And Robert almost choked on his saliva. He stumbled over his words and uttered a bunch of incoherent syllables that sounded like gibberish. At least he managed to shake her hand.
Coach clapped his hand on Robert’s shoulder and let out a hearty laugh. “What’s the matter, Blade? Didn’t expect someone as young and pretty as Catherine to be married to an old war horse like me?”
Coach’s wife laughed playfully and swatted his arm. “Stop it, Vic.” Then she turned her attention back to Robert with a knowing twinkle in her familiar eyes. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Mr. Blade. And not just from my husband.”
The blood ran from Robert’s face, and his eyes shot to Coach.
“Aren’t you gonna say anything, Blade, or are you just gonna stand there with your mouth hanging open?”
“It’s nice to meet you . . .”
“Catherine,” Coach supplied when Robert failed to address her.
“Catherine,” Robert repeated, his heart racing and his thoughts whirling. He had a million questions, and he needed to get the hell out of there before he blurted them all out at once. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude, but I gotta go. There’s an emergency at home I need to deal with. I’m sorry. It was very nice to meet you, Catherine. Coach, I’m catching the next flight back to Newark.”
“Blade!” Coach called, as Robert ran toward the showers. “Everything OK?”
Robert didn’t bother to answer. He took the quickest shower in his life and shot out of the locker room as if it were on fire.
“You’re Coach’s daughter?” Robert shouted the question at Amber the second she opened the door, even though he already knew the answer. It came out harsher than expected, but he didn’t care because he was pissed as fuck. “Why didn’t you tell me? How could you keep this from me?”
He stormed past her and into the apartment, but she grabbed his arm to stop him. When he turned to look at her, all the color had drained from her face, and her eyes were fiery and wide with fear.
“I was going to tell you. You didn’t—”
“Didn’t what? Give you a chance? You had dozens of chances. I asked you a million times why you didn’t want me to meet your parents.” He threw his hands up in the air. “Now, I fucking know!”
“How did you find out?”
“Does it matter?”
“Of course, it matters.” She sounded panicked, her voice shrieky and her eyes bulging. “Does my father know?”
Robert paused to think about the answer. “No. He didn’t act like it.”
“What happened?”
“Your mother showed up at tonight’s game. She came by the locker room and specifically asked to meet me. You look exactly like her, Amber. I knew the moment I saw her, and I acted like a complete jerk. I was so shocked that I couldn’t form a fucking sentence.”
She let out a long, relieved sigh while she placed a hand on her forehead, and some of the anxiety in her posture dissipated. “My mother knows. I told her. But I made her promise not to say anything to my father. I want her there to support me when I tell him.”
This was bad. Really fucking bad. “He’s going to lose his fucking shit when he finds out,” Robert said.
“That’s why I’ve been putting it off.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me. Wait.” He stopped, recalling a previous conversation with Amber and feeling sick about it. “You told me your father was a truck driver. You lied. Why’d you lie to me? You’re supposed to be in love with me. You’re supposed to trust me.”
“Iamin love with you, and I do trust you.” Her eyes turned pleading. “I’m sorry. The question caught me by surprise. I didn’t know what to say.”
“How about the truth?”
The corners of her mouth curved downward, and she lowered her gaze to the floor. “I know. You’re right. I’m sorry.”
The conversations with Manny popped into his head, and he realized why she avoided answering his questions at the Halloween party. “You never went to Paramus High. Did you? That was a lie too. Wasn’t it?”
Her forehead wrinkled, and her mouth turned into a grimace. “Just a little white lie. I’m so, so sorry, Robert.”
The deceit made his heart sink and left an unfamiliar ache in his chest. “Why? Why’d you lie about where you went to high school?”
