Rage overtakes me, and before I realize what I’ve done, I smash my right fist into my brother’s face. To my surprise, Luke shakes it off and comes at me full force, tackling me backward, and we smash through the wooden coffee table, shattering it into smithereens.
We roll around, both fighting for control, and once I’m on top, I pin him down. Voices shout all around us for someone to break us up.
“Hell no,” Milo orders. “It’s time they work this shit out. Give them a minute.”
I shove my forearm under Luke’s chin. “You need to stay out of my life.”
“You never even let her explain what she was doing there,” Luke chokes, his face turning red. “She was only trying to help you—to help our family.”
My eyebrows tug together. “What do you mean?” I release him and push myself off him. We sit facing one another, both of us flushed and breathing heavy. “Explain.”
“Sky called me in a panic the day after your fight. She wanted to get you some help but knew you’d be upset over the bill, so I took her to meet Dad while you were in the hospital. He gave her some money and told her to tell you it was from her father because he knew you’d never accept it from him.”
My eyes widen. How dare Dad do that.
“He’s fucking right. I won’t touch a dime of his money, and I’ll see he gets it all back,” I growl. “It still doesn’t explain when I caught them together after he gave her the money.”
“Dad wanted to know how you were doing, but Sky refused to give him her number because she didn’t want you to know she was communicating with him. She went to meet him to tell him about you as part of the deal for her taking the money.”
“She did?” I question.
“Yes, you stubborn ass. She’s not cheating on you. The girl loves you far too much to do anything like that. If you don’t forgive her for trying to get you some help and stop you from further damaging yourself, then you’re an idiot.”
I scrub my hand down my face. “I fucked up.”
“You did,” Luke agrees. “Majorly.”
I jump to my feet. “I’ve got to go.”
I sprint to my car, needing to get to the apartment to see Sky. I’ve been a fool. When I saw her with my father, it brought back too many memories of what he did to me with Megan, and I assumed the same scenario was playing out again.
I need to see her.
When I get to the apartment, I breathe a sigh of relief my key still works and allow myself inside. All of the lights are off, and the place is completely quiet.
“Sky?” I call her name, but there’s no answer.
I reach for my cell in my back pocket, ready to call her, but stop instantly when I see my phone screen is cracked down the middle and won’t even power on. It must’ve happened during my fight with Luke at some point. I rub the back of my neck and rack my brain on the best way to find Sky without being able to call her.
Piece of shit phone.
I slam it onto the tile in the kitchen, and it shatters all over the floor. Now how in the fuck am I going to find Sky?
I fling myself down on the couch and rack my brain, and then it hits me. Miley. She’ll know where she is.
I race back to my car and drive over to Dobbs Hall. I wait near the entrance for someone to come out of the building, and I sneak inside and head to the fourth floor, where I know Miley’s room is.
My eyes scan the numbers on the door, and I stop at 421 and knock on the door. “Miley? You in there?” When she doesn’t answer, I knock a little harder this time and call her name.
The door behind me opens. “Baker? What the hell are you doing?”
“Oh, thank God you’re here. I’m looking for Sky. Do you know where she is?”
She pulls her lips into a tight line and then adjusts the messy blond and pink bun on the top of her head. “Why don’t you try calling her?”
“I already thought of that.” I grimace. “Phone’s broke.”
She folds her arms across her chest. “I don’t know if I should tell you her business after the way you treated her.”
My shoulders sag. “I fucked up with her. I know that now. Luke told me why she was meeting with my father, and I need to see her and apologize.”
She offers me a sad smile. “While I’m glad to hear you say that, it’s a little late now.”
I swallow hard. “What do you mean?”
“She’s gone. She went home for Christmas break after she and her dad made up. X flew her home two days ago, and from what I gather, Sky’s thinking of transferring to Michigan University to be closer to home.”
“No. She can’t do that. She can’t leave me.” My nerves begin to crawl under my skin at the thought of never seeing Sky again.
I spin on my heel and head back for my car.
“Where are you going?” Miley shouts down the hall.
“I’m going to Detroit to win her back,” I shout back without a backward glance.
A million things run through my brain, but I realize before I can go back to the frat to pack my bag, I need to take care of something else first. My father needs to know if he wants to know something about me, he can ask me himself—man to man—and leave my girlfriend the hell out of it.
35
Baker
Luke's sitting alone on the porch steps of the frat house with a beer can pressing against the corner of his eye when I arrive. "Did you find her?"
I shake my head as I stop my feet on the concrete side walk in front of him. "No. She went to Detroit for Christmas break."
"What's your plan now? You going after her?" His lips pull into a tight line and a black eye forms on his face from our earlier fight when he pulls away the can.
Guilt rushes over me. It was one thing being pissed at my brother for all this time over him taking Dad's side, but not once did I put a hand on him like I did today. Mom would be disappointed in me. I lost it and allowed emotions take over, and I shouldn't have taken my anger out on him. It wasn't right—not when he was only trying to help me.
"Yeah." I take a deep breath. "I'm sorry for being an asshole earlier. I shouldn't have hit you. I was wrong and I apologize for it."
