Page 10 of I Got You

My phone rings. Cole.

I swipe. “I don’t even want to hear it.”

“Mags, come on. I had no idea Coach Carter would give you a hard time.” I don’t say anything because I want him to feel bad for a little longer. “I’m really sorry. What did he say to you anyway?”

“Nothing. I think he takes that whole wearing a whistle thing a little too seriously.”

His laugh gets me like it always does. “I know he said something to piss you off. I’m sorry I was late. Coach pulled me into a meeting about this year’s benefit.”

“It’s fine. Coach Crabby Pants is the least of my worries. Did you talk to Amy today? I tried to catch her on my way home, but she was already gone.”

Amy is our dad’s primary nurse at the long-term care facility where he’s stayed for the past couple of years.

“I talked to her around lunchtime. She said Dad was having a good day.”

A good day for our dad is barely eating and maybe a smile if you’re lucky.

“Liv asked me tonight if she could visit him soon. That was after she asked me if I thought her mom was looking for her.”

Cole lets out a breath. “That sucks. What do you think about taking the kids to see Dad? Probably on some level, he’d enjoy it.”

Just the thought that he doesn’t know when we visit or talk to him makes me sick to my stomach. “I don’t know.” I push out a breath. “I think it’s harder on the boys to see him like that. It took them days to readjust after the last time. I think Liv is trying to make sense of a lot of things right now. I’m not sure seeing him would really help.”

“I’ll go with you if you decide you want to take them.”

“Ok. Did practice go ok after I left? You guys are looking good from the little bit that I saw.”

“Yeah. I’m anxious to see how Coach Carter beefs up our defense. He’s been lying back, but I think he’s about to let loose. He’s going to be good.”

“I hope he can look a little less constipated for opening day.”

Cole snorts. “I’ll make that suggestion.”

“Please do. Let him know that’s my expert opinion.”

“Love you, Mags.”

“Love you too.”

We hang up, and I lay listening to commentators talk about the upcoming season and who’s on fire. I remember the days when I’d hear them talk about my dad, and soon it'll be Cole who’s lighting up a field somewhere.

I think about my dad and all the years he spent playing football, only to end up like this. It was his life, but not so much that he didn’t make me and Cole his first priority after Mom died.

When he wasn’t away playing, he was there for every one of Cole’s games and every single recital or show, holding flowers and hugging me like he was the proudest man alive. I miss him every single day and still want to make him proud.

It takes me a while to fall asleep, but before I do, the last thing that rolls through my mind on this particular night is the look on Shane Carter’s face when he realized I might know just a little something about his game.

Chapter 4

SHANE

I swing open the door to the gym, and students are everywhere. Don't morning classes exist anymore? There's a certain level of dread I've recently become comfortable with, but today, the little ticker is pushing past the tolerable line.

This isn't what I want to be doing right now. I'd really rather be doing just about anything, apart from getting my eyes jabbed out with a hot poker, and for two days, I've tried to avoid it. I've tried to ignore my conscience and move on with my life, but despite my best efforts, here I am.

What Cole said in my office stuck with me like an annoying PR person after a night of debauchery. That twenty-two-year-old kid laid into me when it came to his sister. Now I'm hunting her down like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs and hating every freaking second of it.

I look around the main area filled with equipment. I used to spend my days in a state-of-the-art training facility, but since my injury and all of the physical therapy after, I now prefer to work out in the privacy of my own garage. Alone.

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