Page 8 of Next Level
Dawg knows damn well I won’t be back anytime soon. The way I ‘tinkle,’ I’ll be a few hours.
TROUBLE
Ihear the girls moving around upstairs. My house is a two-story, with two bedrooms upstairs, each with its own bathroom. Downstairs, we have two master suites, with the kitchen and living room located in the center. It’s an open floor plan concept.
When I got back to the house, it was around 3:30 a.m., and Sam was still online gaming. Her friends had already passed out. I used to get mad at her for always being online, but she loves it and is pretty good at it.
I’ve actually taken her to some gaming conferences. She’s that good. I used to be overprotective and make her tell me who she was playing with, but I trust her judgment now. She’s been lectured about social media her entire life.
But don’t think I don’t have Zoom, our tracker, hack her shit from time to time, making sure these people are legit.
I need to get up, shower, cook breakfast for them, and then get down to the clubhouse to see what needs to be done before our cookout later. Every Sunday, we typically host a BBQ or cookout for all the members and their families.
Usually, the members are hungover from partying each Saturday, so no one gets up and starts moving around until noon. Glancing at the clock, I see it’s ten a.m. Samantha is like me. She doesn’t need much sleep. I’d tried to put her to bed atlike 9 p.m., but she would just stay awake in her bed reading or some shit. The older she got, the more I let it go. She has As and Bs at school, so I can’t really get mad.
My phone dings.
Opening it, I see it’s a text from Sam.
PUNKIN: U awake?
POPS: Yep.
PUNKIN: Breakfast?
POPS: Yep.
PUNKIN: K. B dwn 2 help.
POPS: Cool. Jumping in shower.
PUNKIN: K
These kids and their abbreviations. I toss my phone onto the nightstand and get up. After my shower, I enter the kitchen, and the girls are already in there making breakfast.
“He’s really cute,” Amanda says to the girls, who all have their backs to me, as I walk over to the coffeepot.
“Who’s cute?” I ask the room.
All three girls startle with a scream at the sound of my voice. Sam and Sarah crack up at themselves for getting scared.
“Pops, you scared us.” Sam giggles.
I grin, pouring myself a cup of coffee.
“So, who’s cute?” I ask again.
Sam’s eyebrows rise, and she answers nonchalantly, “Jared, one of the guys I game with.”
I try to keep calm and not react so they don’t clam up on me. I turn my stare to Amanda. “Cool, how do you know he’s cute?” I ask, bringing the cup to my lips for a sip to hide my expression.
Sam knows me too well and interjects, “He was at the car show yesterday.”
I switch from chill to protective dad mode instantly, rattling off a barrage of questions. “How did he know you were there? How did he find you? What’s his last name? Who was he with?”
Sam cuts me off, lifting a hand. “Dad, he’s cool. I’ve been gaming with him for a while. He said he couldn’t game because he was going to the car show, and I told him I would be there too. So we met up and said hi. Nothing big.”
All the girls stare at me, waiting for me to flip out. I pause, biting my tongue to contain my fury. I’ll get my answer from Zoom later. Right now, I need to be the cool dad so they keep talking.
