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I have to bite my inner cheek to keep from laughing. My tough-guy, hockey coach father’s cheeks are a darker shade of red than the kidney beans in the chili he made. It’s downright adorable.
“Yeah,thatMegan,” I answer.
“She’s fine,” he answers, before suddenly pivoting. “I mean, I think. She seems fine when I see her at the arena. Doesn’t she?”
“Dad,” I groan, rolling my eyes.
He lets out a sigh. “Fine,” he concedes. “I guess we shouldn’t keep secrets from each other.” At those words, I feel my stomach twist with sudden guilt. Because between the two of us, it sure isn’t him who’s keeping the secrets. “Megan and I did have dinner the other day.”
“Yeah, and lunch the day after,” I add.
My dad’s eyes shoot open for a second, then a smile rises on his lips. “My dearest daughter, have you been spying on me?”
I shrug, taking another bite of his chili. “Everyone on the team knows. It’s all they’re talking about. They think it’s cute.”
“Cute, huh?” he grumbles between bites. “I don’t know if I want my boys to think anything about me iscute…”
I giggle. I know that he puts on a hard-ass persona for his team. I guess the coach of a college sports team has to have that persona if he’s going to keep a bunch of testosterone-filled college athletes under some semblance of control. But I also know that everyone on the team loves him, and they’re following this development between him and Megan like they’re Swifties obsessed with the newest guy Taylor’s been talking to.
“What about you?” Dad asks. “Anything going on in your personal life?”
Heat crawls up my neck. “Nope,” I answer, and the lie hurts coming out of my mouth. “Just focusing on school. It’s a busy semester, especially with this social media internship.”
“Don’t let your whole college career be just about work, though,” he says. “I’m your dad, so I’ll be overprotective of you no matter what. But as long as you stay away from athletes, I trust your judgment.”
My stomach tightens, an unpleasant pang going off in my chest. I huff out a fake laugh, even though my dad’s hitting uncomfortable close to the secret I’m keeping from him. “You think that low of the guys you coach?” I try to make my question sound like a joke.
“It’s not that. I think the world of my boys, but …” he pauses, as if he’s collecting his thoughts. “Sometimes, the atmosphere of being superstar athletes on a college campus isn’t good for them. It goes to their head, and it makes them act crazy. I don’t want you being too close to that outside the arena.”
“Hm,” is all I answer, occupying my mouth with another spoonful.
After dinner, I head home.
Even though what my dad just said should only drive the point home how wrong what I’m doing with Liam is, my enthusiasm for this weekend hasn’t waned at all.
The timing is beyond perfect. He has to stay home while the rest of the team travels to Virginia, and it just happens to be the same weekend that Kayla is going back home for a big anniversary celebration that her family is throwing for her grandparents.
We’ll have both of our places completely to ourselves, for the entire weekend.
It’s like the universe just handed me a giant birthday present, since my birthday is the following Thursday.
I wonder if I should tell Liam. Since we can’t celebrate it openly together, since we can’t really doanythingopenly together, maybe it would be nice to have a little birthday dinner on one of the two days that we’ll actually be able to.
Then again, would he really care that it’s my birthday?
It’s not like we’re a couple after all. I mean, obviously he cares that we have the weekend to ourselves, because it makes it easier for us to do what this entire relationship is built around—fucking each other silly.
That’s what this whole thing is, after all. It’s a purely physical arrangement. It’s not like we’re a couple. Would the fact that my birthday is coming up even make a difference to him?
The thought that it might not sits heavily and sadly in my chest.
I try to shrug off the feeling, though. There’s no need to complicate things.
This weekend is maybe the only opportunity we’ll ever have to have an extended period of time alone together. I need to just enjoy it for what it is.
Even if I wish it could be more—even though I know I shouldn’t, because it can’t be.
25
