Page 40 of Coaching Prince Charming

“Dana, I don’t know what you’re…”

“Because if I did, I would apologize. Just tell me what it is, Nate,” he said, accusation so subtle in his tone that I might have imagined it. Until he went on. “I would rather know what you think I did to you than to have you backstab me like this.”

My hand tightened around my glass. My heart was pounding inside my skull. “Whatever you think…”

Anger flared on his face. “My son dropped out,” he snapped. “Over two months ago, Nate. Over two goddamn months.”

I hoped relief wasn’t showing on my face. For a moment, I had forgotten where Dana’s priorities always were. “That’s why you’re here?” I asked, keeping my voice as composed as I could. It took physical strength to do that, and the grip on the glass made my knuckles hurt.

“You’re his coach, dammit,” Dana spat. “How is it possible that he left your team, and I don’t know about it?”

I narrowed my eyes, unable to resist it. “Well, how is it possible, Dana?”

“Don’t you dare,” he hissed, his finger lifting off the glass that he was bringing to his mouth, pointing at me warningly. He’d ignored his son in all the ways, only ever caring about his name and reputation, about his legacy. He was a man so in love with what he had accomplished in his youth that he had never considered there might be anything else in life he needed to know or do. “Don’t you fucking dare, Nate. I’m not listening to another lecture. Do you hear me?”

I kept my lips sealed, but my gaze pierced him nonetheless.

He set the glass down after taking another sip. He exhaled and drummed his fingers against the counter. “Get this. I have to have my manager show me how my son embarrasses himself on TikTok with that stupid guitar, all behind my back and against my approval…” His voice cut off abruptly, and he looked at me. “I came here as soon as I could. I looked for him where he was supposed to be living. And what did I find? Carter moved out of the house in September.”

I clenched my teeth and cocked my head to one side. “Why exactly are you here, Dana?” I asked.

He shot me an accusing look. “You know goddamn well why I’m here. You should have called me, Nate. When my son got this stupid idea to walk away from everything he’s worked for, you should have called me.”

“If Carter wanted you to know, he would have told you,” I said.

“Don’t give me that bullshit. He’s a child, for fuck’s sake. What does he know about these things? He threw away his one ticket to success, and you let him. I’m sure you encouraged it. Didn’t you? You always had a soft spot for his silly fantasies, Nate.” Dana pushed himself away from the island and paced around. “I swear to God, Nate, if I find out you had anything to do with this, I’ll sue your ass.”

I barked out a laugh. The man obviously needed someone to blame. “Sue my ass for what? Not calling?” I finished my whiskey in a bigger gulp than I’d meant and put the glass down louder than I’d intended. “You told me not to meddle, didn’t you?”

“I told you not to encourage him,” he all but shouted. “When he wanted to be gay, you fucking applauded him. I told you to stay the fuck out of it. Oh, I see. It hurt your feelings.” His mocking tone didn’t bother me. What broke my heart was the fact that Carter could hear his father’s words loud and clear behind that door. “I told you to back the fuck off, so you waited until you had a chance. Tell me I’m wrong, Nate. Tell me this isn’t your doing.”

“Jesus Christ, Dana, you’re deranged,” I growled. “Carter’s old enough to choose what he wants to do with his life.”

“Even if that means throwing his life away?” Dana demanded. “You had a moral obligation to stop him, you fuckwit.”

I clapped my hands together and walked around the island. “We’re done here, Dana.”

The man paced just the same. “We’re done here when I say so.”

“No.” The strength of my voice made him pause. “I’m done listening to your bullshit. I’ll tell you this only once. If you push that young man to follow your dream, you’ll do more damage than he could ever do to himself. He has the right to choose his career as much as you and I did.”

“We went through hell to get to where we are,” Dana said. If he weren’t seething, I would have thought he was reminiscing. “And he had it served on a silver fucking platter. Is that why you let him go? Why you didn’t try to stop him? Because he had a shortcut, unlike you.”

I narrowed my eyes. He was luring me into a fight that could end badly for all three of us. I didn’t want to punch my lover’s father, not after giving Carter my heart and pledging to be his for as long as he wanted me. Not after walking barefoot over the sharp rocks that formed the path that had brought us together. “Carter’s got talent. I’ll give you that. But if he doesn’t want it, nothing you say will change his mind.”

“My money will,” Dana said. “If I don’t find him tonight, I’ll cut him off. We’ll see how long he’ll last before he comes to me with his tail between his legs.”

I wouldn’t tell him that Carter would be just fine without his money.

“Where did he go?” Dana demanded. “Where does he live now?”

I shrugged. “How the hell should I know?”

“Don’t lie to me, Partridge,” he snapped louder. “Carter listened to me until you started coaching him. It’s so like you to whisper into his ear and tell him he can do whatever he sets his mind to. It’s like you don’t even know what kind of world you live in. Silly little dreamers die in drug dens every day.”

“You need to leave, Dana,” I said coolly.

The man shook his head and walked around, nearing the hallway. His head turned left and right, and he stopped abruptly at the arch between the kitchen and living room. “What’s that?” he asked, urgency in his voice as if an Eldritch monster had appeared in my apartment. “What the fuck is that, Partridge?”

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