Page 48 of Coaching Prince Charming

Dad’s jaw stiffened before he forced it to relax enough so he could speak. “You’re starting drills tomorrow, Carter. You’ll be too busy to think, let alone tap shit.”

I wasn’t sure what I was about to say. I knew for a fact I wasn’t going to fuss about it and give him the pleasure of exercising his power over me. Before I could even breathe in, Mom appeared in the doorway. “Dana?”

“Not now, honey,” Dad said sourly, the last word clashing with his tone, almost like he was mocking her, but he was oblivious to that.

“You should come,” Mom said.

“What is it?” With impatience, he turned from me to Mom. A look passed between them. I didn’t know what it was, but Dad believed it was important enough to put lecturing me on hold. And since lecturing me was becoming his favorite activity, I also considered the disruption significant.

As Dad followed Mom, I hesitated, but half a minute later, when hushed voices reached me, I hurried outside the room.

As soon as I crossed five paces and was in the gallery overlooking the entrance hall of the house, I felt a jolt of anger that Mom had fetched Dad instead of coming for me. The man standing in our lobby was wet from the pouring November rain, but it only helped to make him look better.

Nate Partridge wore a dark gray wool coat, water dripping from it all over the fine tiles in our entrance hall. His gaze was intently on my dad while Mom had her hand on Dad’s shoulder.

I stopped walking abruptly, watching in disbelief. My first thought was that they had some unresolved business in order to make that horrible agreement binding, but that was not what was happening. I knew it in my heart before I knew it for a fact. Nate wasn’t here to dance to my dad’s tune. And if I hadn’t hit my head and dreamed this up, then he was here for me.

As if he could hear my thoughts, he lifted his piercing gaze to me, the house growing dark around us. Thunder rolled distantly across the sky while Dad’s voice increased in volume. “…out of my house. You have no right…” He stumbled over his angry words, and I noticed in the periphery of my vision that he had followed Nate’s gaze and was looking at me. “Go back to your room, Carter.”

Nate watched me expectantly as if he didn’t know what I would do next. As if he expected me to turn away and leave, to confirm his fear that he had lost me. But he was here. He was here, and he was waiting for me to do something.

And even if I was absolutely wrong about everything, I was willing to take one more risk for this crazy thing. Could my life get any worse if I disobeyed Dad?

“No,” I said softly without looking at Dad.

Nate swallowed, and I made a few slow steps toward the staircase. His gaze followed me even as Dad took a sudden step toward him as if to physically remove him from the house. He watched me descend slightly curving stairs, my left hand dragging over the smooth wall where a normal family might have their framed photos hanging, but ours only had a coat of faded yellow paint.

And when I reached the bottom of the stairs, Nate had shifted away from my furious father to face me. “Hi,” he said or mouthed. I wasn’t sure. His voice was so present inside my head that I could hear him even if he didn’t make a sound.

“Hi,” I replied.

“Back to your room, Carter. Now. I swear to God, if I have to tell you one more time, you’ll regret it, young man.” Dad’s failed attempt made me chuckle.

“You can’t tell me what to do,” I said without taking my eyes off Nate. He was so beautiful. The lines around his mouth were gentle, and the hints of crow’s feet around his eyes spoke of a man who had earned these lines by smiling. His forehead wasn’t creased with worry when his face wasn’t relaxed. His clear face and big, brown eyes radiated warmth that no rain and cold could ever extinguish.

“I’ll tell everyone,” Dad yelled. “I’ll tell everyone what he did to you.”

Nate didn’t wince at that. Not even a little. His lower lip quivered, his eyes twinkled, and raindrops trickled from his soaked hair over his face. It didn’t worry him that he might get crucified by the tabloids.

Dad tore free of my mom’s hold and pulled the door open, grabbing Nate by the elbow. Nate, for his part, didn’t resist. If anything, I might have seen a hint of amusement on his lips as Dad dragged him toward the exit.

Nate never broke eye contact with me, and his mouth spread into a smile when I bit my lower lip, holding back a smile of my own. But Dad slammed the door in his face, and I hurried across the hall to join my love outside.

Dad pressed his back against the door, making my heart leap. He wouldn’t stop me now. He wouldn’t. “You’re not going anywhere,” he growled.

“I really am,” I said, my tone so light and casual that it must have offended him.

“Over my dead body, boy,” he said, slurring the words in anger.

“Let me out,” I demanded. My tone left no room for debate. “I need to talk to him. Let me out.”

“You need to respect your father. You need to do what you are told, or you’ll lose…”

“Enough!” Mom’s voice was far louder than either of us had expected. “Dana, enough. Let him out.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he hissed.

I was too stunned to speak as Mom stepped forward, putting her arm protectively around my shoulders. To my dad, she said, “I’ve put up with you for twenty years. I let you do whatever the hell you want to do. I looked away from every girl you slept with. I said nothing when you couldn’t even bother to hide it. I washed their perfumes out of your shirts. And I pretended I didn’t know what the powder you left in the closet under your folded pants was. But I’m not going to let you do this, Dana. I’m not going to stand silently while you ruin our boy’s life.” Her voice quivered for only a moment. She had an inexhaustible strength stashed somewhere deep within her. When she spoke again, her voice was as peaceful as dying in your sleep. “Let him go, or I will leave you. I swear to God, I will.”

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