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After I made the coffee, I went outside to find Coach. Sat in one of our garden chairs, he looked over at me. “Sit.”
I let out a small breath.
“You know, on the drive over here, I had all these things I wanted to say to you. And then your old man opened the door and it’s like I don’t know what the fuck to say now.”
“I don’t want your pity,” I said, defensively.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want you anywhere near my daughter and look how that turned out.”
“It was never supposed to go down like that. I wanted to tell you. I wanted to—”
“Lily told me what happened.”
“She did?” I ran a hand over my head, hating how awkward things felt between us.
“Of course she did. I’m her father.”
“I really screwed up, huh?”
“As much as it pains me to say it, you’re supposed to screw up. You’re eighteen. Fuck, Kaiden, I was a nightmare at your age. Thought I was invincible though.” His eyes slid to mine. They were darker today. Almost black as he stared at me. “Thought nothing could touch me because I didn’t care about anything except football. And then I met Lily’s mom. God, she knocked me on my ass. I fought it. I fought it at every turn, but things turned sour with your old man and I realized football wasn’t the only thing I cared about.
“I’m going to ask you something and I want you to give me the truth. Not what you think I want to hear or what you think will save your sorry ass. The truth, okay?”
“Yeah, I can do that.” I braced myself.
“Do you love her?”
“I do,” I swallowed over the huge lump in my throat, “I love her so fucking much.”
He nodded, his jaw popping with disapproval. But I also saw something else in his eyes. Something that looked a lot like respect.
“I spoke to my wife. She told me everything, but I needed to hear you say the words. I needed to look you in the eye andseeit.”
“How is she? Lily, I mean?”
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you, because if you claim to love my daughter, you need to know how bad it can get.” His eyes shuttered as he dragged a hand over his scruff. “She’s a mess, son. Lily has spent the last four years hiding in the shadows in an attempt to protect herself. And now the light is shining right on her. She doesn’t know how to handle that. All I’ve ever done is try to protect her, but I can’t protect her from her own mind.”
“What’s going to happen to Lindsey?”
“I’ll handle Miss Filmer and her parents.”
The ferocity in his tone made me flinch. “Can I ask you a question?”
He nodded.
“Whatever did happen to Chelsea Farnham and her family?”
His lip twisted into a knowing smirk. “A man has to keep some secrets. All you need to know is, I took care of it. Just like I’ll always take care of it. If you’re going to be with my daughter, Kaiden, that extends to you now. If you need anything,” his eyes flicked past me to the house, “all you need to do is say the word.”
“Why? Why would you ever help me after what I did?” Guilt still swarmed my chest, but my shoulders felt lighter since Coach arrived.
I hadn’t expected his forgiveness and especially not his blessing, but something had shifted between us.
“Because,” he lifted his eyes to mine and a reluctant smile traced his lips, “she’d want me to. Lily loves you, son. So while I might not be able to protect her from the world, I can sure as shit try to make her happy.”
“How much do you want to knock my head off my shoulders right now?” I asked, fighting a smile of my own.
“Oh, about a solid eight. It was an eleven on the drive over here, so count yourself lucky.”
