Chapter 16
Trinity
Trinity
The door shut behind me, the echo loud in the empty parking lot.
“Hey.” The word was breathed out, like I could finally relax with a familiar face and the quiet.
“Hey.” Preston’s gaze softened, but I could still see the hard lines above his eyes.
The tension in his shoulders. Something was wrong.
But it wasn’t my business to know. So I settled for, “Good game.”
He shoved his phone in his pocket. “We did all right. Need to shift a few things.”
I leaned back against the brick, my eyes catching on the stars in the sky. One thing I loved about Texas was the sky at night. It was almost mystical.
The quiet lingered again, but I didn’t fill it. I needed it. Between the game, Landry giving me a crash course of Laces Out protocol, and the continuous buzz in my pocket as my mother called, I was overstimulated.
“What did you mean last night in your kitchen?”
The question caught me off guard. I swiveled my head toward him. His hands rested in his pockets, his gaze searching.
“What?” I asked, swallowing as I straightened.
“I mentioned growing up with your dad. And you said I wouldn’t know.”
He wanted to do this now? I faced him, searching for the underlying reason for his question. All I saw was sincerity. Which made it worse.
I motioned my hand to his pocket. “What about you? Want to share why you’re out here in the dark on the phone?”
My guess was something that made my stomach churn. Like another woman. Someone he could actually speak to in public without feeling like he was breaking one of the Ten Commandments.
The silent standoff wasn’t uncomfortable. But I felt my cheeks heat the longer he stared at me.
My hand reached for the latch on the door, the itch to escape from the heavy topic when he spoke. “It was the Silver Ridge Assisted Living facility.” I glanced over my shoulder at him. “My dad has dementia and onset Alzheimer’s.”
Oh.
My hand dropped, my heart aching and expanding at the same time. “Pres….” I started.
“You asked,” he interrupted.
I didn’t want to admit the truth about my father. Especially to him. That I wasn’t worth sticking around for. But he gave me his honesty. The least I could do was give him mine.
“My mom got pregnant with me during my dad’s first year in the NFL. They tried to make it work. It didn’t. He left when I was six.” I swallowed past the unwanted lump in my throat. “He called on Christmas and sometimes on birthdays if he remembered.”
The clench of his jaw didn’t go unnoticed. But the pity that accompanied it was too much. The exact thing I wanted to avoid. So I clasped the handle again and yanked the door open.
“I’m sorry about your dad.” I paused, long enough to catch the perfect reflection of the stars in his eyes. “Have a good night, Coach."
Back inside, I barely made it across the room when my name was being called, followed by a heavy arm draping over my shoulder.
Lawson grinned. “You haven’t had a drink with us yet.”
The us he was referring to was half of the football team crammed into the corner of the bar. The table was covered in empty cheese fries baskets and a few bottles of beer.
“I thought you didn’t drink during the season?” I questioned.
He chuckled. “Coach allows one for celebration.”
The rest of the crew waved me over, and they clapped and cheered when J.C. threw a dart that almost took off Krew’s ear.
Everything in my bones screamed to go home, scald my skin in a hot shower, then crawl into bed, but the smile Landry gave me as she plopped down on J.C.’s lap had me reconsidering.
I didn’t have a whole lot of friends growing up.
My mother was convinced the only reason people were nice to me was because of who my dad was.
So friendship was never something I was able to establish with too many people.
I had one in college. If you could even categorize her as a friend.
She was my roommate and while I thought what we shared was mutual respect and the typical college dorm bonding experience, she had a different angle.
That angle ended up being screwing my boyfriend in our room when they thought I was in class.
That was when the no more athletes rule was firmly put into place.
I learned my lesson. No need to repeat it.
“Just one shot, Trinity.” Lawson guided me to the crowd as a tray of pink shot glasses was lowered to the table.
A hand reached out, snatching up a shot with a smirk.
Jagger winked at me. “To the Cougars!” he shouted before downing the shot.
Letting my fingers grip a glass, I clinked it with Landry’s before tilting it back, the burn going down not nearly as smooth as I had hoped. I coughed, my hand plastered to my chest as I was maneuvered to the booth beside Landry.
“Have you eaten, babe?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No. I’ll probably just grab something at home.”
“Absolutely not. You can’t come to Laces Out and not have the hot wings.” She snapped her fingers at a passing waitress, gold bangles dangling down her wrist.
I found myself smiling, relaxing into the leather booth as I scanned the crowd. My gaze caught on a pair of eyes across the room, and even through the noise, the people, and the low lights, I could feel Preston’s gaze.
The trance was interrupted when a body slid in beside me. I glanced up to see the cocky grin of Jagger Ross.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” I deadpanned.
His arm casually relaxed behind me, resting on the top of the booth.
“You got a boyfriend?” he asked.
I took it that Jagger had no issues in the female department. So it was as easy as talking about the weather to ask such a bold question. The only way to shut him down was to tell a white lie.
“Yes.”
He leaned in. “He from around here?”
I turned my head, meeting his dark eyes. “You wouldn’t know him.” I smiled before a basket of wings magically appeared in front of me.
A brief wave of frustration passed his features before he laughed. He pushed to his feet before snatching a bottle off the table.
His eyes raked over me. “Shame. I had plans for you.”
Bile almost escaped my throat as he turned to leave. Something about him just didn’t sit right with me.
“Hey.” Landry’s hand landed on my arm. She’d been fussing over J.C. while Jagger was interrogating me. “You okay?”
I smiled. “I’m fine.”
Picking up a hot wing, my eyes trailed back to the other side of the room, searching for the one person I shouldn’t even be looking for.
When I spotted Preston’s vacated seat, for a split second, I wished we were back outside.
Just two people in the dark. Needing a break from reality.
I shut that down quickly. I didn’t have the head-space for those kinds of thoughts.
I had two things on the agenda during my time in Canyon.
Graduate and repair the distorted image of my father’s and my relationship.
No exceptions.
Especially not a blue-eyed pro athlete who practically carried a neon sign screaming trouble.
I definitely did not need that.