13. Tyler
THIRTEEN
TYLER
I’m stressed, but I’m trying not to show it. Koby Jones, our star running back, came out of last week’s game with a slight ankle injury. He’s walking fine, but every time he picks up speed, it twinges him enough that he has to stop.
La Vista has a history of being a strong running team, and Koby is well on his way to being one of the strongest running backs the university has ever had. He averages a hundred yards a game and has been our top scorer for the past two seasons.
He’s currently with the medical staff getting evaluated, but I’m not getting my hopes up. I feel like he’s going to be out for at least our next game. Our second-string running back is good, but he doesn’t quite jive with Hayes as well as Koby. We’ll be fine, though. I’ve just got to convince the rest of the team to believe that.
Ryan is a strong wide receiver, so we can pivot our plays for this week if Koby is out. We’ll make it work. I know we will. But my belief in the team doesn’t stop the stress and anxiety from creeping in.
Back in my office, I occupy myself with emails that I avoided all last week, including one from McKenzie’s professor asking how she’s doing so far and if I’m having any issues.
I quickly respond and say that McKenzie has been great to work with and there are no issues to note. I keep it short and sweet. If I sang her praises too much, Professor Moore might get suspicious, seeing as I typically don’t want anything to do with the journalism students. But McKenzie is different. She’s friends with Kylie, of course, and Kylie has specifically asked me to not be a jerk to her.
But it’s more than that.
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I like having McKenzie around. She’s easy to talk to. Easy to be around. She’s the first student who’s worked with us that I actually care if she succeeds. That should probably worry me more than it does.
My phone pings, and I reluctantly look down at a text from one of our medical advisors saying Koby is out for the next game.
Shit.
Looking up at the ceiling, I let out a big exhale.
Alright. Time to make some quick changes. I pull up the group text with all my coaches and ask them to meet in the conference room in fifteen. I’ll let them know what’s going on and come up with a plan for the remainder of practices for the week. We’ve got plenty of time to prepare for the game on Saturday, and we can still come out on top even if we are playing one of the best teams in our division.
We can do this.
And that’s exactly what I’ll preach to everyone for the next five days.
After a long afternoon of meetings, going over plays and talking with the offense about the plan for the week, I’m finally on my way home, way later than I had originally planned. I’ve likely already missed dinner with Kylie, which sucks. I told her that my schedule is crazy during the season, but I still feel like I’m disappointing her at every turn. Hell, I’m disappointed in myself.
My phone rings as soon as I pull off the campus, and the screen shows me it’s Shae, Kylie’s mother. I’d love to ignore the call, but unfortunately, we still have to co-parent our adult child.
“Hey,” I say into my car speaker.
“Tyler. How are you?” Every time she calls, she sounds like she’s just calling to chat, which I hate. I don’t have the time to chat with her, and I don’t particularly want to. We’re co-parents, not friends.
“Fine. You?”
“Good. Just checking in, seeing how Kylie’s doing.”
“Why didn’t you call her and ask?”
She sighs through the phone. “Because I know she would just sugarcoat it. I want to know how she’s really doing.”
“What makes you think she needs to sugarcoat anything? She’s doing just fine here. She’s made friends and doing good in school. There’s nothing for you to be concerned about.” And if there was, Kylie and I could talk it out together. She’s technically an adult, but I am her parent and can help support her just as much as Shae could. She doesn’t need to check in on us.
“Are you sure? I know you’re probably not around much to notice since it’s football season.”
I grind my teeth to keep from snapping at her. She’s trying to push my buttons, make me feel like I’m not doing enough for Kylie, like I’m a shitty father or something. I know I’m not. I’d do anything for Kylie. But today is not the day for her bullshit.
“Yes, I’m sure,” I snap.
“Jeez, what crawled up your ass and died?” she asks, clearly picking up on my agitation.
“I’ve had a long day, Shae. I’m just trying to get home.”
“You know you used to like talking to me. We’d spend hours on the phone.”
“We were sixteen. We did a lot of stupid things then.” One of them being having unprotected sex.
“What happened with us, Ty?”
The absolute last thing I want to do right now is rehash our relationship. We were kids. We grew up and grew apart. We tried and failed. I thought we’d both moved on from this but apparently not.
“We grew up,” I answer plainly.
