He clears his throat. “This is awkward, so I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, but women… sometimes… uh… They want to know you don’t view them any differently because…” With a grimace on his face, he waves his hands. “Because you saw all the things you likely saw in the delivery room.”
I nod. Yeah, that shit was intense. That’s something Roxy mentioned, that she thinks we’ve been off since Marley was born, and I guess she’s not wrong. “Yes, sir. I gotchu.”
“Good.Andit takes time for those pregnancy hormones to regulate again. I speak from personal experience. Marlena and I were never closer to breaking up than when the kids were newborns. Add football, and it’s a pressure cooker. Only the strongest survive. But if it means anything, I think you two have what it takes to get through this.”
“Thank you, Coach. But Roxy wants me to get my stuff tomorrow and move out.”
He considers that. “Then maybe you have to move out, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up. If you show her you still love her, maybe she’ll give you another chance.” Lowering his voice, he says, “All I know is that she’s heartbroken. She might put on a tough girl act, but she loves you. So dig deep, guard your balls, and go see her.”
I chuckle. “Yes, sir. Thank you.” Something like hope springs in my chest. Maybe I have one more shot to make this right.
56
ROXY
With a sigh,I push the food around my plate.
“Do you not like dinner,mija? ¿Por qué no comes?” my mom asks from across the dining room table, concerned why I’m not eating.
“Sorry, Mom.” I shovel in a bite and try to smile. “It’s great.”
She sends my dad a worried look. Marley cries on the monitor, and I start to stand, but my mom shakes her head. “I’ll get her. You stay put.”
Then it’s just me and my dad. I can feel him staring at me. “What?”
“Have you talked to Billy yet?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know what to say. Have you ever felt like something important was too broken to fix?”
“That’s what everyone told me I was getting when I took the head coaching job here at Lone Star. That I was getting a football team beyond repair. Krugman really made a mess of things.”
“How did you know what to do?”
“I had to look beyond the problems. Consider the team I wanted to have instead of the one fumbling on Saturday afternoons.” He takes a drink of his water. “When you consideryour relationship with Billy, if you could get past whatever disagreement you had, could you envision something long-term with him?”
My eyes sting, and my throat gets tight, but I nod. “I’m just not sure how to get past everything. We said some pretty horrible things to each other. Plus…” I haven’t told anyone about Billy’s father approaching me, but I could really use some advice right now.
My mom rejoins us, and I decide to tell them. “Billy’s dad came to the apartment earlier this week and offered me fifty thousand dollars to break up with him.”
The fork falls out of my father’s hand. “Please tell me that’s not why you kicked him out. Roxanne Santos, I thought I taught you better thanthat—”
“No, Dad. That’s not why we broke up. I’m not taking that money. I wouldnevertake that money.” This is the hard part. “If I tell you what happened, I don’t want you to hate Billy again, okay? I need to talk to my father right now, and not the coach of the football team.”
“I’m sorry, Roxy. I never meant to hate on Billy. I was just disappointed in his behavior. When I first got here, he was such a little shit. Always so damn mouthy. Always with some smartass quip. Always on that damn gossip blog being an idiot.”
“I know, but he’s not that guy anymore.”
And that realization makes me still. How can I be so confident he’s changed and then, in the next breath, accuse him of so much wrongdoing?
My father nods. “I agree. He’s not that punk anymore.”
With my heart in my throat, I tell my parents what happened. How he’s been acting distant since I had Marley, and how he has a class with Vicky, someone he used to hook up with. “I’m just setting the stage, though. That’s where we were before he went home last weekend.”
My mom comes around to sit next to me and grabs my hand. “Mija, when someone goes through delivering a baby with you, it’s an intensely personal thing. Not every man knows how to handle that. But based on how I’ve seen him around you and Marley, I’d guess that he’s very devoted to the two of you. He’s made a lot of sacrifices to be with you.”
Sniffling, I nod. “Don’t think I don’t feel guilty about that, because I do.” I clear my throat. “His father told me there’s a top-notch agent who’s interested in Billy, but the agent won’t take on Billy in January if he’s still dating me then. Because he doesn’t like the ‘optics’ of Billy dating some ‘trashy girl’ who had some other man’s baby.”
“Pinche cabrón.Did he really say that?” my dad asks.
