Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
DEREK
L eave it to Sutton to send me a cryptic text. Here I thought we were having a fun and flirty conversation when I get a message about needing to meet.
Had I not sensed her urgency, I would have put it off until tomorrow because my parents are busy tonight. I hate calling in the nanny when she’s already been with Troy all day, but she didn’t mind.
Thank God.
The diner that Sutton messaged me to meet her at is old-school. I found an empty, red booth in the back. Black-and-white checkered floors are gleaming. A jukebox is playing an old Elvis song. It smells like burgers and frenchT fries.
I swivel my phone in my hand, watching the door. Every time the bell chimes, I look for Sutton. But as the minutes tick by, I get more worried she won’t show up.
“You want anything while you wait, dear?” An older woman with bright blue hair stands at the end of the table.
“I’ll take a Coke if you don’t mind.”
“Sure thing.” She shoots me a wink before heading behind the counter to grab a plastic red cup and pour me a drink .
“You doing okay tonight?” she asks, setting down a straw next to me.
“I’m not sure yet.” It’s the only answer I can give, because it’s the truth. “I hope so.”
“Well, cheer up. Don’t go borrowing trouble.”
I laugh as she moves on to the next table, taking their order. My insides are already all mixed up when it comes to Sutton.
One date. We’ve only had one real date and I’ve already fallen for this woman. It’s why I’m here so late.
If only she would get here.
It’s like my thoughts make her appear.
It’s her face standing in the doorway, with someone familiar at her back. I can’t place him. When Sutton’s eyes find mine, she gives me a cautious wave and points in my direction.
The man with her has an angry look on his face.
Shit.
What in the world did I do wrong? Is this her brother? Maybe that’s why this person looks familiar.
As they get closer, I stand, wiping my hands on my shorts.
“Hi, Derek.” Sutton stands on the other side of the table. It’s maybe two feet wide, but feels like a gulf. She looks beautiful as always, if not a little nervous.
“Hey. Is everything okay?” I wave a hand for her to sit.
“Jameson has some concerns.” Sutton nods her head to the man standing behind her. “I thought it was best to clear the air.”
“Jameson, is it?” I hold out a hand to the man that is glaring at me. A bright pink see-through tank top clings to his muscles. He’s in a pair of black ripped jeans that show more skin than they hide. His deep brown eyes are pools of anger. I have no idea what Sutton might have told him to get this kind of response out of him. “I’m Derek. Nice to meet you.”
He doesn’t shake my hand, but takes a seat next to Sutton .
Well, shit. This isn’t going to go well.
They’re muttering to each other as I sit across from them, my nerves ratcheting up.
“I’m sorry to drag you out so late, Derek,” Sutton starts. “But it’s important.”
“Of course.” I try to give her a smile, but it doesn’t quite get there.
“Jameson—”
“Why are you a raging homophobe?” Jameson cuts Sutton off. Getting right to the point, apparently. “Why do you hate people like me?”
“Jameson!” Sutton hisses.
Ice water floods my veins. If he’s asking me that, then he’s seen the articles that highlight my past. My less than upstanding past.
“I…”
“What, have nothing to say for yourself, hmm?” Jameson kicks back in the booth and crosses his arms. He’s not one to mess with.
I squeeze the back of my neck, trying to figure out what I need to say. It’s not often my past gets dragged out. When I applied for the job at the high school, I was up-front about the kind of player I was and how I wanted to change. The principal was willing to give me a second chance. My assistant?
He doesn’t pay attention to the news. Full of lies, as he said.
Jameson, however, is someone that if I want a future with Sutton, I need to tell the truth to. Not that I’d lie to her.
“I don’t hate you.”
“You don’t? Because I’m a gay man and don’t want someone like you with my best friend.”
“You read all the articles about my playing days.” I breathe out. “What do you want to know?”
“Why? Tell me why. Because everything is telling me to grab Sutton and put you in her rearview mirror. ”
I turn to face the woman in question, and she’s fuming.
“You do not speak for me, Jameson. If you want to hash this out with Derek, by all means. But you are not dragging me out of here when you already dragged me here.”
For the first time since he arrived, he looks properly chastised.
