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“I’ll get better at the Shakespeare, I promise.”
“Coach’s daughter falls for a football player. Like how cliché can it get?”
I lift my palms. “We can wear matching Christmas sweaters, adopt a dog, and take ‘almost a family’ photos.”
“Sounds good to me. Can we give the dog a ridiculous name?”
“Sure.” I wipe the tears from her eyes
She nods. “Just give me a minute to glue myself back together.”
“You’ve got two.”
I open the door as she primps in the mirror, wiping the black beneath her eyes. “It’s so obvious what just happened. I’m mortified.”
I kiss her cheek. “Hurry up before I change my mind and keep you locked in here.”
“Lance?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re okay, I guess.”
We share a smile, and I wink before I close the door. After dinner, beers with dad, and two rounds of pie, I whisk my girlfriend away from the chaos and make love to her all night in my childhood room. Skin to skin, we wordlessly bind ourselves, nose to nose, chest to chest. The next morning after breakfast Harper locks herself in Dad’s office for a few hours with the books before she calls my parents and me in.
“I’ve found you five grand, I think.”
My father looks skeptical but walks over to where she stands.
“This is owed, right? You have this crossed-out, but I’ve checked, and double-checked the numbers, and this makes sense, here.” She leans in analyzing my dad’s chic
ken scratch. My father pulls out his phone and steps outside.
“Whitty, you didn’t pay me for those heifers I sold you. Nope. Looking at the books right here. All right, see you after a while.” My dad walks in and nods. “Thank you. So much, really.” He’s too proud to show much more than that, but I know he means it.
“Jeannie,” Harper summons from dad’s desk and my mother walks over to stand behind where she sits. “I’ve put a few suggestions here and here,” she says. “They may work for next month.”
“Thank you,” my mother says, staring down at her with adoration before looking up to wink at me. I wink back.
“We need to get on the road,” I remind Harper, who looks up at me and nods. And I feel it, without her saying it. I feel it to my bones. She loves me.
We hold hands the entirety of the ride home. I drive her RAV4 as she sings Christmas carols while I try to find the right words to tell her what a difference she’s made in my life in the months I’ve known her. Rehearsing and re-rehearsing in my head how to put into words the way she makes me feel. Words that stem from any emotion have always been my weakness. But for her, I want to try. I want to tell her so much. How much she’s surprised me. How I never thought I could feel as much for any woman the way I feel about her. That I love her too, though I’m positive she knows.
Our smiles are never far from our lips as she rattles off future plans for Christmas. Our plans. And I don’t object once, because it’s a given for me as well. The transition from friend to confidant, to much more has been so effortless on both our parts, I wouldn’t object to any decision she made regarding us at this point.
Put simply, Harper makes me happy.
Turning into my neighborhood, I glance her way as she sings, committing the moment to memory while dreading her imminent departure to spend the rest of the holiday with her family. Her smile disappears and shock covers her features when I pull into the driveway. Following her line of sight, I hit the brakes a little too hard when I see her father, my coach, standing in front of his pickup, his arms crossed and hellfire in his eyes. Dread tightens my chest and defeat creeps up as I throw her SUV in park and put on my game face. Though the only thought racing through my mind at that point is game over.
Harper
I’m the first to jump out of the Toyota, but Lance isn’t far behind.
“Daddy, please don’t go off without hearing us out.”
“Go home, Harper.” He’s not even looking at me, his blazing blue eyes on the man standing behind me.
“Coach—”
