Chapter 35 – Victoria
thirty-five
Victoria
“Your father—” Zane has enough time to say before I hear my name being rumbled from behind him.
“Victoria Stevenson.” I look over at my father, who is standing there wearing a track suit, looking like he literally just woke up.
“Manning.” I hear my mother, who is coming in beside him. “Did we or did we not talk about this on the plane?” she questions and his jaw gets tight.
“You—” He points to Zane.
“If you say outside,” Jaxon interrupts, “I’m going to die.” He puts his hand to his stomach and silently laughs.
“No one”—I hold out my hands to stop my father, in case he charges forward—“is going anywhere.” I look at him then at Zane, who is standing with his shoulders back.
“Everyone needs to just take a step back,” my Uncle Nico instructs, walking into the room and coming to me. “Hi, sweetheart.” He kisses my cheek. “And we’ll discuss things.”
“Fuck that.” My father’s usual calm demeanor is out the window. “You’ve been grooming her?”
“Oh, Manning,” my mother huffs at the same time I snort out.
“Dad, two months ago I was still living at home,” I remind him. “How was he grooming me when I didn’t even know him?”
“How the fuck should I know? I didn’t even know what the fuck that word was until I looked it up,” he hisses at me. “This is a fucking nightmare, Victoria!” he roars.
“With all due respect,” Zane warns, “but you’re going to have to bring that tone down when you are talking to her.”
“Oh snap,” Jaxon mumbles as his eyes look like saucers.
“With all due respect,” my father snaps back at Zane, “look at what you’ve done. People are saying that she’s dating someone old enough to be her father.”
“No one is saying that,” my mother snorts. “He’s forty,” my mother points to Zane, “you are not.” My father just glares at her.
“Okay.” I hold up my hands. “Why don’t we sit down,” I look around at everyone, “and we can discuss this like adults. Calmly,” I look at my father and then at Zane, “with inside voices.”
“Yes, let’s sit,” my mother urges. “First thing we are going to do, Manning,” she says his name so he can look at her, “is say hello to our grandson because you made him scared with your booming voice.”
“He’s heard that voice before,” Jaxon explains. “Oh wait, sorry, that was your father”—he points to Ariella—“who lost his shit when we told him we were pregnant.”
“This isn’t about you, Jaxon,” Ariella mutters between clenched teeth.
“Oh my God,” my father says, his hand going to his mouth, “are you pregnant?”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not pregnant. It’s like herding cats,” I mumble and then slip my hand into Zane’s. “How are you doing?” I whisper to him and he looks down at me as my parents go to Jagger, who smiles at them.
“I feel like my hair is on fire,” Zane confides to me, his thumb rubbing mine.
“It’s going to be okay,” Nico says, slapping his shoulder. “He had three hours to calm down.” He smirks. “Also, nice game last night.”
“Thanks,” Zane mumbles as my mother holds Jagger, with my father kissing his neck and making raspberries.
He then turns to look at Zane and me. “What the fuck are you two thinking?” he asks with a forced smile on his face, because Jagger is holding his hand as he moves it up and down. “Like, what the actual fuck?”
“Dad,” Jaxon scolds, “can we tone down the F-word?”
“Yes, because he said the s-h-i-t- word yesterday because of your son.” Ariella glares at my father.
“Wow!” I exclaim. “You’re both just winning at the father of the year club.” I look at my dad.
“You’re pushing it,” my mother warns me.
“Okay, you guys go and talk,” Jaxon urges. “I’m going to take Jagger out to the park, even though it’s not even noon yet.”
“I don’t know if I should come with you or stay here to play referee,” Nico states, looking at my father with a grimace. “I’m going to stay,” he tells my brother.
“Can we do this calmly and rationally?” I ask my father when the front door opens and then closes. “Or are we just not going to do it?”
“We are going to do this calmly,” my mother states, looking at my father. “Right, Manning?” I pull Zane into the living room and sit down then pull him down next to me.
“It’s fine,” I mumble to him as my mother pulls my father in, much like I did with Zane, and sits down on the couch in front of me. Nico comes over and sits in the lone armchair in the middle, folding one leg over the other.
“Okay, so how should we start this?” Nico questions. “It’s safe to say we were all surprised with the article that dropped this morning at 4:00 a.m.”
“That’s how you guys got here so fast.” I slap my knee with my hand. “I thought for sure I had like a six-hour window.”
“You knew this was going to happen?” Zane asks me.
“Well, I knew that it was a high probability.” His mouth hangs open in shock. “But you were already going through the freak-out moment, so I didn’t think it was a good time to say that my father was on his way here to maim you.” I hold up my hands. “I figured he might, but I couldn’t say for sure.”
“Victoria,” he hisses my name.
“It’s fine.” I throw my hand up and roll my eyes, trying to get him to calm down, or at least get some color into his face.
“I’m going to need you to stop saying that it’s fine,” my father snaps, “because it’s not.” He looks at me and then at Zane. “I just don’t understand.”
“There really isn’t much to understand,” I start to explain. “I met a guy. We hooked up.”
“Victoria,” Zane hisses when my father puts his hands to his hips and looks up at the ceiling.
“What?” I extend my hand. “I’m twenty-five years old. I’m old enough to be hooking up with guys.”
“Okay,” my father snaps, “I’m not discussing that.”
