Fuck.
“And who are you?” JP asks Bex. “I don’t think we’ve met.”
“Bex Bryant,” she lilts.
His eyes travel from Bex to me. “I can’t believe Preston has a girlfriend. Would you look at that?”
Bex’s expression turns to stone. She stares at JP, unblinking, unmoving, as if she’s frozen to her chair. Coach Bryant picks up on her reaction, and his eyes narrow, as if he’s just now understanding why he was invited to dinner.
“Bex and Preston are friends,” Coach Bryant says.
“I know my brother, and these two are definitely more than friends.” I shoot him a look to stop him from going any further, but he keeps going. “How come you didn’t tell me, little bro? I haven’t heard from you in over a month.”
Because I was too busy fucking Bex in every place on and off campus I could find.
Coach Bryant makes note of Bex’s awkward silence and my nervous fidgeting. “Is there something going on between you two?”
Who should answer? Bex or me?
“Coach,” I start. “I was gonna talk to you about this.”
He seems confused, but clearly understands I went behind his back. Thanks to JP, my favorite coach is now about to hate me. He holds the keys to my future in his hand. If he wants, he can take it out on me, bench me whenever he sees fit. Would he do that? I sure as hell hope not, or I can kiss my hockey career goodbye.
“My bad.” JP fills his plate with food. “I didn’t know you guys were…”
He doesn’t even know what to say, none of us do.
“How was the weather in New York?” Mom asks JP to change the subject.
“Worse than it is here. They had at least two more inches.”
The conversation returns to normal, with Coach Bryant shooting devious stares in my direction. He shakes his head at Bex and me, disappointed. She looks as though she wants to crawl under the table. I move my hand to her thigh, slipping her fingers between mine.
“It will be okay,” I say under my breath.
“I hope so,” she whispers.
For a split second, I wonder if this will ruin our relationship. The thought of returning to a life without Bex guts me. I hate the powerless feeling associated with being in love. It rips you apart from the inside out.
Chapter Eighteen
Bex
My dad drives in silence, his hands clutching the steering wheel so tight his knuckles are white. Fear shakes through me the further we drive without speaking a word. He hasn’t been this quiet since my mom left. For weeks after she was gone, he sat in the living room, staring at the TV with no sound.
“Say something, please,” I choke out the words. “I know you’re mad. So just get it over with. Yell at me. Tell me that I’m making a horrible decision. But don’t ignore me.”
“How could you, Bex?” His face scrunches in anger. “After everything that happened with Kellan.”
“Preston is nothing like Kellan. He’s decent and good. And he cares about me.”
“He might care about you now, but what happens after graduation? That kid is the real deal. He’s going to be a star… just like his dad.”
“Look how everything turned out for his parents. They seem happy. Just because his dad was a pro hockey player doesn’t mean he’s an asshole. What Preston does for a living doesn’t define him.”
“His dad was known as the King of Puck Bunny Scandals before he met Coach. He didn’t settle down with her until he’d hit rock bottom. Once Preston gets a taste of the life, and is traveling around the country, he won’t have time for you. I don’t want you to get left behind.”
“Why? Because Mom did it to you?”
His expression turns to pain, maybe sadness. “Watch it, Bex. At least I didn’t run away when the times got tough. I stuck it out. I did the best I could to raise you. All I want is what’s best for you. And it’s not Preston Parker. Maybe five or ten years from now I would change my mind, but you’re both so young.”
I cross my arms over my chest, my jaw set hard as I stare out the window and watch the cars pass us by on the highway. “I’m in love with him, Dad. There isn’t a thing you can do to change that.”
He sighs. “You might think you’re in love with that boy but love fades. Time and distance will change how you feel about each other.”
“I know I broke your rules, and I’m sorry.”
“Honey, you were in bad shape after what happened with Kellan. I didn’t know what to do back then. I forbade you from going near my players, and you still ended up with that piece of shit. All I want to do is keep you from getting hurt again. You are my number one priority. If you’re in pain, I will feel it, too. And I would do anything to take it away. You have no idea how much I wished I could back then. I thought that by coming to Strick U instead of Boston College, I could help you somehow.”