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“I gotta say, this new mascot totally sucks,” Scarlett said.

I glanced over at the side of the court where the Empire High eagle mascot was flapping his wings in a very unbelievable way. It didn’t do anything for me. I smiled. “All mascots suck.”

Scarlett bumped her shoulder against mine. “I couldn’t agree more.”

At the half, Empire High was only up by 3 points. But the crowd stood on their feet shouting and stomping, cheering them on as they headed to the locker rooms.

I was a huge bundle of nerves. I wanted this so badly for Adonis. And total props to Liam and RJ. They’d done tons of those dime passes to Adonis. I’d even yelled “dropping dimes” a few times, because I totally knew what I was talking about.

“Oh my God,” Scarlett said and grabbed my arm.

“What?” I turned toward her.

“Is that him?” She pointed toward the doorway of the gymnasium.

“Who?” Axel asked.

“Adonis’ father,” Scarlett said.

I stood up to get a better view. It certainly looked like him. An older version of Adonis, minus the green eyes. His hair was short on the sides, with a salt and pepper thing going on that I hadn’t gotten from the old picture. But his hair on top was longer and matched Adonis’ dark hair perfectly. He was wearing a fitted suit that looked very out of place in the sea of Empire High orange and blue.

“Yeah,” I said. “I think so.”

“Does he look kind of angry?” Jacob asked. “Or is it just me?”

No, he was right. Mr. Ariti looked a little pissed off. I quickly sat back down, thinking of all the angry words I’d left in my most recent letter. I pressed my lips together. I may have used the words “bad father” more than once.

“Aren’t you going to go say hi?” Scarlett asked.

I shook my head. “This isn’t about me. It’s about Adonis.” Plus my heart was ricocheting around in my chest. Shit, I really hadn’t thought this through. Mr. Ariti was going to hate me. No, scratch that. He already did hate me.

I didn’t even realize the team had come back out until I heard the ref blow the whistle. I was very aware of Mr. Ariti squeezing into a spot in the bleachers, luckily far away from us.

I turned my attention to Adonis. Who didn’t seem to be at all aware that his father had arrived for the second half. I focused on him, tuning out the noise. You’ve got this, Adonis. Show your father what he’s been missing out on.

And Adonis didn’t disappoint. We were up nine points and the clock was getting closer and closer to zero.

Adonis broke away, running down the court and dunking the ball in glorious fashion.

I jumped up and down. “Go, Adonis!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“He’s looking,” Scarlett whispered.

“Yeah he is.” I blew a kiss at Adonis on the court.

Adonis laughed and stared up at me as he did that back-peddling thing I loved. It was like he could never get enough of looking at me. And I felt exactly the same way.

“Not your boyfriend,” Scarlett said. “Your boyfriend’s father.”

I glanced toward Adonis’ father, whose eyes had narrowed on the jersey number I was wearing. And he did not look pleased. I swallowed hard.

I looked back out on the court. But Adonis wasn’t looking back at me. He must have followed my gaze, because he was staring at his father.

Someone from the other team hit his elbow against Adonis back while Adonis wasn’t paying attention. The guy kept jogging.

“Foul!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

The ref blew the whistle, agreeing with my expert call.