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Coach frowned, clearly surprised to hear his daughter’s name in the same sentence as the others. “No, I wasn’t aware. She hasn’t said anything.”
“Well, you know how she is. She probably doesn’t want to upset you by coming, seeing as you don’t trust any of us with her,” Marcus teased. He was the only one who could get away with talking to Coach like this. “But we all know the rules for Lily. You don’t have to worry. You should let her celebrate her birthday with her friends. Eve will be there looking out for her, anyway. The whole school is coming,” Marcus lied. Only a select few from the school were coming, those that Beckett could tolerate, which wasn’t many.
Coach considered his words, rubbing at his neck. He turned to pin me with a look. “Will you be going, Cayden?”
“Of course. I can watch out for her, if you want. I won’t be drinking, sir, and I’ll bring her home by midnight, if that’s good with you.”
Coach blew out a breath, his fatherly concern warring with the need to make his daughter happy. He had no idea that she’d be happiest to go home with him and avoid the party altogether. Sadly, for the birthday girl, that wasn’t an option.
“Let’s say 11:30,” Coach said finally on a pained exhale.
Satisfaction curled through me.
Marcus grinned. “Great, she’ll be so excited. Asher will take her and Eve over there, so I guess you can just go on home and celebrate tonight with the missus.”
“Watch it, Marcus,” Coach Williams warned but smiled, nonetheless.
Marcus ambled over as our teammates headed into the showers. “Well, how was that?”
“A master class in bullshit. Well done.”
He smirked. “Well, I didn’t do it for free. Put in a good word with Selena for me tonight, remember?”
“I doubt you need it. As far as I’ve heard, she has a weakness for Ice Gods.”
Marcus nodded and shrugged at my judgmental look. “Hey, don’t hate the player, hate the game. Why work hard for it if you don’t have to? Not all of us like to live on the wild side, like trying to get the coach’s off-limits daughter alone. Are you sure you know what you’re doing playing with Bug?”
“No,” I answered truthfully, taking a long swig of water from my black-and-purple Hellions bottle. “But I’m going to do it anyway.”
Marcus laughed and slapped me on the shoulder. “I’ve gotta respect that dedication to a goal. If we ever make it to Nationals, you’re the guy to take us, I have no doubt. I’m gonna hit the shower. You coming?”
I smirked at him. “Stop trying to see me naked. You’ll only feel bad about yourself.” I was used to deflecting any and all conversation about why I didn’t like to shower with the others.
Tossing his jersey and padding to the side carelessly, revealing his unblemished torso, Marcus smirked at me. I’d long ago stopped feeling jealous of guys who could walk around without their shirts and not worry about people staring. My body and my past had shaped me into the driven person I was today. Those scars were what fueled me to get the fuck out of Midnight Falls forever. I couldn’t hate them, but I could and would hide them. I didn’t need to be the subject of cruel gossip. Only one person had ever seen them besides Uncle Jack, and that was my little Ladybug.
I hadn’t been kidding when I’d written in her new journal. I’d shown her mine, unwittingly, and then I’d seen hers. We were connected, me and her, by our dark secrets. The ones we never wanted the world to see.
Fight it as she tried, the truth was undeniable. I’d seen inside her pretty, twisted head, and now, she was mine.
Lily
My mom disappearedafter the game, probably to find my dad and schmooze with the team sponsors. Eve and I talked to a few people and made our way outside to where my dad had parked his truck in the lot. It wasn’t there. We headed back inside to look for him. Eve fiddled with her phone as we made our way down toward the locker room and my dad’s office. I remembered the moment days before when I’d walked in on Cayden after his shower. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but that moment had changed my life.
“So, any news from California?” Eve wondered as we walked past a steady stream of players who’d already gotten changed and were leaving, no doubt anxious to get to Beckett’s party.
“No, nothing. At this rate, I might not even get in and then I won’t have to worry about telling my parents,” I muttered.
“It wouldn’t be the worst thing not to get in. You can go to HHU with me. We could be roommates!” Eve elbowed me. “Save money and live with your best friend, what could be better?”
“You know my mom would want me to live at home if I went to HHU, that’s the problem.”
Eve stopped beside me and crossed her arms over her chest. The silence felt heavy, like she wanted to say something but was holding herself back.
“What is it? Just spit it out already.”
“Well, you know that the whole rooming at HHU thing isn’t really the problem, right? The problem is not just telling your parents that you want to live on campus, even if they live nearby. The problem is being scared to tell them the truth about what you want for once. You won’t disappoint them, Lily. You’re the model daughter, a perfect student…it’s time you did something you want foryou, and not for them.”
I let out a jagged laugh. “The fact that you’re saying that makes it very clear that we did not grow up in the same house. You don’t get it. They wouldn’t say anything…it’s not what they say or don’t say…it’s the look of disappointment, the expectations – all of it. It’s a lot harder to feel crushed under the weight of your parents’ failed dreams if you’re thousands of miles away.”
