Page 38 of Her Player

“Brynn Rose⁠—”

Her gaze hardened on me. “The full name doesn’t work anymore on me, Mom. I love you, but it doesn’t. And I’m tired of watching you waste your life away because you can’t cope with what happened to Dad.”

It took every ounce of energy I had for me not to erupt. “Brynn.”

“Mom.”

I drew in a deep, intentional breath. “Robbing yourself of work, but not friends, is simply the inverse of what you accuse me of doing: all work and no friends. You think your choice is somehow any better?”

Her shoulders deflated a bit. “No.”

I nodded. “Then why don’t you get your boss back on the line, let him know you’ll be coming into work anyway, and I’ll escort you there.”

Her eyes watered over. “You sure?”

“Of course.”

She swallowed hard and motioned between us. “Even after I just…”

I just giggled softly. “That little tirade doesn’t have anything on the shit you pulled as a teenager.”

She rolled her eyes. “Hah. Hah. Hah.”

“I’m serious! It doesn’t,” I said as I walked over to her and placed my hands on her shoulders. “Remember the time you snuck out with Lee and McGrady?”

She groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

I grinned. “Oh, I will. Every. Single. Time. Until the day I pass from this Earth, I’ll always remind you of the time you tried sneaking out of the house, only to get your dress snagged on the gutter while you dangled there, hissing at those boys to help you down.”

She rolled her eyes as I laughed, and I pulled her in for another big hug. I wrapped her up as tightly as I could, just like I used to do when she was younger and not feeling well, and I pressed another long kiss to the top of her head.

“We’re going to get you through this,” I whispered. “But you can’t let it rob you of your life.”

And as much as I hated to admit it, I spoke from experience. Because the truth of the matter was: my daughter spoke reality to me that day. We had officially hit the point in our relationship where I was talking to another fully fledged adult. Not some child waiting for me to dictate orders and tell her where to step next.

I couldn’t think about that, though.

I had to help get my daughter to work.

Cameras snapped and microphones were shoved into our faces the instant James pulled up to The Hideout. Immediately, Brynn’s boss came out, shoving through the crowd gathering at the front door of the bar. I stepped out and shoved around to the other side of the car, helping my daughter out while her boss batted away the commotion.

But that didn’t stop those fucking reporters from shouting things that made me want to break their fucking necks.

“Brynn! Over here! Let me see that pretty face for a picture!”

“Miss Caldwell! We just need one quote! What are your feelings for Coach Drunk?!”

My daughter’s face immediately contorted with anger, but I clapped my hand over her mouth before I put on my best smile.

“Absolutely no comment,” I said in my cheeriest expression.

Then her boss and I helped ourselves to a big shove as we got her through the door of the bar.

We barely got the door closed before she erupted. “Coach Drunk?! Is that really what they’re calling him? He’s been doing so well with his drinking! That’s fucked up! Fuck them!”

I grabbed her by the shoulders as her boss got the door locked. “Yes. Exactly. Fuck all of them. You stay focused on the goal, yeah? One thing at a time.”

She drew in a shaky breath. “One thing at a time. Right. Yeah.”