Page 96 of The Only Goal

With his beer halfway to his mouth, he pauses, his lips curling up at the edges. “Good for you, son.”

“Yeah, right,” I scoff. “Saving myself for a woman I was never supposed to have in the first place. She’s married!”

“Well, she shouldn’t be married to that jerkoff,” Dad mutters.

I snap my head to gape at him.

“Oh, come on.” He winces. “Your mom and I knew you two were always meant to be together. If Tammy hadn’t gotten pregnant, I’m sure she would have broken up with Hudson eventually, and you would have been there waiting for her.” Dad’s eyes glisten for a moment, his lips curling into a barely there smile. “Mom would be so happy to know you two finally figured it out.”

“We didn’t figure anything out.” I hunch forward, resting my elbows on my knees and squeezing my forehead. “You don’t know that she wouldn’t have married him anyway. She was pretty in love with the guy. And she still must be, because she left with him after one conversation. He fucking cheated on her, and she forgave him and followed him home!”

“Did she tell you why?”

“What do you mean?” I snap.

“Well, did she say, ‘I’m forgiving him because I’ll always love him and want to make my marriage work’?”

“No.” I glare at the flickering flames in the fireplace and mumble, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“It’s not like we talked about it!” I throw my hands out wide. “She came through, and I knew what she was going to say, so I told her I couldn’t say goodbye and left.”

Dad frowns at me like I’m an idiot. “That’s it?”

“I said goodbye to Kai.” My throat constricts. “And then I…” I shrug before deflating on a heavy sigh. “I told her it was probably the right thing to do.”

There’s a horrible, thick pause that makes me want to dry retch before Dad makes it a million times worse.

“You told the woman you have been in love with since you were a child that it was probably best that she went back to the arrogant prick who was cheating on her?”

I refuse to answer that question because I feel like total shit right now.

“You didn’t tell her that you love her and that you’d never do something like that to her?”

“Marriage is a sacred vow,” I mutter.

“Which he broke!”

“He said it was just a onetime thing, and he was really sorry.”

“Bullshit!” Dad barks. “It’s Hudson Clark we’re talking about here. Don’t sit there and tell me he could ever love Tamara Tan the way you do. That he could ever take care of her the way you would.”

I clench my jaw and grit out, “He’s rich, and they have a kid together, and he can give her?—”

“I don’t give a flying fuck how much money that guy makes.” Dad shoots out of his chair. “True love is a rare and beautiful thing. I would give anything to have your mother back… even just for a day.” His voice breaks and he squeezes his mouth, obviously struggling to pull his emotions in check. I’ve never seen my dad this impassioned before, and all I can do is gape at him. “You got a second chance to finally win that girl over… and then you just let her walk out the door.”

Bile surges up my throat and I clamp my teeth together, staring at the floor.

The silence permeating the room is the worst it’s been since I got here, and I’m gonna drown in it if I don’t move.

Jerking off the couch, I face my father and try for one last justification. “He’s her husband, and she loves him. I couldn’t stop her.”

Dad shakes his head, his disappointed expression quietly calling me out on my bullshit before I stalk from the room and thump my way upstairs.

Acting like a petulant teen, I slam my door shut to let him know how pissed I am before snatching my pillow off the bed and hurling it at the wall. It hits my framed photo of Mom, which topples to the floor. Bending down with a curse, I pick it up, brushing off the dust, relieved that the glass didn’t crack.

Caressing my thumb over her pretty smile, I slump onto the floor and rest against my dresser. Mom and Dad had the best marriage. I always wanted one just like it. Mom told me once that she married her best friend, and that’s why they hardly ever fought and were so happy together.

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