Page 83 of Holding On

"I came to see you and Mike." She puts her arms around Becca, whose body becomes stiff as a board as her mom hugs her. "Didn't Mike tell you I was coming?"

Becca backs away. "He said you called but not that you were coming here. You drove all the way from Dallas?"

She laughs. "Dallas? I don't live in Dallas. I live in Chicago now. Mike didn't mention that?"

"No." Becca grips the door handle. "Mom, you can't stay. I have company."

She looks past Becca and sees me on the couch. "Is that your boyfriend?"

"You need to go," Becca says. "Mike's not here. I'll tell him you stopped by."

She walks around Becca and over to me, a big smile on her face. "I'm Sherry, Becca's mom."

I reach up and shake her hand. "Hey. I'm Ethan. Nice to meet you."

I know I just met her but I already don't like this woman. She reminds me of my mom's fake friends in L.A.

"Have you two been dating long?"

Becca races up beside her mom. "You should come back tomorrow, when Mike's here. Now isn't a good time."

"It's as good a time as any," she says, keeping her eyes on me. "And besides, you two don't look all that busy." She stares at me and taps her lip with her finger. "You look familiar. Have we met before?"

"I don't think so."

"I swear I've seen you before. Are you on TV?"

I glance at Becca. "I've been on the sports channels. I play football."

"Yes!" She points at me. "That's where I saw you. Jim watches all those sports channels and I remember seeing you on there."

"Who's Jim?" Becca asks.

"My boyfriend." She waves her hand around. "Significant other. Jim doesn't like it when I call him my boyfriend. Says it's juvenile."

"How long have you dated him?"

"About a year. He's in finance. Does well for himself." She dangles her hand in front of Becca, showing off a diamond bracelet. "He gave me this last week. Isn't it pretty?"

"Yeah, it's great." Becca rolls her eyes but her mom doesn't notice, her attention back on me.

"So why are you always in the news?" she asks. "Are you one of those pro athletes?"

"No. I'm still in college. I play football for Laytham."

"But you're going to be a star someday?" She grins and it reminds me of the grin my dad gets when he meets an up-and-coming sports star and knows he's about to make a ton of money off some poor guy who has no idea he's about to be taken advantage of by my dad.

"Probably not," I say, motioning to my leg. "I got injured back in May."

"I'm sure you'll recover. Athletes get hurt all the time."

"Mom," Becca urges. "Just come back tomorrow. Ethan just got here and—"

"She's just like me." Sherry puts her arm around Becca. "She seeks out a man who has potential. Her father never had any, potential that is. He was a nice enough man but he had no ambition. No drive."

Becca shoves away from her mom. "Don't talk about Dad."

"Oh, honey, don't be so sensitive. You're a grown woman now. It's time you see your father for who he was. Just a simple man going nowhere in life."

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