Page 71 of Never Date A Player
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lewis stares for a long beat. Without saying anything, he walks me to the basement door. “Change. I’ll wait here.”
I nod and make my way to my locker in a daze. My father was always this nameless, faceless jerk. That’s what I told myself, to come to terms with his having left us. But this wealthy guy—he seems normal.
My mind is so turned upside down it physically aches. A wave of nausea roils through me, tightening my throat and making my nose burn. I dress and emerge from the basement.
Lewis drives me home. He holds me all night and asks no questions. At some point I drift into a dreamless sleep.
When I wake, the room is lit by bright sunlight streaming through the curtains I forgot to close. Lewis is still holding me, but his head is propped by a pillow, and he’s wide awake.
“Hey,” I say.
He glances down and smiles, but there’s a weariness to his features that makes it look like he got even less sleep than me.
“What’s wrong?”
He closes his eyes and sighs through his nose. “That guy last night.”
“Jeb Kendrick?”
He nods. “I recognized him.”
My arm tightens over his chest. I’m not sure I want to hear this.
“The name sounded familiar, so I checked it out online.” Lewis’s phone lies faceup above the covers. “He’s an ex-pro football player. I looked him up to make sure it wasn’t someone else with the same name, but it’s him. Jeb, the guy you think… he was a quarterback in the NFL for about a decade.”
Tears well behind my eyes. If this guy has money, which, considering his appearance and what Lewis said, he definitely does, he could have helped my mom. Supported her. Does she know this?
I can’t believe she would have dated so many rich guys if she didn’t need the money. Until Fred, she never loved any of them. She used them, or they used her—I’m not sure how it worked—but they’re how we survived financially, and I’ve always resented her for it, disturbed she didn’t choose a different path.
I shouldn’t be so hard on her. She was a teenager when she had me. Anyone would have struggled to care for a child and make ends meet.
Now I find out Jeb Kendrick could have helped us all along?
I consider calling my mom, telling her this guy showed up, but I need more time to wrap my head around it. Jeb sought me out. Why would he do that after he’d intentionally stayed away my entire life? A change of heart?
An insistent knock sounds on the bedroom door, followed by a familiar voice. “Gen? Are you in there?”
Cali. Cali! I wind a blanket around my body and sit up.
Lewis quirks his brow. “Problem?”
“Yes,” I hiss. “Cali doesn’t know we’re, we’re?—”
“Together?”
“That. Cali’s been sick and I didn’t want to talk about us until things settled down. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s been a little chaotic around here.”
He shakes his head and I slip off the bed, taking the blanket with me. I crawl around the floor, searching for clothes. A muffled snicker sounds from above the mattress and I look up.
Lewis is watching me, chuckling. My breath catches. His hair is rumpled, a lazy grin on his face, his shirtless muscles on full display… This is not the time for him to unknowingly seduce me with his morning hotness!
“Get dressed,” I say, and fish out a sweatshirt from under the bed.
More knocking. “Gen, what’s going on? Are you okay?” The doorknob rattles. Thank God one of us locked it.
A pair of boxers spills over the to-be-folded laundry basket in the corner and I lunge for them.
