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“Sorry, Coach.”
“As you should be, now are we done here?”
He misunderstands my apology. “No, sir, we aren’t. What I meant to say is, Paris will never be a sister to me. Over the past few months, I’ve come to love everything about her. Out of respect for you…”
Coach stands from his seat and glares down at me. “Out of respect for me and Elaine, you will stay away from Paris unless you are seated with her at our dining table because I have invited you to be there.”
Unable to take the heat, I stand to level with him. “She is nineteen, Coach, and she’s not the prim and proper daughter you make her out to be. Paris is more than capable of making her own decisions.”
“My daughter will never date a player, you hear me? I forbid it,” he spits at me. His face reddens, and his words roll from his mouth in a gruff, don’t test me, manner.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Coach. But like I said, Paris is old enough to decide for herself.”
Coach sneers at me. “Son, she will never choose you, so we have nothing to worry about.”
I bite back a laugh and scoff. “Are you really that blind to what your daughter wants? Whether you give us your blessing or not, we will be together. I promised her I would come to you out of respect for you before we made it public.”
I’m met with wide eyes as Coach slams his hands on the desk. “Do not threaten me, Magik. Need I remind you, I hold your future in my hands?”
And I hold your daughter in mine on the nights you think she’s out studying with her girlfriends, I want to tell him, but hold back. “Are you threatening my place on the team?”
“I will do whatever it takes to keep Paris focused on her studies.”
There’s nothing more I can do here, the conversation took a turn I didn’t anticipate and have no interest in. I won’t lose my place on the team, but I won’t stop fighting for Paris either.
CHAPTER 7
Paris
“You threatened his place on the team?” I scream at my father when he walks through the door. He looks worn out today, more than usual and I push away the pinch of guilt for calling him out.
“Of course not, I just reminded him I own his future.”
“Ha!” I roll my eyes. “Same damn thing.”
“Watch your mouth, young lady,” he growls.
One day my father will see me as a grown woman rather than his twelve-year-old princess who can’t do any wrong. “For Christ’s sake, I’m an adult, Dad. Don’t chastise me like a fucking child.” I cross my arms and hold strong under his distasteful glare. What’s he going to do, send me to my room?
Dad’s disdain for my potty mouth is all but forgotten when my mother appears at his side with a welcome home kiss. His eyes soften, and he takes her in his arms as if it’s been days since they last saw each other, not hours.
Is it too much to ask for a love like theirs?
“I suspect we’re talking about Eli Magik,” Mom states, taking Dad’s hand and leading him to the kitchen for his brunch. “The star quarterback and your favorite player over all the years you’ve been coaching.”
A smirk crosses my lips. Mom knows how to soothe the Pitbull in Brian Weston. “The arrogant little shit wants to date our daughter, Elaine. Had the balls to sit in my office and tell me he’s fallen in love with everything about her.”
“He loves me?” My heart flutters, imagining the conversation.
Mom grins. “It’s not difficult to see how much he cares for you. I can’t imagine any other twenty-two-year-old man asking a father if he can date his daughter. He has my tick of approval.”
Dad eyes us both. “It’s a fucking conspiracy, the three of you plan to gang up on me today?”
“Dad!” I cry with sarcasm. “Language, please.”
Laughing, I leave my mom and dad alone and head up the stairs two at a time dying to call Veronica, my bestie with the news that maybe, just maybe, Eli Magik is in love with me.
“O-M-G, he said that to your dad?” Vee swoons into the phone.
