Page 101 of Heart of Gold
“Well,” she sighs. “I’ve made mistakes. A lot of them when it comes to Grayson.”
I want to talk to her, more than ever, but it needs to be face to face. “Don’t. We can talk about this when I get back. I’m okay, I’m gonna be okay.”
She is silent on the other line, and it makes my heart break a little to know I’m hurting her but I need to physically see those words coming out of her mouth. I want to know it’s safe to trust her with my heart.
“Okay, Phoenix.” She whispers. “When you get back.”
She hasn’t called me that in a while, and it makes me smile.
We hang up the phone and I watch as Levi raises his brow, “You good?”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “Thanks.”
Dad moves around in the recliner and finally notices I’m awake. “How do you feel?”
“I’m good.”
“Good,” he sighs with relief. “You looked like a zombie out there.”
His words sting a little, knowing that he can’t just comfort me without criticizing the way I play football.
“Who was on the phone?” He asks.
“Quinn,” I say. “From the cruise.”
“Yeah, I’ve read about that drama online. You shouldn’t betray your teammate for some girl you’ve known for five seconds.”
I bite my tongue. It’s obvious dad knows nothing about any of the things Grayson has done. He’d be pissed if he knew that he drugged Levi, but that would require having to tell him that Levi was partying. I won’t rat on my brother, but to my surprise Levi speaks up.
“Collins is a disease, dad. Gavin isn’t betraying him.”
Dad raises his brow, “So he’s being his best bud? By dating his ex?”
I try and defend myself but dad doesn’t want to hear it. “You have so much talent, Gavin, but it’s like you don’t even care. You could go on to play pro-ball but you’re too busy frolicking around with anything that has blonde hair and a pussy.”
Mom walks in right as dad makes that comment and her eyes are glued to him, “What the hell are you bitchin’ at him for?”
“Nothing,” he growls. “It’s not like he’ll listen to me, anyway.”
I know I should just let it go, but I’m sick of just letting it go.
“Fuck you, dad. You think you know what’s best for everyone. You don’t know anything about me. You didn’t even know or care that I existed until Levi couldn’t play football anymore.”
Mom’s eyes go wide and I wait for her to intervene. She doesn’t.
“Yeah, you don’t have anything to say to that do you? Do you know anything about me besides my stats? Do you know my favorite color? My favorite things to do? My favorite movie?”
He sits there and doesn’t say a word. So I just go ahead and twist the knife, “It’s green. It’s The Sandlot. I like animals. I like to cook. I like to do things other than football. I’m sorry that is so awful. I’m sorry it’s not what you want from me, but until you can tell me some things about myself, I don’t think I’m gonna listen to you when you tell me what’s best for me.”
His mouth drops along with the imaginary microphone in my hand.
Fuck this.
chapter forty-three
Quinn
“How is Gavin?” Liv asks as I hobble into the kitchen the next morning for breakfast. “Have you heard anything?”
