What I didn’t expect was for her to reduce everything we had to a mistake. Like I meant nothing to her. That thought alone stopped me from hitting send.
Maybe she was right. Maybe being with mewastoo much. It wouldn’t be the first time someone walked away.
Every girl I was interested in during high school onlywanted me for my last name. Like being with me lifted them higher on the food chain at school. They didn’t actually care about me.
Emily left when things got hard. Outside perspective's got in the way, and she let them change how she saw me. Instead of staying, she left without a fight.
Hell, even my own father left without a backward glance. The moment I was born, he decided having three kids was too much. He packed his bags and left my mom to raise my brothers and me. He never once tried to reach out. And while I hated the man, there was still a part of me that felt betrayed that he didn’t stick around to see me grow up.
Everyone always left. So why wouldn’t Emmie?
“Hey, you good?” A hard slap on my shoulder jerked me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m good.” I turned my screen off and put my phone in my locker before turning to Jake.
The look on his face said he didn’t believe me. “You sure? You’ve been off this whole week.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Perry interjected.
“No.” It was the same answer I told him the last four times he asked. The two of them meant well, but I didn’t want to talk about it. It was easier to not feel anything at all.
Team practice and needing to take Tucker out were the only reasons I left my apartment. If he hadn’t needed to go for walks, I would have just stayed in my bed until practice and today's game.
Ignoring the glance they shared, I stood to pull my shoulder pads on. I needed to focus on the game that was about to start in thirty minutes. Everything else would have to wait. I was heartbroken and miserable, but my team needed me.
We only had one more game after this before our bye week. That meant in two weeks it was my mother’s wedding.A wedding she texted and called about nonstop. But I didn’t want to think about showing up without Emmie and having to answer all the questions as to why she wasn’t there. Let alone the pitying looks I’d no doubt get when they learned we weren’t together anymore.
I tried my best to shove that all aside as I finished putting my gear on. I was in the middle of tying my cleats when Coach stepped into my side view clad in his usual black athlete pants, paired with a black sweatshirt with the team's name and logo on it.
“How are you feeling about today's game?” he asked as I straightened to give him my full attention. He was Emmie’s father, but he was also my coach, so it wasn’t like I could ignore him.
My jaw tightened. I knew what he was really asking.
“Good.”
Those green eyes so similar to Emmie’s looked me over. Like he knew how I was actually feeling. I wanted to ask if he saw and talked to Emmie, but I bit back the questions.
“Okay.” He gave me a nod. “Focus on the game. You’ll have time to make things right after.”
That was all he said before he turned on his heel and walked off, no doubt that last part pertaining to Emmie and me. It took everything I had not to follow after him and ask more questions.
I faced my cubby, gripping the metal edges so I wouldn’t reach out and grab my phone.
“Why don’t you just suck his dick while you’re at it?” a voice muttered from behind me.
I turned to find Duncan Jennings standing there, a sneer on his face. He was dressed in his uniform even though he wouldn’t step foot on the field for today’s game.
“Excuse me?”
I heard him. I just wanted to see if he’d repeat it. Thefucker was supposed to have been traded, but two weeks ago, the trade fell through. Probably because they realized he couldn’t throw for shit, and his personality was that of a bowling ball.
“From the moment you showed up, you’ve been given special treatment.” Duncan took a step forward. His eyes were blazing, looking a bit wild and unhinged. Like something inside of him snapped. I knew he was trying to bate me for a reaction.
“Have you been fucking his daughter this whole time? Is that why you’re Coach’s favorite?”
The mention of Emmie made my hackles rise.
“What the fuck did you just say?” I took a step toward him, hands curled into fists at my sides. My voice was loud enough to echo through the locker room, causing heads to turn in our direction.
