Page 6 of Always on My Mind

“Dad, I—”

“Seriously, Jamie,” he cut across her. “What’s going on?”

He folded his arms over his barrel-like chest, a thin-lipped frown on his face. She searched him for an ounce of sympathy, but found none. A question of her own came to her.

“Hold on. How’d you get my new address?” she wondered.

“From your agent,” he said with a shrug. “Never thought I’d beat you here, considering I found out about the move from said agent instead of my own daughter.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, meeker this time.

“Best start explaining yourself, then.”

She picked at her cuticles, searching for the right words. “Did you see the press conference?”

“Not yet.”

“It’s in there. I’m feeling. . . like I’m not sure if I’m good or if I’m just part of a club that’s successful because of everyone around me.”

“So. . . you’re joining a shitty club to prove yourself?”

“They’re not a shitty club, Dad—”

“Sure they are. They haven’t been in the WSL in a decade.”

“They’re back in now. That has to count for something.” She paused for a beat. “And. . . I think I was ready to come home.”

He heaved a sigh and relaxed his shoulders, letting his arms fall back to his sides. “I’m still confused. Three years ago, you said you needed to get out of London. So you turn down Arsenal’s offer to keep you and take less money to join Man City. Now, you say you want to be home? Why not go back to Arsenal?”

“They didn’t make me an offer.”

“Chelsea did. You turned them down.”

She held back a huff and inwardly cursed her agent for agreeing to run everything by her father. “That goes back to the other thing. Y’know. . . seeing if I’m good.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Is this a. . . ” He gestured vaguely in front of her. “A lady thing?”

“Dad!” she cried, her face burning.

“I don’t know how else to explain all this! You keep changing your mind about everything!”

“That doesn’t mean it’slady stuff!”

“Are you pregnant?” he asked, the color suddenly draining from his face. “Fucking hell, Jamie, if you’ve gotten yourself—”

“I’mnotpregnant!” she interrupted. “I swear!”

“Good,” he said, jutting out his chin. “Have you got a boyfriend here or something?”

“Seriously?” She rolled her eyes. “I’d never switch clubs for a man.”

It wasn’t technically a lie, so she didn’t feel too bad about saying it. Truth was, she missed Tessa. And it took the actions of a man to show her how much.

“Right, well. . . that’s good too. You don’t need any distractions.”

“Men have never been a distraction for me, Dad.”

“Good.”

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