“Jameson, look,” I address him. “I was an ass when I played. Really. A terrible person and I regret most of my playing days. The team rewarded bad behavior like that and I fed into it. Thought it made me a badass. But my life changed.”
“When?” he asks, leaning across the table.
“When I found out Missy was pregnant.”
He huffs a deep breath. I chance a glance at Sutton. A warm, motherly look is on her face. One that tells me she knows exactly what happened when I got the news.
“What happened next?”
“It took a while, but I finally got her to consent to a DNA test. I wanted to be sure he was mine. I made some choices I wasn’t proud of, but the minute I knew Troy was mine, I gave everything up for him.”
“That must have been hard.”
I scrub a hand over my jaw. “Actually, it was the easiest decision I ever made. It was the spring after I got into that fight with Alex Young. I was making some bad choices, and if I kept going down that route, I don’t know what would have happened. So I changed everything. Moved out of Vegas and took a job at a local high school coaching football. I hoped to teach young men to be different from me. To make them better.”
Jameson is quiet, taking me in. I have no idea if he’ll believe me. I only hope he at least gives me a chance.
“Have you apologized? To this Alex Young person?” Jameson asks.
I shake my head. “No. ”
“Why not?”
“Because would I be doing it to make myself feel better, or him? I figure the best thing I can do is to change my thinking. My actions. Make the world a better place so people like Alex can feel safe from people like I used to be.”
I stand, dropping a twenty onto the table for my drink.
“If you never want to see me again, Sutton, I understand. Neither of you have any reason to trust me. I can only show you in my actions. I hope I have the chance to show you that I’ve changed. If you don’t want to give me that chance, I’ll walk away, and that’s something I have to live with.”
Both of them stare at me as I leave the diner. There’s not much more I can say. I can rehash my past as much as I want, but it won’t do me any good if they won’t believe me. I guess I’m at Jameson’s mercy if I want a future with Sutton.
I take in a deep breath of salty air as I push open the door to the diner. Night has fallen, the sticky humid air clinging to my skin.
I pull my jacket off and head toward my car.
This was not how I expected my night to end. Fighting to have a future with the one person I can see having one with.
“Wait.”
It’s not the voice I expected to hear. I spin on my heel, and Jameson is there. Standing here, he’s the same height as me. Instead of anger now, there’s a softness to him. One that I’m hoping bodes well for me.
“Yeah?”
“Look, I didn’t come out until a few years ago. I take issue with people who try to keep people like me in the closet.”
“I’m not?—”
He holds up a hand and I stop talking.
“It’s hard to change that mentality. To think everyone is against me.”
I shove my hands in my pockets as he continues talking. “I can see that you’re not. ”
“I promise, I’m not.”
Jameson takes a step closer, puffing out his chest. If he wants to be intimidating to me, I’ll let him.
“All I want is for someone to be deserving of Sutton. She hasn’t exactly had an easy track record with men.”
“I want to be someone that is worthy of her. I’ve only known her a little while, but I hope I can be that person for her.”
Jameson sticks out his hand. “I hope so too. Because if you hurt her, I will end you.”
I take his hand. “I have no doubt that you will.”
This time, a smile slides onto his face. “Good. Because she likes you, and I’d hate to be the one to crush her little heart.”
“I will protect her with everything that I am.”
“I know you will.”
“I take it this is a good thing?” Sutton comes up next to Jameson. Hope blooms in her bright hazel eyes.
“Oh, get in here.” Jameson wraps the two of us in a hug, but my gaze stays on Sutton. On the beautiful woman standing between us. “I give you my permission to date him.”
“Really?” Sutton looks up at him.
“He seems like a good man. But I will kill him if he hurts you.”
“Which I won’t,” I correct him.
Sutton wiggles out of Jameson’s arms and wraps hers around me. I breathe a sigh of relief at getting her like this. Even the thought of her being taken away from me was a thought I couldn’t bear.
“Does this mean I still get to take you out Saturday?”
Sutton rests her chin on my chest and looks up at me. “You better, Derek. Because I am ready for a grown-up date with pancakes and no kids.”
I drop a quick peck on her lips, mindful of the audience around us.
“I can’t fucking wait.”