Luke stares down at his beer and pulls his eyes back up to meet mine. "You've been through a lot this year, and you've been chomping at the bit to fight me because you thought I took Dad's side in everything." He pushes himself up off the stairs. "What he did to you...it was fucked up. I am not condoning his actions, but he wasn't in the right place mentally after we lost Mom—none of us were—and Megan took advantage of the situation. Megan's even been hitting on me when Dad's not around. It's uncomfortable as fuck, and Dad knows she's not faithful, but refuses to kick her out because of McKayla."
I swallow hard at the name of my little sister I've never met.
Luke sighs. "Megan is always out, partying. She's not a good mother, and Dad's has had a tough time taking care of the baby on his own. He feels guilty as hell about sleeping with Megan, because it caused him to lose you. He would take it back if he could...but he can't. The past isn't something that can be undone. He has to deal with the mess he's made, and believe me, he's paying for it."
I stuff my hands into my front pockets, remembering how I told Sky I wish I could take my past back too if I could. I guess most of us have things we're not proud we've done. "I never knew he's dealing with that. Megan is a shitty person, and I don't know how I didn't catch it when we were together."
He shrugs. "They say love is blind for a reason. You met Megan freshman year and she latched onto you because you were a huge star. Mom being sick, football...you had a lot going on, and it would've been easy to miss the fact Megan was a greedy bitch. She manipulated you, and did the same thing to Dad after you quit football. It was like she was following the money trail, and when it stopped with you, she jumped on the one that lead to our dad."
The flesh is hot on the back of my neck as I rub it. "I still don't think I can forgive Dad. Hurting or not, he shouldn't have done it."
Luke offers me a sad smile. "It's easy to judge someone when you're not in their shoes. I could feel the same way about you over Sky, but I don't. You didn't mean to hurt me by falling in love with her. Sometimes things happen beyond our control. I'm not saying you have to forget what Dad did to you, all I'm asking is you allow him to apologize. I miss our family and the way things used to be."
Flashes of images growing up happy with Mom, Dad and Luke rush through my head, and I miss our old life too. Some things are hard to get over. "I don't think things will ever been the same again. Too much has happened."
"Will you at least agree to sit down and hear him out--his apology? I should not have overstepped and pulled Sky into all this, but I wanted to make sure you got the money that's rightfully yours since you wouldn't talk to me or Dad. I didn't like the idea of you struggling when you didn't have to."
My head tilts as I try to figure out what he means. "I don't understand."
"The money Dad gave to Sky for you, it belongs to you."
"I don't want his Money." My head tilts up. "I'd rather be homeless than take any help from him."
Luke shakes his head. "That money came from Mom--not Dad. She had a life insurance policy, and after she died a trust was set up for each of us for a million dollars. Dad said she would've wanted us to have the money, so he split the policy between us instead of keeping it." He places a hand on my shoulder. "So consider that fifty grand from Mom. Dad wrote a check for the amount, because he can't access the account himself, so he paid you some out of his pocket."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
He frowns. "Have you ever given him or even me really the chance to talk to you since everything happened right after her funeral?"
He's right. Three days after we put my mother in the ground, I walked in on Dad fucking Megan on my mother's kitchen island. I've never been back to my family home since, or spoken to my father. I immediately blocked him from my life in every way I could. The only connection I had at all with my family was seeing Luke on Campus, and when he pledged at my frat, I couldn't stomach living so close to him, hearing him constantly ask when I was going to visit Dad. I got to the point I couldn't stand Luke either, which is why I went couch surfing most of last year. I felt like he was on Dad's side of things and it pissed me off.
Looking back now, I realize treating Luke like the enemy was shitty thing to do. He took on the brunt of my rage caused by Dad. It wasn't fair of me to do that to him.
"Yo, Luke? You're up!" Swain, the freshman on the team calls to my brother from the front door.
"Be there in a minute," Luke tells him and then turns his attention back to me. "You planning on driving to Detroit tonight?"
I nod. "Yeah. I'm going to make a quick stop at the store and replace my phone before I go though."
The concern in his eyes is clear. "Do you want me to come with you? That's a long drive by yourself, especially at night."
I shake my head. "No, man. You have a game in a couple days, and I don't know how long I'll be gone. Thanks for the offer, though."
Luke extends his hand to me, and I take it and give it a firm shake. "Be careful. Pull over if you start to fall asleep."
"I will." Just as Luke is about to release my hand, I hold on and pull him in for a hug. He stiffens at first, and then hugs me back. "Love you, brother."
"Love you, too, man," Luke says.
We pull back, and I don't care if having tears in my eyes makes me a bit of a bitch. This was a big moment for us, and we're on a good path to healing what's been broken between him and me.
Luke sniffs, like he's doing all he can to hold back his emotions too. "You better get going."
I rush into the house, and then up to my room in order to pack a bag and before hitting the road. Confronting my father right away is no longer something I need to do right away. That day will come, when I'm ready. For now, all I want to do is be with Sky.
