Chapter 28
MATEO
Istared up at Reggie James, feeling like I was about to shit myself. He stared at me like he was seconds away from ripping my arms off and beating me with them.
“Hey, Coach.” My voice cracked. I cleared it and lifted my hand in the most awkward greeting ever. Mateo, fucking stop.
“Oh.” Another voice popped up. I glanced to my right to see Erin standing there, slushy in hand, staring at the two of us with wide, nervous eyes. “I’m just gonna…” She pointed her thumb over her shoulder. “Nice to see you, Mr. James.”
With that, she quickly left, leaving me with Emmie’s father.
“Care to explain why you’re at a figure skating competition?” he asked, his tone hard.
“Would you believe me if I told you I’ve always loved figure skating?” I knew he wouldn’t buy it, but I had to try.
I nervously glanced around, thinking of a way out of this.
This wasn’t how I planned on him finding out about Emmie and me.
After my family left last weekend, she admitted she didn’t get a chance to tell him about us.
She said she didn’t want to ruin the bonding moment they had by saying something but promised she would after regionals.
The only reason I agreed was because I knew she was so stressed about today and didn’t want to add to it.
But now, waiting to say something was about to bite us in the ass.
“Want to take a seat?” I offered. I would feel better if he wasn’t towering over me.
When he didn’t move, I inwardly groaned.
I was going to have to stand up and face him in an arena with others watching.
Great. I went to put my hands on the arm rest, ready to push up when Coach took a seat beside me.
I sighed in relief. We were on equal footing.
“So, uh…whatcha doing here?” I asked. Maybe I could distract him and he wouldn’t ask why I was here again. It wouldn't work but one could dream.
“I asked that question first.” His arms, which were unnecessarily large for a man his age, were crossed over his barreled chest. The intimidating stare was one I was very familiar with on the field, not so much outside of it.
“Oh, you know…just watching skating.” I shrugged, trying to play it off.
Pretty sure this was how I was going to die—seated in a cold arena, my girlfriend’s father beside me, who was also my coach and had zero clue I was seeing his daughter.
A man who could easily bench me the rest of the season at the very least.
I told Emmie last week that I didn’t care if her father approved, but part of that was a lie. I did care a little bit. Coach Reggie was someone I looked up to since the moment I got drafted. I respected him, and the last thing I wanted to do was tarnish the relationship we had.
But, if it did come down to it, I would choose Emmie. I would choose her every time and not have a good working relationship with her father, as scary as that was. With that reminder, I sat up a little straighter, hands clasped around my knees.
“Is there something you want to tell me, Mateo?” he asked.
Swallowing the golf ball sized lump in my throat, I pushed my shoulders back. Best to get this over with. Maybe being here in public, he wouldn’t punch me at the news.
“I’m dating your daughter.”
It was like the entire arena went silent at the admission. I kept my gaze on his, refusing to look away. Tension rose when he didn’t immediately say something or lash out.
“You’re dating my daughter? Emmie?”
“Yes, I am.” My stomach curdled, but I kept my ground.
“And when did this happen?” I couldn’t decipher the tone of his voice. Was that anger? Hurt? I was leaning a bit more toward anger.
“Uh,” I scratched the back of my neck. “We technically met about two months ago. Ran into each other outside of Alessandro’s and then at the practice facility. I didn’t know she was your daughter until you introduced her to the team,” I explained. “But we’ve been seeing each other since then.”
All around us, people made it to their seats, talking animatedly, unknowing there was tension growing between Coach Reggie and me.
“So, this has been going on for a while.” The way he said it made me wince. He made it sound like we were going behind his back…which, technically, I guess we were. “You spend multiple days a week with me and you didn’t think to tell me you’re seeing my daughter?”
“I wanted to see if things between us were serious before I said anything.”
“Are you kidding me?” he scoffed.
My eyes narrowed. I didn’t like the way he said it like that. He could insult me all he wanted, but if that was geared toward his daughter, we were going to have problems.
“With all respect, sir—if that comment was about Emmie, I’d appreciate you choosing your words more carefully.”
For a second, neither of us spoke. The air between us tightened. I didn’t look away. I wasn’t going to.
He let air out through his nose. “So, you’re serious about her then.”
“Yes, sir.” No hesitation. No doubt.
Coach shifted in his chair, hand scratching at his beard like he was unsure of what to do next. His eyes pinched, lips pulled into a hard frown.
