Melanie’s eyes dropped. “It wasn’t my call. The higher ups wanted to bring him in for some added media coverage, and I wasn’t told until this morning.”
“Never again,” I bit out, dragging my hand over my face. “I don’t want to see him here ever again.”
“As much as I’d like to agree, there’s nothing either of us can do. He’s Tate Lyons, Jace. The owners won’t kick him out, no matter how much we hate him.”
“We?” My knuckles tightened, and the air turned heavy in my lungs. “What did he do, Mel?”
“Nothing,” she said, searching to make sure we were alone. “He made a couple comments, that’s all. Apparently, I wasn’t his ideal tour guide, and he let me know it.” I opened my mouth to apologize, but she shut me down. “It’s not the first time I’ve dealtwith someone doubting me, and it won’t be the last. Let it go, Jace.”
Not fucking likely, but I agreed anyway, because I didn’t want to drag Melanie into the middle of my issues with my dad. Instead, I headed back into the clubhouse and grabbed my stuff, ready to call it a night. Four days. Four days at home with my girls. It might not seem like much to anyone else, but during the season, we were lucky to get one or two days off per week. Four days felt monumental, the break we needed to push to the end.
As I shoved through the locker room door, a crowd waiting for us on the other side. Hadley found me almost instantly, but she was alone. I frowned. “Where’s Kinsley?”
“Hello to you too.” She smiled up at me. “She just ran up to the box. Anna lost a toy, and she wanted to see if she could grab it. But it’s been a little bit. I was just about to go check on her.”
“Nah, I got it. Cam’s about to come out any minute.” Squeezing her shoulder, I moved toward the elevators, keeping my head down. No one stopped me as I pressed the button, letting out a sigh of relief my dad wasn’t among the waiting crowd. But I couldn’t let my guard down, not yet. It wouldn’t be down until he was out of my city and away from everyone I cared about.
As the doors opened, I stepped inside, leaning against the back wall of the elevator. When they shut out the murmuring from the gathered crowd, I exhaled, rubbing the bridge of my nose with my forefinger and thumb. God, what I wouldn’t give to be home right now, making good on my promises to Kinsley. But my dad being in the building dulled my excitement of four days alone with my girl. Part of me wished the bastard would show his face so we could get it over with.
The only saving grace was that Anna was already at home. Most people would probably feel guilty, unable to keep their kids away from their grandparents, but there was too much badblood there. No way in hell would I expose Anna to him. As much as I hated it, I didn’t trust my dad around her.
For years, I’d wished and prayed my dad would change, that he’d start to act like the other dads on the teams, the ones who cheered on their sons after a game and took them for ice cream when we had a tough loss. No one else got lectures all night—talks of blown potential and upholding our family’s legacy.
It might have confused me growing up, but it made even less sense now that I was a dad too. I’d never put that pressure on Anna. Sure, I’d love it if she were also an athlete, but I’d never demand it of her or make her think my love was contingent on her winning a game. If my dad couldn’t do the same for me, it was time to cut ties for good. I had my own family, my own child, to put first.
My eyes scanned the numbers, impatiently waiting to reach the fourth floor. My thumb tapped against my leg, and as soon as the doors opened, I rushed out. “Kins?”
But the floor was empty, a far cry from the hundreds of people who had filled the space only an hour earlier. The smell of popcorn and cotton candy still hung in the air, the floor sticky from stale beer. No sign of my girl. I frowned as I headed back to the elevators, but a voice broke the silence before I pressed the down button. My spine stiffened at the sound, all too familiar with that unpleased drone.
But it was the voice that followed that sent an icy chill down my spine. Fuck. Turning, I rushed down the hall, racing toward the heated conversation. Each step made my body roar, my muscles exhausted after the game, but I kept going, not stopping until I rounded the corner. My dad stood over Kinsley, her smaller body blocked by his imposing frame. Tension echoed off his tense frame, his finger dangerously close to her face.
“Do not test me, Ms. Woods.”
That patronizing tone was all too familiar—it had been the theme song of my youth and still played in my mind every time I made a mistake. But he’d made a mistake talking to Kinsley that way.
Blind rage flushing through my senses. My steps quickened until I stood between the two, shoving with both hands at my father’s chest. “Get the hell away from her.”
His eyes flared as he stumbled, staring down at my raised hands. “We’re just having a conversation, Jace.”
“Bullshit,” Kinsley snapped, stepping up behind me. My arm jutted out, keeping her behind me. She placed her hand on top of my arm; the touch settled me slightly. At least, it did until she spoke. “You cornered me up here, tried to pay me off to stay away.”
“You did what?”
“I was doing it for you, Jace! You don’t need some jersey chaser dragging you around.”
“I’ll give you one second to back the fuck away from the mother of my child, or you won’t be walking out of here.”
My father’s face hardened, his fists tightening, as if he wanted to test my threat. Wrong move. I straightened my spine, staring at the man who’d made it his mission to shape me as his legacy. But Kinsley’s voice broke through the rage. “You knew.”
I turned to face her, but she kept her gaze on my dad. “You knew about Anna. That we have a daughter.”
My dad’s jaw ticked. Holy shit. “H-how?” I asked, and then a newfound anger raced through my veins. He’d known and never asked, never once tried to get to know Anna. “How long have you known? Were you the one who blocked her when she tried to tell me?”
“Please. There were so many women in your inbox that it took hours to block them all. How could I know this one was hiding such a secret?”
“How. Long?”
“Long enough,” he said, his voice practically a growl. “When you came back to this city, I had someone follow you, make sure you didn’t get back into bad habits.” His sneer turned to Kinsley. “Didn’t take long for Ms. Woods to find you, for her to trap you with thatkid. But I thought you were smart than that. I raised you better, Jace. And then I sawthemhere today, and I knew I needed to intervene.”
