Page 74 of Keep Me
“What about her? She means nothing.”
“Really? Then why’s she out there watching you on the first row?” Britt pointed over her shoulder.
“Olana means no—” When I looked over to see my ex smiling at me, wearing the largest coat I’d ever seen, I froze. Not because she looked ridiculous, but the person sitting next to her hadn’t come to any of my games since I started at Covey U.
My Dad.
Fuck.
What the hell was he doing here, and why was he with Olana? I felt like I was going to vomit. The last time he saw me play, my mom was sitting next to him.
“It sure doesn’t look like nothing,” Britt said before pushing past me and walking over to the cameraman, leaving me tostare at the stands. My dad hadn’t noticed me, too deep in conversation with Olana. I wanted to tell him to leave, but they’d make a scene and it would no doubt hinder my performance.
Who was I kidding? My concentration was already shot. How the hell was I supposed to kick a ball with him watching me? Judging me like he always did. Blaming me for taking all my mother’s attention while she should have been concentrating on getting better.
I didn’t know how it happened, but somehow, I was back on the bench, staring at the field instead of practicing my kicks at the little net on the side.
Jackson knocked my cleat as he towered over me. “Hey man,” he said. I gazed at the astroturf like it would suddenly solve all my problems. “Tanner told me I needed to come over here and apologize about earlier. I was just trying to get a rise out of you. Figured you’d play a better game. And anyway, you should know by now that I’m not going anywhere near Britt.” Her name made me snap out of it. When I looked up at him, Jackson was smirking. “Hot, blonde, and out of my league just isn’t my type.”
I choked out what some might say was a laugh.
“But there’s some guy in the stands looking for you. He said he was your dad.” He waved in the direction my father was sitting. “I know you don’t talk about him much, so I just wanted to make sure you knew he was here.”
“That’s him,” I said with no emotion. No one knew how bad things had gotten between us, and I wanted to keep it that way. However, the fact he spoke to some of my teammates, pushed me into action. I needed to speak to him, otherwise I risked him trying to talk to more of my teammates. Even Britt if I wasn’t careful.
Looking at my surroundings, I jogged over to a bench just underneath my dad’s seat. Standing on it, I pulled myself onto the ledge so I was face-to-face with him. Sure, to the peoplearound us it looked like a sweet reunion of a father and son, but it was anything but that.
My heart was beating out of my chest, and all the anxiety I’d bottled up over the years started bubbling to the surface. It had been three years since I’d seen him, and to say he looked bad would be an understatement. His skin was gray, and his eyes looked bruised. I knew they weren’t. It was just malnutrition and lack of sleep.
“What are you doing here, Dad?”
“Really? Is that how you want to greet your old man after all this time?” He laughed bitterly. “Fucking typical. Don’t even say hi to your girlfriend here.” He wrapped his arm around Olana’s shoulder, who was smiling innocently.
“Dad. What are you doing here?” I repeated firmly. He wouldn’t paint me out to be the bad guy in this situation.
“I came to watch you play. Isn’t it your senior year? Might be one of the last times I ever see you playing college football.”
“And the first,” I mumbled. “How did you afford the flight out here?” To say money was tight for my father was an understatement. The only thing keeping a roof over his head was me. The fact I hadn’t signed the house over to him had been a blessing in disguise. I’d also helped him out in other ways he didn’t know about, but I’d never give him cash because it would make things worse.
“I got myself a job, son.” The way he said it made me feel like he was mocking me in a way.
“Oh, yeah? Where?”
“Local mini mart. See, the town hasn’t given up on me even if my own son has.”
I held back what I wanted to say. There was no point fighting him. He gave up on our family long before I ever walked away, and even though I wasn’t there physically, I was still watching over him.
“Is that Brittany?” my dad asked, grinning at my friend. I didn’t like the way he said her name, or how he knew it in the first place. I was careful never to mention Britt on the occasions we spoke because there was nothing to talk about. She was just a friend at that point. I glanced over at Olana who gave me a bemused smile, trying her best to look innocent and failing miserably. She was the only one who could’ve mentioned Britt to my dad.
To say I was pissed at her would be an understatement. I was doing everything she wanted, yet she was still determined to ruin my life in any way she could.
“Mathieson. You can talk to your family after the game.” I nodded at Coach, ready to step away. It wasn’t like this conversation was going anywhere. Just as I was about to step down, my father grabbed my arm and forced my attention back to him.
“I’ll be waiting for you after the game. We’ve got something very important to talk about.” My dad’s gaze moved to Britt, and I didn’t like it, but I needed to know why he was so interested in her.
“Fine,” I gritted out before shaking his hand off and returning to the rest of the players.
The game went by, and I couldn’t kick. It was like I had no control over my legs. It got so bad at one point the entire stadium held their breath while I attempted a kick at the thirty-yard line. I was used to the noise, so the silence didn’t help. The crowd kept my adrenaline high and helped keep my focus. When there was silence, the only thing I could think about were my problems.
