Page 89 of Fair Catch

Meanwhile, I’m in a plaid button down and the nicest pair of jeans I own, sticking out like a sore thumb in a house that likely costs more money than my father would make in his lifetime.

“Stop worrying,” he whispers as we take a seat across from his brother and the empty chair, I’d assume, is for his mother.

Asking me to stop worrying right now is like asking the sun not to shine or birds not to sing, but I give him my best fake smile and pretend like I can anyway.

Mrs. Lancaster joins us a few moments later, followed by an entire wait staff who bring out all the Thanksgiving fixins imaginable. They serve us, which is by far the weirdest part of the night so far, and as the five of us dig into our food, that’s when the real fun begins.

“So, Kason,” Hayes’ mother says across from me with a tempered smile. “Tell us a little about yourself.”

Nerves eat at me as I offer her the most watered-down version of my life story imaginable.

“Well, I was born in Alabama. Raised there for part of my life until my dad moved us to Nashville when I was starting middle school.Then I lived there with him until college.”

“Just your father?”

“Yep,” I respond, the word coming out clipped and higher pitched than I’d like.

Hayes glances at me before looking at his mother. “His mom left when he was twelve. It was just him and his father after that.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” his mother condoles, her attention flitting to her husband, then back to me. “It’s a shame when parents don’t think of their children over their own selfish interests.”

Doing my best to ignore the insinuation in her tone, I muster up a smile as I continue cutting my turkey. “It’s all right. If anything, it’s made me more grateful for the people who treat me like family, despite not being blood.” Lifting my gaze to her, I continue, “My best friend and his family would often let me spend time at his house. Kept me on the straight and narrow, made sure I focused on bettering my future instead of focusing on where I came from. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know where I’d be.” My eyes move to Hayes now, and I can feel them soften as I look at him. “Certainly not here with you.”

He gives me a warm smile, and I do my best to harness the feeling it gives me, channeling it into enough confidence to get through this dinner unscathed. Telling myself, while they might be his family, at the end of the day, they’re humans too.

None of them are perfect, no matter how much it might look so on the outside.

“Hayes told us you play football for Leighton, is that right?” Mrs. Lancaster asks, slicing through my calming efforts as easily as she does the sweet potatoes on her plate.

But she’s asking about football. Something I can talk about all day.

Perfect.

“I do, yeah. I’ve been their starting tight end since I was a freshman.”

“That must make keeping up with your academics challenging,” she says almost immediately, and it has my stomach dropping.

Well, fuck.

I smile, though I’m feeling anything but happy about where this conversation is leading. “At times, it can be. But Leighton takes doing well in school very seriously, so they have a really great program for all their student athletes to make sure we stay on track with our course work.”

“That’s wonderful to hear,” she bemuses as she slices her turkey. “Speaking of studies, what is it that you’re majoring in?”

“Mom,” Hayes interrupts rather sternly, and when I look over at him, his face absolutely matches his tone: stone cold, and not having any bullshit. It’s a side of Hayes I haven’t seen in quite a while.

“It’s okay, Hayes,” I murmur to let him know I’m fine. Yet from the way his jaw tics with tension, it must not be very convincing.

“No, it’s not,” he tells me softly before looking at his mother. “This is dinner, not an interrogation. Stop treating him like a criminal.”

Mrs. Lancaster lets out a clipped laugh. “Oh, Hayes, darling. I know that. I’m just trying to get to know him. After all, he’s dating my youngest child. Any decent parent would want to do the same.”

Rhys, who has been quiet since we’ve sat down, lets out a snort and takes a swig of his drink, grabbing the attention of everyone at the table. When he notices, he holds up his hands in mock surrender.

“Oh, what? Am I supposed to act like you wouldn’t do this with any person one of us would bring through the door?”

“Watch your tone, Rhys,” Hayes’ father grumbles from the head of the table, and truthfully, I think this is the first time I’ve heard him speak all evening too.

Up until now, I’d have thought the matriarch of the family was the one really in charge.

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