Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
My mother never came in through the kitchen and their housekeeper didn’t come on Sundays.
Which meant Dad was home.
Shit!
“Jolie?” Dad called to me and I cringed. Grandma G got up and took Joey’s hand as if that would somehow protect him. Not that Dad would do anything to hurt him, but his growl tended to intimidate two-hundred-pound hockey players, so he’d undoubtedly freak Joey out if he went on one of his rants.
“In here, Dad.”
“Hey. What are you—” He cut off abruptly when he spotted Joey. “What the fu—”
“Malcolm!” Grandma G spoke his name sharply, cutting him off before he got the f-word out.
“We were just leaving,” I said quickly. “Boone was at practice and Hadley just had a baby, so I’ve been helping out, Dad. That’s all. I’m taking him home now.”
Dad grunted, still eyeing Joey like he was the Antichrist coming for a personal visit.
“Hi! I’m Joey!” Joey had no idea what was going on and he broke free from Grandma G, running over with an extended hand. Just like Boone had taught him. I would have been so damn proud if it were literally anyone else.
Dad seemed startled at first but then reluctantly extended his hand. “I’m Coach G.”
“Granny G and Coach G! Is she your mommy?”
Dad frowned, his face momentarily softening. “Yeah.”
“Cool beans!” Joey raced back over to me, bouncing on the tips of his toes. “Is this your daddy, Jolie?”
“Yup.” I couldn’t exactly deny it.
But Joey had the attention span of a gnat. “Are we going to get pizza now? Pretty please with sugar and icing on top?”
I managed a tight smile. “I don’t know what Uncle Boone has planned, but we’ll see.”
“Jolie, can I see you in the kitchen?” Dad asked.
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll be right back. You guys can go get in the car.” I gave Grandma G a look, telling her to get him out of the house. Just in case there was yelling.
“Dad, this isn’t the time,” I said once we were in the kitchen.
“When is the time, Jolie? I warned you and I sure as fuck warned him.”
“Why are you warning two legal, consenting adults about whom they can spend time with?” I demanded. “Seriously, Dad. Enough is enough. Did you think I was still a virgin? Did you think the dirty, filthy things adults do behind closed doors didn’t happen with your precious Jarvis?”
“That’s not necessary!” he snapped.
“But it is. Because you’ve made it necessary. I don’t need or appreciate you telling me who I can date. So what if he’s on the team? He’s nice to me. Nicer than Jarvis ever was. Ever.” I emphasized the last word.
“He’s nice because he’s using you!” Dad said, throwing up his hands. “He wasn’t going to get in your pants by being a jerk. But that’s not real. Don’t you know what these guys are like? How they treat women? You think there’s such a high divorce rate among professional athletes because they’re faithful?”
“But Jarvis was going to be faithful?” I countered. “How come Jarvis got to break all your rules and everyone else is just terrible?”
“Because I could control him! Because he knew what would happen if he hurt you.”
“But he did hurt me,” I said quietly. “And the only thing that’s happened as a consequence is you persistently trying to get me to forgive him.”
That telltale vein on Dad’s forehead was starting to throb and we stared at each other in a veritable standoff. “So are you going to Nashville with him then?” he asked finally.
“What?” I shook my head. “The situation has changed. He’s not going anywhere.”
He stared at me. “Jolie, we literally just talked about it not thirty minutes ago. As soon as the season is over, he’s being traded. Nashville didn’t make the playoffs, so we’ve made some discreet inquiries. It’s going to happen as soon as we can legally do it.”
I frowned, a sharp pain shooting through my gut. “I don’t believe you.”
He shrugged. “Then I guess you need to ask him.”
“I will.” I turned on my heel and stormed out of the house.
Practice had ended early, so I texted Boone and told him where we were going. I’d promised Joey and Grandma G lunch, and I figured Boone and I could talk while Grandma kept Joey busy.
I was more furious with myself than I was with Boone because he’d never actually said he was staying in St. Louis.
I’d made an assumption and we all knew how that usually went.
“You okay?” Grandma G asked quietly once we were sitting down.
“I don’t know,” I muttered, handing Joey the crayons the waitress had brought over.
“Talk to him,” she whispered. “Tell him how you feel.”
It was probably a bad idea to have Boone come meet us, but the day’s plan had already been set in motion and I felt helpless to stop this freight train that had begun to roll over my life.