Page 82 of Steeling Her
Knock. Knock. Knock.
My mom pushes the door open with my dad behind her, and I stare at them. They walk in, hand in hand, and come straight over to me. My mom sits on the edge of my bed and strokes my leg up and down.
“How are you feeling, baby?” She soothes me. She knows that there’s something wrong, but I don’t want to talk about it. If I don’t talk about it, I won’t picture it. I refuse to speak about anything that happened. I could hear them outside somedays, talking to Nick and TJ about football.
“I’m fine, I’m just tired,” I mumble bitterly. It sounds more like a grumble leaving my mouth as I lie. I’m not fine, but I don’t want anyone to know. My dad leans down to kiss my forehead and I feel my cheeks start to get wet. My dad always comforts me, but right now, I feel worse.
“Baby, talk to us,” he asks lowly. I cover my hands over my face and let out a sob. I hate crying in front of people. My nose starts to run, and I sniffle while trying to compose myself and my feelings. “Carter, sweetie, what happened?” My dad hugs me close to his chest and squeezes me tight like always. His musky scent takes over my nose, and I cry onto him. Again.
“It happened again, Dad.” He stiffened instantly. The air leaves my lungs, and my mom had to pry him off of me so I could breathe again. I didn’t think that Nick would do it to me. Then again, I didn’t think those other guys would either.
“Carter, tell me what happened exactly,” my mom coos and pulls my dad over to her. He wraps an arm around her shoulder from behind and rests his chin on her head. She rubs his forearm to calm him down. My dad is pissed right now. I can see it in his face. His jaw is locked and his eyes are moving like a dart around the room. He’s thinking, and that’s never good when he’s angry.
“I got sent a . . . photo of Nick and the girl he’s on and off with . . .” I leave it vague, hoping they can fill in the blanks and I don’t have to explain. That’s just embarrassing. I wipe my eyes, ridding the last of any tears.
“Do you still have the photo?” my mom asks me, leaning into me so she can make eye contact. I shake my head and tell her that I had deleted it. “Okay, Carter, you’re going to have to explain a little more than a photo. What were they doing?” She tilts her head to the side, sending me a small smile. Her motherly instincts are coming out, and I know she’ll go all mama bear for me.
“She was on top of him.” She nods understandingly. My father’s hands crunch into a tight fist, allowing his knuckles to crack. Now he’s fuming.
“Rodger, honey, calm down. He might have a good explanation. He’s a good kid, you said so yourself.” She tilts her head back to look at my dad, who snaps his eyes down to her. Softening his expression a lot more than before, he kisses her and nods.
“I know, I just don’t want to see my baby hurt that’s all.” I smile to my dad. I love this man so much. He’s always been my best friend. He’s my rock.
“Have you spoken to him since?” I shake my head in return. I don’t want to see him. “Listen, honey, if you don’t hear him out on what he has—”
“Absolutely not!” my dad interrupts her with so much hate in his voice. He has changed his tune, that’s what happens when he thinks about the situation. He shuts any ideas down that don’t match his own.
“Rodger! Zip it or you can leave!” My mom responds in an even more angry tone than he has. My dad closes his mouth in an instant and stares at her, knowing if he says any more she’ll verbally punch him in the gut. My mom is not a person you would want to argue with; ever. She wins every time, even when she’s wrong.
“Now, as I was saying, you need to talk to him, sweetheart. It might not be what it looks like, or it might be what it looks like. You’ll never know the full story unless you ask. If you like him as much as I think you do, you should give him a chance. Just hear him out.” I sigh, knowing that she’s right, but I’m in no rush to talk to him. I’m so upset with him right now. “Don’t say no to the idea, honey, you’ll regret it. I know you will.” I nod, but only because I need her to drop the topic. I’ll let her think I will, but in the back of my own mind, I know it’ll take time for me to talk to him.
Later that night, my dad is lying in bed with me alone in my room. I’m cuddled up to him with his laptop on the table, readying ourselves to watch the game. Nick and TJ are starting, and my eyes are glue to the blond-haired hunk warming up. The cameras are focused on him as he runs some drills with his teammates.
“The kid has a good step,” my dad says with admiration, referring to TJ running the line of drills set up for him and only him. He’s like lightning. He has one of the quickest sidesteps I’ve ever seen. Chris would be jealous.
The cameras go to Ryan, who is warming up his arms and talking to another teammate. I look away from the screen and down at my hands. “You know, you don’t have to like boys if you don’t want to, honey. It’ll be a lot less stressful for me and your brothers if you decided to just stick to your girlfriends.” I roll my eyes and laugh at him. My dad hates the mention of boys when it comes to me. I giggle again as I think about it.
“At this moment in time, Dad, it looks like you’ll be getting your wish.” I lean back on his shoulder, snuggling into his body. “You can be the only man I love, Dad,” I whisper to him, and he kisses my head for a long time.
“I am the only man you’ll ever love, honey. Keep it that way.” He chuckles, and we hear the commotion in the stadium on the screen in front of us. Watching the guys run out onto the field, we are ready to go.
Submerged in this game, my brothers join us before the kick off. We’re all yelling at the screen as if we’re there, instructing to run the ball over and over again. Nick isn’t playing good at all, but his team is still winning. He’s fumbling the ball and not passing to Ryan at all even though he’s open. Sometimes, he makes a run himself but doesn’t get very far.
“Come on, kid!” My dad sighs at how badly he’s playing. I can see the frustration on his face. The guys are trying to give him a pep talk, but he isn’t listening to a single word. He just walks off and ignores them. Resuming his position, he calls the play again but gets squashed. Once the guys get off of him, Nick punches the ground and stands on his feet. TJ grabs his helmet to say something him but Nick pushes him off.
“He’s angry. He’s going to get benched. If he was my player, I would’ve done it in the second quarter. He’s either going to get hurt or someone else is,” my dad commentates, not removing his eyes from the screen. We’re all watching him boil with anger. They take their positions once again, and he calls the play. As soon as he gets it, he sees TJ making a run towards the end zone. He throws it in the air, allowing it to spiral; a perfect pass.
“Nice throw! Damn, this kid is good,” Austin mumbles. TJ gets the touchdown and we all cheer and clap for him. “The other guy is wide open all the time though,” my brother acknowledges the most obvious flaw in the play, as does my dad.
Next thing we see is Ryan bashing his body against Nick, then fists start swinging. “They must not like each other.” My dad shakes his head at the sight of the crowded bodies around them trying to pull them off one another. Nick is dragged off of Ryan once again, who has his helmet on the ground beside him.
I sit there, frozen, and comment, “They hate each other.” Watching both boys being pushed into the locker rooms by staff members is kind of embarassing.
“Why? They both turned into animals there.” Austin leans nearer to the screen, watching the team stand there with their hands on their hips, looking at the two guys being put out of the game by the referee.
“I went on a date with that guy, Ryan, and Nick didn’t like it. He said some pretty crude things about me, too, so Nick beat him to a pulp for that.” Ryan’s head becomes visible again and I see nothing but black and blue bruises coating his face. I gasp at the sight of him. His right eye is barely open. That’s not from the party, nor tonight.
When did that happen?My guess it was Nick too.
