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“Coach, I’d never hurt Zara. She’s—”
“You’re damn right you won’t!” He’s absolutely seething. “Because you’re never to see her or talk to her again! Stay away from my daughter. And get the hell off my team before I do something I’ll regret.” With that he turns to leave, barking orders at several of the other coaches. “See him out. Get him out of my sight.” The cold venom in his tone doesn’t leave room for negotiation.
“You’re not even going to give me a chance to prove myself? You won’t even let me try?”
“Oh, you’ve proven yourself, O’Shea! You’ve proven that you’re capable of preying on freshman girls who are too innocent to see you for what you really are. You can go do it somewhere else from now on. Out!”
Coach Warren and a few of the other assistants grab my arms but I shake them off, heading for the door as my team watches me leave, with varying expressions of disbelief and confusion. Gabriel and Jake are in shock. “Good luck,” I tell them.
They try to follow me but they’re called back by Coach Warren. I can hear his low warning.
I get to the locker room, fury and anguish warring inside me. How dare I? How dare he? He wouldn’t even fucking listen! So the fuck what if I have a past, who doesn’t? Does he? I’d bet a million fucking dollars that his own past probably looks a lot like mine, before he met the wife he was devastated to lose.
I’m not losing Zara.
Fuck it. I’ll play football somewhere else. I’ll start talking to the scouts who have been in contact.
Coach’s warning echoes in my head. I think we both know that scouts are rarely interested in players whose coaches have issues with them. My feedback plays into their decisions, as you’re well-aware. If any information comes across as negative, then more often than not those players are removed from the value boards. Am I making myself clear enough?
My phone rings in my bag. I pull it out, thinking it might be Zara. If I have to leave, I’ll convince her to come with me.
Would she? Would she chose me over her father?
But it’s Bo.
Why would Bo be calling me? Some sixth sense gives me a dark, sinking feeling that grips my heart in its fist. Bo’s been my best friend since junior high and he was on the football team with me all the way through high school. He checks in on my dad once a week for me, and keeps in touch with the home help I hired. “Bo.”
“Elias. Listen, I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, but…it’s about your dad.”
“What about him?”
“He’s dead. It just happened. I’m sorry, man. The nurse called me a few minutes ago and the ambulance is already here. It was a massive heart attack. There was nothing they could do. I’m so sorry, brother.”
21
“Wake up, Zara. Zara, wake up.”
Isla’s sitting on my bed, shaking me gently.
“What time is it?” I ask, groggy.
“Zara, it’s Elias.”
I sit up a little. “Is he okay?”
“He’s off the team.”
“What? No. Oh, shit. Isla. I have to find him.”
“He left a note for you. It’s downstairs. Kit said the entire lobby is filled with flowers. He sent you, like, a hundred bunches of flowers. He told Gabriel to arrange it when he was leaving.”
“Where is he?”
“Don’t freak out, but there was a photo of the two of you online. Someone saw you getting out of his car.”
“Oh no.”
“Whoever it was posted the photo online and it’s…well, it’s sort of…gone viral.”
