Eli
“Well, man—”Cody slaps my back. “Glad to see the old Eli back.”
“Great to be back.” It’s been a week since Emma and I got back together. In that time, she’s slept over at my place three times. Three amazing times. I can’t get enough of the girl.
“Jesus,” our bitter goalie grunts. “You disgust me.”
They all know about me and my girl. Hell, I can’t help but talk about her, and we’ve got hours on the team bus together, so they’ve also listened in while I was on the phone with her. I’ve heard everything from “you sicken me” to “lucky bastard” from my teammates.
It doesn’t matter what anyone says. The fact of the matter is, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I smile constantly and not just when she’s with me. Hell, I’m grinning from ear to ear as I speak.
“So you’re going out with your parents this weekend? The four of you?”
“Yes.” My smile fades. “Mom loves her.”
“Probably a good thing we didn’t mention that whole cheating thing.”
“She didn’t cheat on me and you know it. It was her sister.” A sister who hasn’t reappeared since that night. A fact that worries Emma because she didn’t go home.
“I know. It’s just a good thing Helene Baxter doesn’t know about it.”
True. Or Jack Baxter for that matter. “Well, neither of them knows about any of it, so there’s no need to worry about it.”
“Guess not.” Cody slaps my back again. “I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the restaurant just to watch your dad.”
“He’ll come around.” He has to.
* * *
“You look lovely tonight, Emma,”my mom says as we sit down at our table at Chez Paul. The spot of our first date––the one that didn’t happen. Well, it did, but I wouldn’t call it an official first date. Which makes me think, we haven’t really had a real first date. I’ll need to remedy that.
“Thank you, Mrs. Baxter. So do you.” My girl is so nervous. I can practically feel her shaking from my seat next to her. Reaching out, I place my palm on her upper thigh and give it a little squeeze. I hear her release a breath and know that it’s helping, so I keep my hand there. It’s the least I can do.
“Helene, honey. Call me Helene.”
“Helene,” Emma repeats.
I look over at my dad who’s sipping from a short glass of amber liquid. Bourbon. The man loves the stuff, but he can only handle one glass. If he has two or more, he becomes a bigger asshole than usual. One is just enough to soothe the savage beast.
“And you can call him Jack.” Mom says with a smirk.
Dad remains silent.
I hate it.
Why does he have to be such an asshole?
I give Emma’s thigh another squeeze and look over at her and smile. I hope it’s a reassuring smile for her.
“What does your father do, Emily?”
And there he is. The fucker I’ve known my whole life. “It’s Emma, Dad.”
He shrugs.
“Both of my parents work at Wal-Shop.”
Jack Baxter scoffs. “So landing Eli’s really going to help your family out. Especially when he gets to the pros.”
