Page 75 of The Playmaker

“Cole?”

“Son,” my dad says, and my gaze flies to his. I take in his grey pallor, his self-righteous composure, despite the renal failure.

“Don’t fucking call me that.”

A sound catches in Nina’s throat, and she flinches.

I shake my head. Why the fuck would she invite my father to dinner without running it by me first?

“Come on now, Cole. Aren’t you a little too old to be acting like this?” He makes a grunting sound, disgust for my behavior evident in the crook of his lips. “Still so much of your mother in you.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, my emotions in turmoil. I flinch when Tabby puts her hand on me.

“Cole,” she says. “I need to get out of here.”

“Tabby?” Jack says, as confused as Nina by this turn of events. And why wouldn’t they be? Tabby and I can put on a good show when we want to. But still, Nina had no right to go behind my back and do this.

“Cole, I thought—”

“Don’t,” I say, the harshness in my tone striking her like the sting of a skipping rope. I take a deep breath and try to calm down. But I’m such a fucking mess. Never in my life had I expected to see the man who beat the hell out of me on a daily basis sitting at my kitchen island, like it’s where he belongs. I walked in here ill prepared for that.

I lift my gaze, direct it at Nina. “What were you thinking?”

Tabby tugs at me. “It’s not her fault.”

“Then whose fault is it?”

“She didn’t know, Cole. You know that.”

“Tabby,” Jack says again, and she turns to him.

She grabs his hand. “We need to get out of here.”

Without question, he nods.

“Tabby, don’t,” I say, and reach for her. I can’t handle her walking out that door on me, too. What if, like Mom, she doesn’t come back?

As if privy to my thoughts, she says, “We’ll come back later.”

“Weren’t you even going to tell me you were home, girl?” Dad says, and I pla

ce my body between my father and sister, to block his view. Old habits die hard, I guess.

“Okay, go. We’ll talk later.” I take in the confusion on Jack’s face. “Take care of her, okay?” He nods, and puts his arm around her shaking body and leads her outside.

My fingers curl into fists at my sides as I turn back around. Nina brought my father here, and now my sister is leaving because of it.

“You shouldn’t have done this, Nina. You shouldn’t have fucking done this. You had no right, and totally overstepped boundaries.”

“I thought—”

“We’re fuck buddies, remember?” I say, and don’t care if my father is listening.

She flinches at the reminder, and the hurt in her eyes tears at my heart. But I’m such a goddamn mess right now, my father’s presence throwing me off my game, that I don’t seem to have any control over my stupid fucking mouth.

“You need to leave,” I say, fully aware that anything else I say is going to hurt her. Okay, maybe Tabby was right. Maybe she didn’t know, but she never should have brought anyone into my home without my permission. She knows me well enough to know that, right?

Then again, how could she?

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