father biologically, but he’s been the only father figure I’ve known since the dad I share DNA with died when I was two. More often than not, I call him by the title he’s more than earned.
He glances over his shoulder before stepping the rest of the way into my bedroom. I straighten at his approach, instantly feeling the full weight of the strain that has been on our relationship since the start of the season.
“Before you leave, there are a few things we need to discuss.”
“Okay…” I fold my arms across my chest.
“I’m not sure this…” Brantley pauses as if searching for the correct word to use. When he finds it, I almost wish he hadn’t. “Girl is the best thing for you.”
My shoulders bunch, almost hitting my ears at the unexpected reference to Kay.
“Come again?” I choke down the rush of protectiveness I feel and remind myself this is my stepdad I’m talking to.
“I know you think you love her, bu—”
“It’s not a thought. It’s a certainty.”
He sighs heavily, running a hand over his carefully styled hair. It doesn’t matter that it’s a Sunday and the rest of the family is in different variations of lounge clothes: a combination of sweats, faded t-shirts, loose Henleys, yoga pants, and, in Livi’s case, taco-printed pajama bottoms. Not Brantley—nope, he’s paired his chinos that have a crease sharp enough to break skin with a white polo shirt.
“Mason.” He tries to patronize me.
On edge after last night, I warn, “I’d choose your next words carefully.”
Not gonna lie, I’m a little perplexed. Sure, when I first started dating Kay, Brantley wasn’t her biggest fan, though that had more to do with him blaming her—unwarrantedly—for Olly quitting football, but I thought we were past that. Olly is happier than I’ve ever seen him cheering for NJA, and with Kay as his coach, he has a good shot at getting a scholarship for it.
When things proved to be getting serious between Kay and me, Brantley tried to express concerns over a girlfriend pulling focus away from football. Mom shut that argument down real fast. If only Brantley knew Kay thinks the idea of me not following through with his plans for my career is laughable. I may have broached the subject with her a few times, but until I make an actual decision on what I want to do about the draft, I can’t utter a word to Brantley.
Besides, with the exception of the game after I broke up with Kay—and yes I can admit I was a jumping-to-conclusions asshole—my stats in a single season have never been better. Hell, my girl knows the game in a way that means she can talk strategy with the guys and me on the rare instances she watches extra game film with us.
The worst was the time Brantley tried to insinuate Kay was a jersey chaser who only saw me as her future meal ticket. I laughed in his face over that one, though I was surprised he hadn’t already run a background check on her and discovered her own personal athlete connection.
“I’m sorry, son.” There’s genuine emotion in Brantley’s voice that helps soothe the beast inside my chest—marginally. “I’m just concerned she might have a negative impact on your career.” Fuck me, now he sounds like Kay. “We’ve been working toward the NFL for most of your life.” Always with the collective pronoun. “I don’t want some girl and her drama to cost you everything we’ve worked for.”
Whatever ease I was starting to feel vanishes at him referring to my girl, my Skittles, my everything as “some girl”. I let it go for the moment and focus on the bigger issue at hand.
“It’s not Kay’s ‘drama’.” I use exaggerated air quotes. I am the one who has brought the drama, not Kay. It’s the CasanovaWatch hashtag that led to the creation of the CasanovasMysteryGirl one. I don’t care that Liam Parker is her ex. It was her connection to me that brought him back into her life.
“Liam Parker is her ex-boyfriend, is he not?” Brantley asks, picking up on my thoughts. I grind my back teeth together but reluctantly nod. He holds up his hands as if to say I rest my case, the lawyer in him shining through.
“Liam”—I spit out his name—“hadn’t made contact with Kay in years. He didn’t come slithering back into her life like the snake he is until he found out she and I were dating.”