Confused, I stood and walked over to my dad. With my pulse thumping, we embraced. “What are you doing here?” I pulled away, searching his expression.
“It’s been almost three months since I saw you. I can’t just stop by to check in and watch your debut?”
I narrowed my gaze. Dad didn’t do saccharine. “Uh-huh. For real, you being here is making my brain hurt. And debut, really? What’s going on? Where’s Mom?”
“I’ll have a coffee from that machine over there.” He led me back to the table and sat down, waiting expectantly, wearing a small smile.
There was no point arguing with the man, especially when standing between him and caffeine. Coffee made, I returned to my half-eaten breakfast, placing his coffee in front of him.
“Montview’s something impressive, right?” He gazed around the room.
“You didn’t come all this way to talk about what a great place this is.”
His gaze locked with mine as he took a slow sip of his drink. I rolled my eyes at him and bit the inside of my cheek. It was no secret who I took after the most. The man teased, could win a stare down, pulled pranks, and spoke what was on his mind with practiced ease. It made him being here even more alarming.
And the bastard was waiting me out.
“Why are you here, Dad?”
“You look like your favorite Milo Henderson jersey has been doused with gasoline and set on fire.”
Wide-eyed, my mouth dropped open. “It better fucking not have been.” I had eight Henderson jerseys and most definitely had a favorite. When Dad chuckled, I fired him a dirty look.
“Your mom made me come. Said I should support you in case you swooned or something on the court.”
I snorted. That was so not the reason. “You pissing her off?”
He snorted. “Always. Any excuse to get me out of the house.”
I grinned. “Now that I believe. Who’s staying with her?” While my mom was super capable of taking care of herself and the whole family, she had some additional medical complications that could spark up without notice, making it difficult to get herself in and out of her chair.
“Your cousin Lake’s with her.”
I nodded, relieved it was Lake and not Aunt Joan.
“You doing okay, kid?”
At the softness of his words, I froze and closed my eyes. “Dad, can we not?” When I opened them, I glanced away from him.
“We’re worried about you. Between your accident and you telling us about your relationship, to all the rumors flying around the place, especially since yesterday, of course we’re worried, and of course I came. I know there’s a game today. Yeah, I know it’s friendly and fun, but still, it may be a big deal to you.”
Fuck. Emotion clogged my throat. Too terrified to see the compassion in Dad’s gaze, I couldn’t look at him. Listening to his tone was hard enough, making it difficult to not break down.
“Sutton called us last night.”
That got my attention. I swung my focus to my dad. “He did? Why?”
“Said something about loving you and being worried about you.”
The hammering of my heart had me shaking my head. “What? He did?”
“Perhaps if you had your phone on, none of this would be as much of a surprise.”
Double fuck. I scrambled for my phone, my heart in my throat and a spark of hope in my chest. The thing took forever to turn on. “What else did he say?”
When Dad didn’t answer, I flicked my attention to him. Amusement filled his gaze. While it was a lot better than sympathy, all it did was make me want to throw my slow-ass phone across the room.
“Perhaps you need to talk to him.”
