chest when I heard her footsteps crossing the room, getting closer. I breathed a sigh of relief and took a step back from the door, waiting for it to open.
My hopes were dashed when two seconds later, “Move Along” by the All-American Rejects blasted from her speakers. I jumped back realizing why her footsteps had come so close to the door. She’d put a speaker right on the other side of it and had cranked up the volume. Her music was so fucking loud it shook the walls.
Move along. Cute, Rebel, cute.
“I’ll camp outside your door until you let me in,” I yelled over the music.
“Go. Home.”
I sat outside her door and leaned my forearms on my bent knees. I was still sitting there, listening to her angry-girl emo music when my dad’s work boots appeared in front of me. I lifted my head and met his glare. His jaw was clenched and he looked as if he was two seconds away from losing his shit.
“It’s time for school.”
“I’m not going.” I kicked my legs out in front of me, crossed my arms over my chest and leaned my back against the door, settling in for the long haul.
“Jude.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and spoke through clenched teeth. “Get the hell off the floor and get your ass home now. Or there will be hell to pay. Understand?”
“I can’t go to school. Not now when...” I jerked my thumb at the door behind me. Fill in the blanks, Dad. Sad girl was on the other side, maybe crying her heart out and how was I supposed to just leave her like this?
I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
“It’s game night. You’re the star quarterback.” Like football was the most important thing at a time like this. “You need to go to school and you need to tough it out. Everyone’s expecting a win tonight.”
Tough it out. My dad’s catchphrase. McCallisters are winners, not quitters. That was his other famous line. Nothing short of victory was acceptable.
If I didn’t go home with him now there really would be hell to pay.
So I took a few deep breaths through my nose then got to my feet. It was a Friday. Game night. And I had no idea how I was going to lead my team to victory after Lila had just lost her mom. But that was what was expected of me.
Every single Friday night during football season I went out on that field and I left it all out there. My blood, my sweat, and my mother’s tears when I got sacked and ended up with a concussion three weeks ago. The following Monday I was right back out there on that field for practice. Because that’s what winners did. They got back in the game no matter what.
Coach expected me to deliver. My teammates expected it. Hell, the whole goddamn town expected it.
But no matter how well I played, my dad would still point out what I could have done better. I always dreaded Saturday morning breakfast because that was when he went through the game, citing play-by-play and pointing out any weaknesses in my game.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved football and I loved my dad. But sometimes he was a hard ass and a taskmaster who demanded nothing less than excellence from me. Tough love, he called it when he had me doing drills at six in the morning on weekends. He was the same with Jesse, who had gotten into motocross this past summer. And the same with Brody’s rodeo competitions.
We had to be the best, and nothing less would suffice.
With Gideon, my dad didn’t know what the hell to do. Gideon hated playing sports. The funny part was that he had a lot of natural ability but he hated the way my dad got all competitive so he half-assed it which always led to arguments and slammed doors.
Now, my dad and I crossed the Turners’ front lawn, the soles of my feet stinging from the cuts I’d gotten on my barefoot jog to her front door.
“What the hell were you thinking, punching Derek?” my dad asked.
He told my dad I punched him? That fucking weasel. “It was a misunderstanding.” He raised his brows, waiting for an explanation. “I thought he was...” I cleared my throat, embarrassed about my assumptions but not entirely sorry for my actions. “... being inappropriate with Lila,” I finished, trying to put it delicately and not paint myself as the world’s biggest asshole.