Page 47 of Negotiating Tactics

Just that quickly, I sensed the change in her, and looked over at her warily.

“Are you about to kick me out?” I asked.

“Well, I just figured…”

“That what, I’d fuck and then go?” I asked.

“Well…yes,” she said.

She genuinely believed that, though I would have liked nothing more than hold her as long as she would let me.

Instead of saying that, something I knew she wasn’t ready to hear, I kissed her nose, then got out of bed.

“I’ll call you,” I said.

“Noah, you don’t have to?—”

I turned to glare at her, and she cut off.

“Alex, I’ll call you,” I said.

Ten

Alex

“Did I tell you that I’m helping out with the boys’ team?” my father asked.

I smiled. “Yeah. You did. Three times.”

“Oh,” he responded, though he didn’t look concerned that he’d repeated himself.

But in a blink, our conversation ground to a halt, and the banter of earlier was replaced with sudden silence.

My fist clenched, and I was glad my hand was under the table.

I should have just let him tell me about the boys again. He wasn’t often this excited when we talked, and I worried he’d pull back now. I didn’t want that, so I gave him a big smile and said, “Sounds like you’re excited about it!”

He nodded. “Yeah. I never got the chance to coach one of my kids’ teams,” he said.

Trying to ignore the little twist in my gut, I looked at the restaurant door, noticing the couple that had come in, halfway regretting that I had turned down Noah’s lunch invitation to accept this one.

I also didn’t point out that I had played volleyball from sixth grade through my freshman year of college, and he had never gone to one of my games, let alone coached one of my teams.

But even though bile burned in my throat, I said nothing.

After a moment, I focused on my father, putting the smile back on my face.

“I’m sure they’re excited about it,” I said.

“Yeah. They have a really hard time getting volunteer coaches on the team, so I’m glad to help,” he said.

I managed not to choke on the sip of soda I’d just taken, and my father asked, “You sure you don’t want anything to eat?”

“No. I’m fine,” I responded.

He took a bite of his pastrami, and I looked away.

I had lunch at the office, and besides, I wouldn’t eat in front of him today even if I didn’t.

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