Page 82 of Never Say Never

My mom opensthe door and immediately pulls me into her arms. “Tucker, you have no idea how good it is to see you. How’s my baby?”

“It’s good to see you too, Mom,” I say, kissing the top of her head. “I’m okay.”

“How’s training camp?”

“It’s fine. How are you doing?

“I’m okay, honey. I’ve missed seeing you around here.” I hear the hurt in her voice. “I wish things weren’t the way they are.”

My jaw clenches. I wish that too.

“Is Dad here?”

“In his office. Do you want me to—“

“No, Mom, I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll make a pot of tea then. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” I walk down the hall toward my dad’s office. Memories of kissing Daisy up against the door months ago flash through my mind. Our first kiss after a decade of barely talking. At the time, it was just a kiss—an unbelievable kiss, but nothing more than that. The beginning of our pact. It wasn’t supposed to mean anything. But here we are, together. What we have is real, and I need my father to know that I intend on keeping it that way.

I tense up as soon as I see him. When I open the door, my dad looks up from his computer but looks away again when he sees that it’s me. He isn’t going to make this easy, but this time I’m not going to run away.

Neither of us move or say a word, and the silence is deafening. I walk further into the room, sinking into the chair opposite his desk. The confidence I felt driving over here starts to fade.

Man up, Tucker. Tell him how you feel.

I’m going to marry her one day. I’m not sure what my future exactly looks like, but I know it includes her. He needs to get used to us being together.

“I’m sorry I lied to you, Dad,” I start, jutting my chin out. “But I won’t apologize for loving Daisy.”

His focus doesn’t leave his computer screen, but I do catch the subtle way his fingers grip the pen in his hand a little tighter.

“We need to talk, Dad. I love her. I’ve never loved anything or anyone as much as I love her. She’s it for me.”

My dad drops the pen to the desk before he leans back in his leather chair. Finally, his eyes meet mine.

“Are you sure?” he asks.

“Yes.” This is the first time I’ve been able to tell him that I’m in love with Daisy, because I had wanted her to hear it from me first.

“That’s… surprising. You’ve never loved anything but football.”

“And that’s always been a problem for you,” I counter. His expression doesn’t change, but I see the tension in his jaw. “You’ve never been able to accept me for who I am, Dad. You wanted your son to take over your firm, but that was your dream, not mine.”

Something breaks in my chest. I’ve never said those words out loud to him, but there they are, hanging in the air between us. They are the reason my dad and I have never got along. The reason my dad can hardly stand me.

“You’re right. I was disappointed. I built that firm with my own two hands, my blood, sweat and tears. I wanted you to love it just as much as I do.”

“But I never wanted that, and I never made that a secret.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Are you ever going to get over that? Because you should.”

I don’t ever want to have this conversation again so I’m leaving everything I need to on the table, hoping maybe we can come to sort of truce.

“You weren’t an easy kid, Tucker. If I came down hard on you it was only to teach you a lesson. I did what I thought was best for you.”

I grind my molars together. What had I ever done to disappoint him so much? I was a kid. I skipped class. I stayed out past curfew. I back-talked from time to time. But I followed my own path, and I have built a good life for myself: A career that I love, great friends, and a girl that I’m crazy about. Why does he refuse to see it?

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