Page 64 of Blade
Angel’s eyes glazed over, and he blinked a few times. “I’m getting all emotional now, so I’ll let you two catch up while I put the finishing touches on dinner.” He flashed a bright smile. “I hope your lady likes to eat.”
Amber had a sweet tooth, which was perfect since Angel loved making rich desserts, but she wasn’t a big eater. “She’s going to love everything you make. And whatever she can’t finish, I’ll be happy to polish off.”
“I’m sure you will,” Angel said, before heading to the kitchen.
Once alone with his brother, Robert immediately remembered the ticking time bomb that he hadn’t mentioned to anyone, except Manny—whose face almost hit the floor when he heard the story.
“What’s up?” Tommy asked. “You look like you can’t wait to tell me something all of a sudden.”
“It’s going to blow your fucking mind. Let’s sit down.”
Tommy eyed Robert warily as they moved to the couch. “What the hell is it?”
“Amber is Coach’s daughter.” Robert spit the words out in one breath, relieved to say it out loud.
Tommy started shaking his head, as if he couldn’t have heard right, and needed to clear his thoughts. “Wait. What did you just say?”
“She’s Coach’s daughter. I just found out a couple of weeks ago, and I’m trying not to lose my shit. I can barely look Coach in the eye.”
“He doesn’t know?”
“No.”
“You’re not gonna tell him?”
“I am. We are. Just not until after Super Bowl. We just have one more game to determine if we’re gonna make it or not, and I can’t risk fucking it up.”
“He’s gonna fucking flip his lid.”
“No fucking kidding.”
“Is that why Amber waited to tell you?”
“Yeah. But it’s more complicated. She doesn’t get along with her father. She tries to act as if she doesn’t care what he thinks, but she does.” Robert didn’t know how to explain the long-standing feud that drove a wedge between Amber and Coach. It could be something stupid that got blown out of proportion, especially if she was half as stubborn as her father. Robert got the feeling that they’d been at odds with each other for so long they forgot why they were so mad in the first place. “I know he’s not going to approve of her dating one of his players, and one of his players dating his daughter. He’s probably going to take a swing at me. Or two. And I don’t blame him.”
“But you’re in love,” Tommy reasoned.
“I know. But you know Coach. He’s a hard-ass. He was hard on her growing up. Kind of like Dad was. We both knew he was really proud of us, but he pushed us so hard.”
Tommy guffawed. “Maybe you knew he was proud of you, but I didn’t. I always felt like I never did anything right. I could never please him. Nothing I did was ever good enough.”
Robert hated that Tommy had grown up with ambiguous feelings about their dad. “I know that’s the way it seemed—”
“Itwasthat way.” Tommy put his hand on Robert’s shoulder. “I’m not gonna lie. It was fucking hard growing up in that house. For me. But it’s OK now. I earned Dad’s respect. We have a great relationship now.”
Robert’s heart sank, and anger festered in his belly because Tommy deserved their father’s respect from the beginning. He shouldn’t have had to earn it or fight for it. That wasn’t fair.
Tommy gave Robert a small punch in the arm. “It’s cool. Stop scowling.”
“It’s not right. It shouldn’t have been like that.”
“I know. But we can’t go back and change the past. It’s done. We’re good now. Me and Dad. That’s all that matters.”
Tommy always had the best advice and the best outlook on life. It’s why Robert always looked up to his big brother. He wondered if the dynamic Amber and her father shared would change over time and they’d be as close as Tommy and their dad was now. He hated that she was going through a tough time with Coach, and it was about to get a whole lot worse, and that Tommy had struggled with the same thing, when his own relationship with his dad was so easy.
“What’s on your mind?” Tommy asked.
“It sucks that you and Amber had to grow up like that when I had it easy.”