The next morning, after stopping and sleeping a while in my car, I finally make it to Detroit. Thankfully, I remember how to navigate to the street Sky's family home is located, but It takes me a minute to find the exact house because I don't have the street address plugged into the GPS on my phone. When I find the gate that leads to X's house, I whip my car into the drive and inhale deeply through my nose before pressing the call button on the gate.
"Yeah?" A gruff voice greats me.
I clear the lump out of my throat. "I'm Baker Finnegan. I'm here for Sky."
The motor on the gate hums before it opens the iron bars giving my car passage through. When I pull up to the two-story, brick house, I park in front before killing the engine. My heart thunders in my chest, as I practice the apology to Sky I've been working on the entire trip one last time as I approach the front door.
I take a deep breath and raise my hand to knock, but my flesh never hits the wood. Instead, the door swings open, revealing non other than Phenomenal X himself. My pulse kicks up a notch having to face my girlfriend's father who doesn't like me. "Hello, sir. Is your daughter home?"
X crosses his arms across his chest, and even for an older man the T-shirt he's wearing strains across the muscles in his chest and arms. "She's not. What are you doing here?"
I swallow hard. "I'm here because I need to tell her I was wrong about something that happened between us. We were in a fight and—"
"I'm aware of everything that's gone on between the two of you." His light-blue eyes narrow. "You broke her heart and you made her cry. Most men that make the women in my life cry aren't so good at walking once I'm done with them. Tell me why I shouldn't break your legs where you stand?"
I tip my chin up and meet his stare head on. "You have absolutely every right to be pissed at me. I broke her heart, yes, but after I thought she broke mine. I thought..." I trail off, finding how difficult it is to tell this man the truth. "I was stupid enough to believe Sky would betray me with my father. He and I have a past when it comes to women, but I should've known Sky is different. I was an idiot. Sky would never sleep with my father. If you want to beat my ass for making her cry, I won't stop you. I deserve it."
X's eyebrows shoot up. "It takes a big man to admit when he's wrong, so I respect you for that, but I'm still not so sure about you," X says as his appraising eyes remain on me. "How do I know this isn't going to be a pattern for you? Relationships are about communication, and what just happened between you and Sky...you didn't even give her a chance to tell you her side of things. She needs a man who will always stand by her and protect her. One day I'll be an old man, and won't be around forever. How can I trust you're the guy who can step in and fill my shoes and not to hurt her again?"
"I fucked up and that's on me. I own it, but I can promise you this will not be a repeating pattern. My past...it's screwed up and I've been betrayed by the people who I thought loved me, but that's my issue, not Sky's. Trust is something I'm still working on, but if anyone deserves mine, she does. She's done nothing but love me."
X sighs. "It scares me how much I see myself in you. I had major trust issues when I first got with Sky's mom, and we had a bit of a rocky start, so I'm willing to let all this one time slide. Don't make me regret it."
Relief floods me. "You have my word. I'll keep working on my own issues."
He nods. "If you're brave enough to confront me, then I think you have what it takes to protect my daughter."
Our gazes lock. "With my life."
The corner of of his mouth pulls up into a half smile and steps back and waves me in. "Come in and tell me how you plan to win my daughter back."
My eyebrows shoot up. "Really?"
Relief floods me. Winning Sky back is the reason I came here, so I'll take all the help I'm offered.
He nods. "We have to make sure you have a good idea, and I also want to tell you about the offer Tension Wrestling has for you."
I've never really thought about being a professional wrestler, but I'm definitely interested to hear what he has to say.
Sky
More people than ever before have volunteered to help with the annual X Community Center Christmas party. The locals come together and share a sense of unity. Community is something my father has made his life's work since building this place. He has always preached to me and Simon how much a place like this place would've benefited him as a young trouble youth and how we should always make it a point to help those in tough positions.
"How's the potatoes coming?" Mom asks as she works on icing the cupcakes.
I glance over to what I have left to peel. "I'm on the last two out of the last bag now. We should be good."
"Excellent." She smiles. "I'm so glad you're home, Sky. I don't know how I would've gotten all this done without you and Simon."
I throw the potatoes into the pot of water and turn on the gas burner below it. "I'm always happy to help. This event is always my favorite every year because everyone I know shows up."
"Mine too." Mom glances down at her watch. "Quinn will be back with the Hams soon, and then we can start setting up the buffet line. I think I have everything under control back here, why don't you go out front and ask if your dad and brother need any help with the decorations."
"Sure thing," I tell her and then pull off my apron, and head out into the gym area.
The space typically reserved for sweaty basketball games and wrestling matches has been transformed into a Christmas wonderland. One thing Dad never skimps on is the holiday decorations. He hires a company to come in every year with a theme. This year he went with The Grinch and with all the cardboard houses surrounding us, it's like we're in Whoville.
Dad and Simon are busy setting up tables and chairs, and don't pay attention to me, but someone else spots me.
"There she is!" Nettie, the woman who practically raised my Dad, crows as she heads toward me pushing her walker. Her brown skin wrinkles even more as her smile widens. "Come give Granny Nettie a hug."
I wrap my arms around her and squeeze. "How are you?"
Rebellious and Reckless: College Sports Romance Stand-Alone (Campus Hotshots Book 1): Campus Hotshots Page 22
