11. Nate #2
I closed the door after the handshake, and we stood in silence for a heartbeat too long. My mind raced, and I remembered to use my lips and tongue. “Wanna drink?” I asked.
“Sure, I could use a drink,” he said.
The way he phrased it gave me an opening.
“Is everything alright, man? You come here after all these years, not a word to give me a heads-up. What’s chasing you?
” We moved into the kitchen, and I avoided looking at my bedroom door.
Acting as naturally as I could, I picked up two clean glasses, poured a couple of ice cubes inside, and splashed a bit of whiskey over them.
After I pushed one across the island, I lifted mine to my lips, watching my old friend curiously.
We were the same height, but Dana had always been broader than me.
The creases on his forehead were full of concern.
His thinning hair was a little wet from the rain, as were his shoulders, packed tightly inside his coat.
“This place didn’t change a bit,” Dana said, glancing around the apartment. “How long since that party? Four years? Five?”
“Something like that,” I said in a flat voice. I waited for him to state the reason for this visit, but his reluctance worried me. I watched him intently until he returned his gaze to my face. The friendliness winked out, and steel determination set in his eyes.
“Did I do something wrong?” he asked, his voice rising a little.
“What do you mean?” I wanted to clear my throat, but I knew it would make me extra suspicious. How did people without secrets speak? What kind of tone? Which inflection? I seemed to have forgotten how to be a regular person.
“When I left,” he said as if that explained something. He was a good-looking man. Suddenly, I saw some of Carter’s features in Dana, but it was the mother’s beautiful genes that dominated in my boy. Dana brought the glass to his lips and sipped his drink. “Did I insult you?”
“Dana, I don’t know what you’re…”
“Because if I did, I would apologize. Just tell me what it is, Nate,” he said, accusation so subtle in his tone that I might have imagined it. Until he went on. “I would rather know what you think I did to you than to have you backstab me like this.”
My hand tightened around my glass. My heart was pounding inside my skull. “Whatever you think…”
Anger flared on his face. “My son dropped out,” he snapped. “Over two months ago, Nate. Over two goddamn months.”
I hoped relief wasn’t showing on my face. For a moment, I had forgotten where Dana’s priorities always were. “That’s why you’re here?” I asked, keeping my voice as composed as I could. It took physical strength to do that, and the grip on the glass made my knuckles hurt.
“You’re his coach, dammit,” Dana spat. “How is it possible that he left your team, and I don’t know about it?”
I narrowed my eyes, unable to resist it. “Well, how is it possible, Dana?”
“Don’t you dare,” he hissed, his finger lifting off the glass that he was bringing to his mouth, pointing at me warningly.
He’d ignored his son in all the ways, only ever caring about his name and reputation, about his legacy.
He was a man so in love with what he had accomplished in his youth that he had never considered there might be anything else in life he needed to know or do.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Nate. I’m not listening to another lecture. Do you hear me?”
I kept my lips sealed, but my gaze pierced him nonetheless.
He set the glass down after taking another sip.
He exhaled and drummed his fingers against the counter.
“Get this. I have to have my manager show me how my son embarrasses himself on TikTok with that stupid guitar, all behind my back and against my approval…” His voice cut off abruptly, and he looked at me.
“I came here as soon as I could. I looked for him where he was supposed to be living. And what did I find? Carter moved out of the house in September.”
I clenched my teeth and cocked my head to one side. “Why exactly are you here, Dana?” I asked.
He shot me an accusing look. “You know goddamn well why I’m here. You should have called me, Nate. When my son got this stupid idea to walk away from everything he’s worked for, you should have called me.”
“If Carter wanted you to know, he would have told you,” I said.
“Don’t give me that bullshit. He’s a child, for fuck’s sake.
What does he know about these things? He threw away his one ticket to success, and you let him.
I’m sure you encouraged it. Didn’t you? You always had a soft spot for his silly fantasies, Nate.
” Dana pushed himself away from the island and paced around.
“I swear to God, Nate, if I find out you had anything to do with this, I’ll sue your ass. ”
I barked out a laugh. The man obviously needed someone to blame. “Sue my ass for what? Not calling?” I finished my whiskey in a bigger gulp than I’d meant and put the glass down louder than I’d intended. “You told me not to meddle, didn’t you?”
“I told you not to encourage him,” he all but shouted.
“When he wanted to be gay, you fucking applauded him. I told you to stay the fuck out of it. Oh, I see. It hurt your feelings.” His mocking tone didn’t bother me.
What broke my heart was the fact that Carter could hear his father’s words loud and clear behind that door.
“I told you to back the fuck off, so you waited until you had a chance. Tell me I’m wrong, Nate. Tell me this isn’t your doing.”
“Jesus Christ, Dana, you’re deranged,” I growled. “Carter’s old enough to choose what he wants to do with his life.”
“Even if that means throwing his life away?” Dana demanded. “You had a moral obligation to stop him, you fuckwit.”
I clapped my hands together and walked around the island. “We’re done here, Dana.”
The man paced just the same. “We’re done here when I say so.”