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I shrugged again, sipping my tea, trying to ignore the pit in my stomach. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“I’m sensing some father/daughter tension here,” Noah said with a light chuckle. But his attempt at easing the tension was lost on me because he didn’t know the half of it.
My father was going to work with these guys. Train and mold them. Every day, he was going to bond with them. Laugh and joke and get to know them. He was going to develop relationships with them. Earn their trust and respect. And he hadn’t even respected me enough to give me a heads-up about the job.
Because he doesn’t care. He never has, and he never will.
I checked my phone and let out a small sigh. “I need to get going.”
“What? We just got here.” Rory frowned.
“I’m sure the guys will keep you company.”
“Sure we will.” Noah grinned at her, squeezing her knee. He was always touching some part of her. I’d noticed it was his love language—to show her how much he loved her curves. Her body.
It was cute.
And I wasn’t jealous. Not even a little bit.
Liar.
I drained my tea and placed the mug down on the table. “I’ll text you later.”
“Sure. Good luck with the thing.”
“Thanks. See you guys.” I gave Noah, Ward, and Leon a little wave.
Mason didn’t look up.
And that was fine.
After the way he’d spoken to me the other night, the less we interacted, the better.
* * *
I arrived at the Rushton Community Center in good time. It was a cute little place with flower-lined windows and pristine sliding doors.
Since I was early, I stayed in the car and made the phone call I’d been dreading ever since I discovered my father’s news.
“Harper,” Mom answered on the second ring.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Oh, Harper, baby. I’m so sorry. I swear I had no idea. He’s been withdrawn lately. Inside his own head. You know how he gets.”
“Yeah.” I inhaled a sharp breath, trying my bestnotto remember. “So, he’s the Lakers’ new assistant coach. How does that even happen, Mom?”
“He and Joe were friends back in the day. I guess they must have reconnected.”
“Aren’t you angry he didn’t tell you? I mean, how is it even going to work? It’s almost a two-hour round trip.”
Mom hesitated, and I braced myself for whatever she was about to say.
“They’re giving him a room on campus.”
“What?” I shrieked.
“It’s not permanent, sweetheart. Just somewhere he can stay when he needs to.”
