad asked, giving me a reassuring smile.
“Okay.”
I followed them outside, my eyes almost bugging when I saw the pristine Tesla sitting in the drive. “Wow, it’s beautiful,” I said. “And expensive.” My eyes flicked to Dad and he shrugged.
“You deserve it, sweetheart. It’s safe, economical, and green. Only the best for our Lily Star.”
He never called me that, so the fact he just had, only made the emotion welling in my chest spill over.
“Thank you,” I said again, staring at the glittering silver car.
“Holy shit,” Poppy’s voice pierced the air. “You got her a Tesla, a freaking Tesla.” She ran out of the house and straight to the car. “This is amazing.”
“I’m glad someone is excited.” Dad caught my eyes, but I only found teasing there.
It didn’t stop the ache in my heart though. I wanted to be the kind of daughter who got excited about the regular things, but I wasn’t sure I would ever be that girl.
“I love it, Dad,” I said, sliding my arm around his waist and tucking myself into his body. “I’m just not sure—”
“I know, sweetheart. But I needed to do
this for you. It’s a dad’s right.”
I peered up at him. “That isn’t a thing.”
“Sure, it is.” He smiled. “Buying your kid their first car. Giving them shit about their first serious boyfriend, then paying for the wedding.” His smile morphed into an amused grin. “I want all those firsts, Lily. No matter how much I’ll hate some of them.” He gave me a pointed look, and guilt coiled around my heart.
Thankfully, Peyton chose that moment to surface, bursting out of the house with her hands full of balloons and gift bags. “Happy birthday,” she declared, and I smothered a smile.
“What is all this?” I asked, untangling myself from Dad and going to her.
“It’s your birthday, silly. The day we get to celebrate one of the best people I know. Happy Birthday, Lily. I love you.” She threw her hands around me and hugged me tight. “I’ll miss you so much when I’m gone.”
I eased back to meet her sad gaze. “You mean—”
She nodded. “I’ve been giving it some thought, and I should be there for her. I need to be there.”
“Are you sure?” I didn’t like the idea of her moving back in with her mom, even if she was clean.
“It’s just something I need to do.”
She swiped a rogue tear away with her thumb. “But today isn’t about me, it’s about you. And I have gifts.”
When we arrived at school, Peyton and Poppy could barely contain their excitement.
“What did you do?” I asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
“You’ll see.” Peyton winked, and the knot in my stomach twisted.
“Please tell me you haven’t done something stupid?”
“Relax, Lil,” Ashleigh said. “It’s nothing that bad.”
“Ugh. You guys know I don’t like surprises.”
“Just give us this,” Peyton said. “Besides, I have it on good authority you’ll like it.”
“Fine.” I glanced between them as we approached school. They were both wearing secretive smiles that did nothing to ease the nervous energy vibrating under my skin.
