“A father shouldn’t have to bribe his daughter to spend time with him.”
“You’re right about that, too.”
She shakes her head. “You have some work to do, Kerry.”
“I know.”
“Let’s go to your stupid training session. But if evenoneof those losers says anything…”
“Then you have my permission to do whatever you want with him; as long as you don’t ruin your school career. If that happens, there’s no way Jordan will ever give me another chance.
When we get to the gym, there are only two kids waiting on the steps.
“Hey! You two! What are you doing just sitting there?”
“We’re waiting for the others.”
“Get up, then! You don’t just sit around when you’re waiting!” I gesture at them to get off their arses, and watch as the begrudgingly get up and come towards us.
“Let’s start with some warm-ups.”
“Don’t we all have to warm up together?” one of them asks.
“As soon as the others arrive, they can join in.”
“But that means we’ll be running for longer.”
“It means you’ll have trained harder.”
“I don’t think it works like that, Kerry,” Skylar points out.
I scoff. Apparently, I’m not even allowed to have fun with my own team.
“The others can make up for the extra laps afterwards. Better?”
The two boys mutter under their breath, disgruntled, before running off, slowly.
“You know what you’re doing, don’t you?” Skylar asks.
“I played for twenty years. I think I might just know what I’m doing. You should trust the coach.”
She rolls her eyes, before letting her gaze land over my shoulder.
“What is it?” I ask, turning.
“You set this up, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t—”
“Is that why you made me come with you today?”
I turn nervously to face my daughter. “I swear I didn’t know he’d come. Okay, I suggested he try out for some teams, but I never thought he’d show up here.”
“You’re a liar.”
“I swear, Skylar, I had no idea.”
“I don’t believe you,” she spits angrily, before storming towards the exit, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the gym. When she strides past Carter, he raises his hand in greeting; but she responds with a much less friendly gesture.
