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I tore off my helmet and took off after him. My cleats clattered against the floor as I reached Coach Ford’s office.
“Take a seat,” he said, coolly.
No ‘kid’.
No ‘son’.
No ‘Thatcher’.
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“Yes, sir.” My leg bounced with a restlessness I couldn’t contain.
“Is it true?”
“I…” My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth and I swallowed hard. “We were playing a stupid game.”
“What game?”
“Seven minutes in heaven.”
“Fuck,” he hissed under his breath, dragging a hand down his face. “Did you touch her?”
“What?No! We talked… that’s all.”
His brow went up, studying me. “I don’t want my daughter anywhere near the team, you hear me?”
“The team… or just me?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Coach’s expression darkened, his brows drawing together. This was the Coach Ford I’d heard all about. Cold and deadly.
“There isn’t exactly any love lost between you and my old man.”
“That’s ancient history,” he scoffed.
“Is it?”
Coach was a professional. Firm but fair after being forced into this impossible situation. But he didn’t want me here anymore than I wanted to be here.
He regarded me for a second, then let out a long, steady breath. “Just stay away from Lily, Kaiden. She’s been through enough without some jock breaking her heart.”
“It won’t be a problem, sir,” I said, devoid of emotion. Because he was right. Anything that had been ignited at the party had been tamped out the second I learned who she really was.
“Good. Because I would hate you to sacrifice your senior year playing football for a girl who’s too good for you.”
Ouch.
His words stung. But I swallowed his judgment down. I didn’t need him to like me. I didn’t even need him to respect me. I just needed him to give me a chance on the field.
I stood up and looked him dead in the eye. “Like father, like son, right?” That’s what he thought of me. That I was a chip off Lewis Thatcher’s block.
I wasn’t.
But he didn’t want to hear it, and I wasn’t about to give him a sob story in hopes of getting a free pass.
There was only one way I was going to make the team, and that was to prove to him and everyone else that I deserved a spot on the starting lineup.
Coach didn’t reply, his hard glare watching me all the way out of his office. The second I stepped in the locker room, I let out a thin breath. As if I didn’t already have a mark on my back, I’d just gone and drawn the target and handed him the arrow.
