Of course he didn’t want to listen. He didn’t want to know what drove this. He just wanted to bitch about it. I squared my shoulders, pulling myself to my full height, which made Daddy do the same.
“I’m sorry I disappointed you,” I said. And it was the truth, as badly as I hated to admit it. Still, it’d have been nice if he’d just listen for once.
He exhaled with a quick sigh, then waved at his office door. “You’re grounded.”
I nodded without a word and turned to leave.
Daddy stopped me before I took one step. “I can’t take your truck or phone because of your sister, but you’re to stay at home unless you’re at school or running an errand for me. Got it?”
I nodded again, not asking any particulars, like for how long, and piss him off more.
“The correct answer is ‘yes, sir,’ Calvin.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. And this had better be the end of this shit. You’re not a troublemaker, so start acting like an adult. Or kiss those dreams of college goodbye.”
How would he even know about my college dreams?
And what if I were a troublemaker? What if I was the bad boy for a change instead of the always smiling, always available to help, always taking it on the chin Cal Winters? What then? I didn’t ask, of course, just left him to be pissed in the lonely world he’d created for himself.
I skipped dinner and finished my homework in no time at all. Exhausted, depressed, I ignored texts from Sasha, letting that be tomorrow’s problem, and thankfully passed the fuck out for the night.
Only to be shown how sadistic our teachers could be on day two of my punishment with Jack.
Aftersuccessfullynavigatingafull day of drama, gossip, and overthinking, I’d been in a better mood than last night until I was reminded of detention. Not only was it another hour sitting next to Jack, butfacinghim.
Mr. Hitchcock, our AP English teacher, made us read to each other from the novelJane Eyrefor the entire fucking hour.
We took turns.
While staring at each other.
What sort of fucked-up shit were they teaching these people about how to conduct detention?
Jesus Christ.
I’d never had to look at Jack for so long. And to make it worse, I noticed things I’d never cared to before. Like the one freckle on his left cheek that was a shade darker than the rest. How one side of his mouth quirked higher when he said certain words. How long his fingers were or how often he flicked his head to one side to adjust his bangs before he combed through them with said long fingers.
What was this punishment doing to me?
Needless to say, when we were dismissed, I rushed for the football field, hoping I’d catch the tail end of practice for a shot of testosterone in my veins, for the smell of sweat, grass, and wild onions to clear my lungs of Jack’s cologne.
Cara was with the JV cheer squad at one side of the field, while the players were in the final minutes of drills, when I made my way to the fence at the sidelines.
“Winters.” Michael nodded, then glanced over my shoulder where his stepbrother, Jamie, sat on the bleachers with Asher. “You missing the game too?” Michael asked.
“Nope, only practices.” By now, a few other teammates had turned. “Next week’ll be back to normal,” I added more for myself.
Michael snorted. “Dumbass.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Give him a break, Anderson,” Nick, the other captain with me, said to Michael. “Taking one for the team.” Nick pounded his fist on his chest, then air-kissed in my direction. “Respect.”
I huffed a bitter laugh. “Not quite like that,” I said. “But you can make it up to me by getting the guys to stop all this back-and-forth shit with the soccer team.”
Coach blew his whistle, and everyone turned to see who needed to be where. The special teams were called onto the field, and Nick and Michael relaxed.
