Chapter 40
Chapter
Forty
Jayne
I’m downstairs early, anxious for Kelly to arrive and take me to work.
I’ve barely come out of my room the last two days and last night I couldn’t even talk to Bodi because he went out after the game.
I feel terrible that my dad benched him and I’m trying to decide whether or not I should say something about it when my Dad comes into the kitchen.
“Jayne. A moment please.”
I pull in a shaky breath and stiffen my spine.
“Yes?” I glance over my shoulder and meet his gaze without hesitation.
“Have a seat.”
“No, thank you. Kelly will be here any minute—she’s taking me to work.”
“Call and cancel. Tell her I’ll be giving you a ride today.”
“She’s probably already on the way and—”
“Jayne!” He glares at me, eyes hardening. “Could you just do what I tell you?”
My lips tighten, and I yank out my phone, sending Kelly a quick, apologetic text.
“And tell her you’re not coming in today.”
My head snaps up. “Why on earth not?”
“Because I have to talk to you, and I need you here.”
“Dad, I have to go to work or I risk failing this semester.”
“It’s one day, Jayne. Relax.” He pours himself a cup of coffee.
I reluctantly text Kelly the updated information and she replies quickly.
KELLY: Should I be worried?
JAYNE: I don’t know. He’s being weird.
KELLY: Keep me posted, please.
JAYNE: I will. Sorry about all this.
KELLY: Don’t worry about me, just take care of yourself.
I stuff my phone in my pocket just as Lourdes comes in.
“Did you show her?” she asks without preamble.
Dad scowls at her. “Not yet.”
“Show me what?” I ask suspiciously.
“I did you a favor with Bodi,” Dad says, pulling out his phone.
“He’s already fucking someone else,” Lourdes says triumphantly.
I scowl. “Seriously?”
“A bunch of the boys on the team went out last night and there are pictures. On social media.” Dad pulls out his phone and hands it to me.
I take it reluctantly, steeling myself, because I don’t know what I’m about to see.
It’s Bodi, with a big grin on his face, West beside him and… a very scantily dressed blonde on his lap. She’s leaning over, breasts practically spilling out of her tiny little dress, like she’s whispering to him.
My heart thunders against my ribs but…this is Bodi.
He wouldn’t. Despite all the uncertainty right now, he wouldn’t do that to me.
I thrust the phone back at my dad.
“Whatever this is, it’s not what it looks like. He wouldn’t do this to me.”
“So, you’re still seeing each other.” Dad’s voice is flat.
I don’t respond because we’ve done our best to keep things quiet, to let him think we’re not together. And I kind of blew it.
Dammit.
“I told you she wouldn’t give him up without a fight,” Lourdes says, shaking her head.
“I’m disappointed in you,” Dad says quietly. “But here’s the deal—you cannot continue to date Bodi Michener. Period. End of story. My house, my rules.”
“Or what? You’re going to ground me? Kick me out? What are the repercussions for you continuing to manipulate my life and keep me isolated?”
“Isolated? You’ve been fucking yet another one of my players, so how isolated have I kept you?”
“Very. I don’t have a single girlfriend other than my new boss. I don’t drive, I don’t have any money beyond the allowance you give me, and I have no way to make any since I have neither a license nor a car.”
“Welcome to adulting. It’s not my job to set that up for you.”
“Yeah, you’re father of the year, aren’t you?” I snap.
“What did I tell you about your tone? You will respect me in my home!”
I laugh. “Respect is earned. And you haven’t.”
“You’re going to talk to me about respect?
You don’t respect yourself. Don’t you see these fuck boys for who they are?
What, did you think Bodi was actually in love with you?
Because when I gave him an ultimatum, what do you think he chose?
Hockey. All day, every day. All it took was making him a healthy scratch for one game and he caved like a deflated souffle. Look at that blonde on his lap.”
That’s a weird analogy, and not how it happened at all, but I keep that to myself.
“Listen to me,” he continues, getting to his feet. “I’ve sacrificed fucking everything to make a good life for you and Lourdes and Lindy. The least you can do is keep your legs closed until you find a respectable man to marry you, so you can stop being a God damn burden.”
I don’t respond because there’s no talking to him when he’s like this.
“Do you hear me?”
“You’re always yelling, so yes, half the block can probably hear you.”
“Dammit, Jayne!” He comes over to stand right in front of me. “How do you not see your pattern? I’m trying to save you from yourself and your terrible taste in men.”
“I have terrible taste? That’s rich coming from the guy who started fucking his wife while she was still married to someone else!”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Dad hisses.
Before I realize what he’s about to do, he uses the flat of his hand to smack me across the face. The sting is both shocking and painful, and my hand flies to my cheek. Even Lourdes looks shocked, but the biggest surprise comes next.
“Coach.” To my surprise, Blaze steps out of the shadows, his brow furrowed.
“Son, this is none of your business.”
“Maybe not, but I was raised to understand that you don’t ever put your hands on a woman.”
“She’s my daughter—I can do whatever the fuck I want. You need to get to practice.”
“Not until you leave.”
“Don’t make me regret moving you in here and taking you under my wing,” Dad snarls at him. “You want to keep enjoying the perks of being my favorite, get going.”
The two men stare each other down, and I take advantage of the opportunity to get away.
I whirl and practically run for the stairs, taking them two at a time and then locking my bedroom door behind me. I press my back against it, still reeling from the events of the last few minutes.
My father never laid a hand on my mother and certainly never on me.
And the picture of Bodi is worrisome, even if I keep trying to tell myself it’s not what it looks like.
With shaking hands, I pull out my phone and call him. It rings three times, four, and finally he picks up.
“Babe?”
The line is full of static and it’s hard to hear him.
“Bodi? Can you hear me?”
“Jayne? Is that you?”
“I have to talk to you,” I whisper.
“Honey, I can’t hear you. Do you want me to call you back?”
I hear footsteps on the stairs, my father calling to me.
“Bodi, I think I’m in trouble. My dad slapped me!”
“Jayne, I can barely hear you. I’m almost—” The line drops and he’s cut off.
Dammit.
Tears sting my eyelids as my father suddenly pounds on the door.
“Open up, Jayne.”
I don’t say anything, hoping beyond hope he’ll go away.
But he doesn’t.
“Open the fucking door, Jayne. Because I’ll break it the fuck down.”
Heart hammering triple time, I unlock the door and stare at him.
“What?”
“Give me your phone.”
“What?” Now I’m confused.
“Give me your phone. I paid for it, so technically, it’s mine.” He holds out his hand.
I frown at him. “You bought it for me! It was a gift.”
“I pay the bill so I want it back. Hand it over.”
I stare at him, realizing he’s serious.
And once he cuts me off from the world, I’m in trouble.
“Jayne.” He reaches for me, like he’s going to take it from me forcefully, and I step out of his reach. He can make me give it to him but he can’t make me give him the passcode. So I quickly hit the button to turn it off and then reluctantly hand it to him.
“I just changed the Wi-Fi password, so don’t even think about trying to get in touch with Bodi that way.” He shakes his head. “We’re going to have to talk about your future, but right now I have to get to work. You’ll stay in this house until I get back. Do you understand me?”
I nod because I don’t know what else to do.
“Lourdes will be here all day, so don’t even think about trying to sneak out. Your credit cards, the Uber account, they’ll all be frozen within the next ten minutes.”
With that, he turns and walks out of the room, closing the door with a quiet click.
I stare after him before the tears start to fall.
What on earth is happening? This feels like something out of a bad movie.
And I’m completely cut off from the world.
I thought the day my mom died was the worst day of my life, but I was wrong.
That day is today.