“You never miss me?”
No point in lying. “No.”
Shae and I broke up for the last time about fifteen years ago. I’ve dated since then, but no one has made me want to settle down. I’m sure it’s a me problem, not a them problem. But I’m not going to force myself to be in a relationship if it doesn’t feel right. Shae and I did that for way too long, and it didn’t help either of us.
But just because I’m single doesn’t mean I want to be with her.
“Wow, Ty.”
I sigh and loosen my grip on the steering wheel, trying to make myself relax. “Listen, Shae, I’m not in the mood for a trip down memory lane, ok? If you’re worried about Kylie, call her.”
“Fine, Tyler. Bye.” She hangs up quickly, probably thinking it’ll piss me off, but it doesn’t. Shae lives for drama, and she loves picking fights. She thinks it’ll get a rise out of me. Maybe it did when I was a teenager but I couldn’t care less now.
I pull into my driveway and see McKenzie’s beat-up Honda parked next to the garage.
She’s here.
Why does that make my stomach flip?
I quickly shut that shit down. I cannot be excited to see her. It’s completely inappropriate, and yet I’ve found myself thinking about her more and more as the days go on. I’ve got to get her out of my head. She’s pretty, obviously. But she’s still basically a kid.
As soon as I open the door, I hear music coming from the living room. The two of them are sitting on the floor at the coffee table, painting their nails and eating Chinese takeout.
“Hey,” I call to them over the music.
“Hey, Dad.” Kylie smiles at me. “We got plenty of food if you’re hungry.”
McKenzie looks up at me with the nail polish brush poised over the bottle, and the way her eyes take me in does something to my body that it definitely shouldn’t.
“Yeah, thanks.” I turn away quickly and grab a plate.
McKenzie comes up behind me and fills her glass with more water.
“You’re not wearing a La Vista polo today,” she says, her voice lowered so Kylie can’t hear.
I look down at my dark green T-shirt. It’s more casual than I usually wear, but I really need to do laundry, so I grabbed this.
“I didn’t realize you paid so much attention to my clothes.”
Her eyes flick to my lips, and her cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “Well, now you know.”
Is she flirting with me? Surely not.
“Green looks good on you, though.” She takes a sip of her water and walks away, leaving me staring after her.
She was definitely flirting with me. Fuck, that’s boosting my ego way too much right now.
Realizing that I’m staring at her ass as she walks away, I quickly look away.
“How was your day?” Kylie asks once I’ve made it over to the couch to get food.
“Pretty shitty, honestly.” I scoop out a big portion of fried rice and sesame chicken onto my plate.
“What happened?” Kylie asks.
I’m not used to having someone here at the end of the day to ask me how my day was. It’s weird but also kind of nice. And now it’s not just Kylie; I’ve got McKenzie looking at me with concern shining in her big green eyes.
“Is this off the record?” I ask in McKenzie’s direction.
Kylie looks confused by my question, but McKenzie nods with understanding. “Of course.”
I sigh and deliver the news. “Koby is out for at least one game.”
McKenzie gasps as Kylie asks, “Who’s Koby?” I almost laugh at the difference in their reactions.
“Running back,” McKenzie answers before I can. It still surprises me how much she’s into football.
“You worried about the game?” she asks.
“A little,” I answer honestly as I sit back on the couch with my plate. “We’re playing a really tough team this week. I think I’ll feel better when we get into practice tomorrow. My team is good. I just need to see it in action.”
“Yeah. Makes sense. But Ryan is a good receiver. He’s made some really nice catches so far this season.”
I nod slowly because that’s exactly what I said to my coaching staff earlier today. It’s like she’s in my head. I focus on the food in front of me instead of the girl, no, woman, in front of me staring at me like she can see right through me.
“I’m sure we’ll make it happen,” I tell her.
The conversation ends, and Kylie tells me about her day. It sounds like she’s getting more and more comfortable here and I love to hear it. I don’t tell her that her mother called. Kylie is an adult now. If she wants to talk to her mother, she can call her.
When I finish eating, the girls start on some homework, so I excuse myself to shower and get in bed.
It’s better if I don’t hang around McKenzie longer than I should. If I stay downstairs, she might see it as an invitation to hang out once Kylie goes to bed, and I can’t do that again.