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I needed to get out of here. I needed to commit to a football program and know that I had a future away from this place… away from him.
Lily’s face flashed in my mind. I’d seen how uptight she’d gotten when we’d talked about our plans for the future. She would probably stay local for college, stay close to her family. I wanted to get as far away from Rixon as possible.
Letting myself into the house, I threw my keys on the sideboard and went into the kitchen.
“Kaiden, Son,” my dad’s voice pierced the air, “is that you?”
“Yeah, I’m just getting something to eat. Where’s Mom?”
“She already went up to bed. She wasn’t feeling so good.”
I froze. Had they had another fight? He didn’t sound drunk, but then he didn’t have to. That was the thing about Lewis Thatcher. His words could hurt just as much when he was sober as they did when he was drunk.
Sometimes worse.
“Grab me a beer from the refrigerator, Son, would you?”
And there it was.
He wasn’t interested in my day or how I was… he only cared about his next fix.
“Actually, Dad, I’m going to call it a night,” I called back. “Maybe you should do the same,” I grumbled beneath my breath.
“Kaiden, I asked you to bring me a beer.” Anger laced his words.
I grabbed an apple and a can of soda, and headed upstairs, ignoring him.
“Kaiden,” he yelled just as I slammed my door shut.
He wanted to drink his life away, fine, but I wasn’t going to feed his habit.
Kicking off my sneakers, I flipped down on my bed and shuffled back against the headboard. Everything was turning to shit. The team. My dad. Not knowing if I had a scholarship for college or not, yet.
Football had been my lifeline, my saving grace. Rixon East Eagles weren’t the best team. They weren’t a team that broke records or caused waves. But they weremyteam. And I hadn’t realized how much I would miss that until it was taken from me.
Now I had a team who didn’t want me there and a Coach who didn’t want to give me a chance.
But there was also a girl… a girl who saw past the football jersey and talent. A girl who wanted to know me, to comfort me, and understand me. And I couldn’t shout it from the rooftops. I couldn’t go into school Monday and push her up against the lockers and kiss the shit out of her.
Not unless I wanted to jeopardize everything I’d worked for.
Chapter Nineteen
Lily
“Morning, Dad.”
“Hey, baby. How was the movie?”
“Uh, good. It was good.” The lie felt sticky on my tongue.
“That’s great.” He seemed distracted, not looking up from his cell phone.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, Xander is stopping by for breakfast.”
“Xander?” I frowned.