“Coach,” I sighed. “It wasn’t my intention to hide being with your daughter. I was respecting Emmie’s wish of keeping it between us until the two of you…figured some things out. She was going to tell you after today.”
When he didn’t say anything, I continued.
“We should have told you sooner, and for that, I apologize. But,” I cleared my throat, sitting up straighter, “I won’t apologize for being with her. She’s an adult, and whether you agree or not, this is something we’ve both chosen.”
The words settled between us as I sat there, jaw locked and bracing for his response. Like what I told Emmie last week, if he didn’t approve, it changed nothing between us. But for her sake, I hoped her father would be okay with it.
“I would have appreciated being told before now.” He gave me a pointed look. “But Emmie is an adult and can make her own decisions. She doesn’t need me meddling, even if I think she can do better.”
I huffed a laugh, not offended in the slightest. “Trust me, Emmie could do much better than me.”
“At least you can agree.”
“From the moment we met, I knew she was out of my league. Why she’s with me of all people, I don’t know, but I’m not about to question it.” Coach nodded along in agreement, which should have offended me, but I meant it when I said Emmie was out of my league.
When he didn’t say anything, I decided to stay quiet and let him process everything on his own. Leaving Coach to his thoughts, I sat back in my seat, pulling my phone out once more. I fired off a quick text to Jake and Perry.
Mateo: Coach is here, and he found out about Emmie and me. SOS!
It only took them seconds to respond, which I appreciated.
Perry: Oh, shit! Is he pissed? Did he hit you? What's happening now?
Jake: How did he take it?
Jake’s was more of a loaded question, but I wasn’t entirely sure how Coach was working through it.
Mateo: He’s…quiet. I almost shit my pants when I saw him standing next to me. He seemed upset and angry at first, but now he’s just sitting here not saying anything. What do I do?
Oh how I wished Emmie was next to me for this. She could at least be a barrier between her father and me. Where the hell was Erin?
Jake: I say just leave him be for now. When he wants to talk, he will. Probably has a lot to sort through.
Perry: I agree. Plus, he’s probably waiting to be somewhere private to beat the shit out of you.
I groaned at Perry’s text
Mateo: Not helping, Perry.
Perry: Sorry.
I shook my head at his message. Thankfully, as I put my phone down, Erin’s familiar voice came from next to me.
“Is it okay to sit down now?” Erin stood in front of her seat, arms filled with two water bottles, her slushy, and what looked to be a giant hot dog.
“Everything is good.” I sent her a pleading look to never leave again. Her brown eyes flicked between Coach and me, her eyebrow raised.
“I got you two water,” Erin eventually said.
“Thanks.” I quickly grabbed them, passing one to Coach, who gave a silent nod in thanks.
Erin bent her head toward me, whispering out of the corner of her mouth. “How did he take it?”
“Uh…okay?” I glanced over to find Coach sitting there stiffly, eyes forward.
“Hm,” she hummed, taking a huge bite of her hot dog.
“Where did you even get that?”
“At the concession stand. These events always have the best food,” Erin mumbled around her mouthful.
“Do you go to a lot of Emmie’s competitions?” I asked.
Erin swallowed. “I try. As a writer, my schedule is pretty open, so I can travel to certain ones, but it can be a little difficult when they’re all over the country.”
“That’s nice of you to go and support her.”
“I’d do anything for Emmie, even if that meant sit in a cold ass arena for hours.” Erin looked over at Coach and raised her voice so he could hear it. “Emmie is going to be really happy to have both of you here.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it,” came Coach’s gruff response.
“Yep, he’s still mad,” I muttered, uncapping my water and taking a sip.
“Oh well, not his decision to make.” Erin shrugged, not at all bothered.
A few skaters were about to come out onto the ice for warm-ups, and I prayed the rest of the afternoon wouldn’t be too awkward.
“That’s her.” Erin gestured with her head to the blonde woman stepping onto the ice. I studied her as she skated in our direction. So, that’s the person who tried to trip Emmie.
“That blue dress washes her out so bad,” Erin snickered beside me.
My lips pulled into a smirk, loving how snarky Erin was.
Sitting next to her the last two hours, as skater after skater went, was the highlight of the day.
Without her making snide comments, telling me all the gossip on each skater, I probably would have been bored out of my mind.
It didn't help that Coach was pretty much silent on my other side.