“Sounds good,” I reply, winking at Zane. “See. Already won round one.”
He can’t help the smirk on his face, and I lean into him and look up at him to kiss me. “He already knows we slept together.” I don’t know if Zane kisses my lips because he wants to or to shut me up.
“When did this all start?” Nico asks, trying not to be amused by this whole thing.
“Seven months ago,” I answer and everyone gasps. “We met one night. I had no idea who he was; he had no idea who I was.”
“That’s what he’s telling you?” my father hisses. “But he knew who you were.”
“Yeah,” I snort, “because getting involved with me is making his life better.”
“I can assure you I had no idea who she was,” Zane counters. “Not a clue until I came here one night for dinner, five months later, and saw her picture.”
“What is up with our kids and one-night stands?” my mother mutters to my father.
“I think it’s the apple and the tree.” Nico chuckles, earning a glare from my parents. “Anyway, you met; you did what grown-ups do.” He motions with his hand in a circle to move it along.
“We did,” I confirm, and Zane just looks up at the ceiling.
“Then I got his number and asked him for—” Zane holds up his hand to stop me from talking.
“We can fast forward that,” Zane suggests. “Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson,” he looks at my parents, “I didn’t want any of this to happen. I knew the press was ripping me to shreds—”
“I was the one who wouldn’t take no for an answer,” I interrupt him.
“She’s exactly like her father, and she isn’t even married.” My mother looks at Zane. “I told him no so many times, and he just kept showing up at my door.”
“For the record, you let me in.” My father glares at her. “Don’t even try it…”
“For the record, her press was nothing compared to your press.” She points to my father. “But what does it matter that he’s dating her? They are two single adults who started dating.”
“Our team put out a statement today,” Zane says, “that we won’t be commenting on anything.”
“Yeah, that’s not good enough,” Nico chuckles, “and Ken knows it.”
The front door opens and then shuts. “Oh good, there is no bloodshed,” Jaxon says. “Jagger wanted to come home.”
“Wow, using your own son to lie,” Ariella accuses as Jagger comes into the room and runs to my father.
“Hey, buddy.” He picks him up and puts him on his lap.
“So are we all over the fact she’s dating someone who is almost Dad’s age?” my brother jokes knowing full well he’s not close to my father’s age, sitting next to me.
“There have been four more articles,” Nico reports and Zane gasps, “that are not spinning anything in a good light.”
“So, you put out your own story,” Ariella suggests. “Get something drafted, do a formal statement, which if you ask me is dumb. No one cared that he got me knocked up.” She points to Jaxon. “It wasn’t even news.”
“It’s because the organization is trying to get him fired,” Nico explains, and now I’m the one who is gasping out.
“These stories.” He uses his fingers to do quotation marks, “are just an added bonus for them. To not make them look like the bad guys when Zane’s relationship with the team goes south. ”
“What?” I say in a whisper.
“I don’t give a shit about the fucking job,” Zane hisses. “They can say whatever the fuck they want to say about me, but now they are fucking with her and I’m not going to take it.”
“They want you fired?”
“Tori,” Jaxon says, “where the fuck have you been?”
“She’s been in her love bubble,” my mother states with a smile.
“You love her?” my father snaps out and it makes Jagger jump. “I’m sorry, buddy.”
“What the hell do you think we are here for?” Nico spouts. “You think he would show up at an ambush if he didn’t love her?”
“Technically, he didn’t know he was being ambushed,” I counter.
“He knew shit hit the fan,” Nico retorts. “He knew that it was not good. He still walked into this house.”
“How do you think we should do this?” Zane looks at Nico.
“If this was my team”—he smirks—“I would have the two of you put out some statement on social media. Maybe even do a one-on-one with someone in the press. Then I would,” he looks at Jaxon, “and this is all just a suggestion, I would have a couple of the guys from the team put out their own statements counteracting what the press is saying.”
“On it,” Jaxon declares, “I’ll call Kirby and Knox who, for sure, will say something. Then we have Aaron and at least the five players who think you walk on water.” He rolls his eyes. “We only have to worry about the five who want to be traded and then Cam.”
“If Cam comes out and says anything about her,” Zane seethes, “I’m going to break every single fucking tooth in his mouth and feed them to him.”
“I guess that answers that question.” My mother looks at my father. “Anyone who is going to knock someone’s teeth out isn’t going to do it for fun. He’s not going to do it if it’s just a fling and doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’m sorry you guys found out about us the way you did,” he apologizes to them. “It was never my intention for it to happen like this. I respect you both very much.” He then turns to me. “And I respect your daughter more than this.”
“You’re a good man, Zane Gilmore,” I kiss his lips, “and I’m lucky to have you.”
“Aww,” Ariella and my mother both sigh at the same time.
“When this whole situation is over,” my father warns, “we’re going to have more to say about this.”
Zane nods at him. “I’ll look forward to the opportunity,” he replies and then looks at me.
“See?” I smirk at him. “Told you it would all be over in an hour.” Then I look at my dad.
“Tell me I’m your favorite without telling me I’m your favorite.
” I stand up. “You didn’t even try to rough him up.
” Only when I see Zane chuckle do I really feel like everything is going to be okay.
I run my hand through his hair, bending to whisper in his ear, “I love you,” before leaning to kiss his lips.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving. ”