Dirty Player - A Football Romance (A Maxwell Family Romance) Page 13

  And then I saw her. She was sitting across the room, alone, eating her sandwich and reading a book. No wonder I hadn’t noticed her. I had been looking for a redhead, but she’d gone back to her original blonde color. She looked more like Bridgette Bardot than ever before, and she reminded me of the little eleven-year-old that I had known all those years ago. Seeing her there, with her new hair, made me sad. She looked so beautiful. The red hair had suited her, but it had given her a wild and almost unapproachable look. The blonde hair changed that. She looked like the sort of person that everyone would want to hang around. She looked sweet, and kind, and everything that I knew her to be.

  I couldn’t stop watching her. I thought of going to try to talk to her but then saw a young girl sit down beside her. The two of them began to talk, and I saw a small smile playing on Candice’s face. She had a friend. Maybe I had done the right thing by breaking up with her. I looked around for any signs of Derek but could not see him.

  “Penny for your thoughts.”

  I jumped up at the voice and then laughed when I saw it was Harry wearing the most ridiculous flamingo t-shirt I had ever seen.

  “Nice shirt,” I said sarcastically.

  “Thank you,” he said completely missing my sarcasm and taking it seriously. “Why are you so serious today? You looked a million miles away.”

  “I was just thinking about practice later.”

  He groaned. “Don’t remind me. That Coach Bane is working us to the ground. I barely have any time to go out these days. I’m the party guy, man. But lately, I’m the party guy that just wants to sleep.”

  I laughed. “Yeah. I know what you mean. I feel the same. That and school work is keeping me way too busy.”

  “Don’t even talk to me about school work. I have like three assignments due next week, and every time I want to do them, I find myself drifting.”

  “Yeah, same here,” I said.

  “Oh, I saw your girlfriend this morning. She’s gone blonde. I almost didn’t recognize her. It looks good.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” I said. “But yeah, it does look good.”

  “Ah, shit, I should’ve known. You’ve been acting weird lately. And even she looks depressed. What happened?”

  I shook my head. I didn’t want to talk about it. “Mind if we don’t talk about it?” I said. “Don’t mean to be rude, but it’s not the easiest conversation.”

  “Yeah, man. Of course. Anyway, I have to rush to my next class. I have to get there early to copy some work from someone.”

  I laughed. “Good luck.”

  “Come on, let’s go for a drink afterward. Screw all this work. We need a break.”

  “Sorry man. I have too much to do.”

  “Well, okay then, but you know where to find us if you change your mind.”

  I watched him walk away and turned back towards Candice, but she was gone. I felt disappointed. I was suddenly angry with Harry. Why did he have to come and ruin it all? I had been perfectly fine sitting and watching Candice. Then I felt guilty because it really had nothing to do with Harry at all. The poor guy was just trying to be my friend. I knew I should go and spend time with him and the other guys, but I just felt like distancing myself from everyone as much as possible.

  The only person I did see was Axel. He had tried to get me to try my hand at racing, but as tempting as it was, I decided not to.

  “Come on, man. You’ll love it. And that adrenaline is probably exactly what you need right now to feel better about everything. It’s the best feeling in the world. If you think riding a bike is fun, you won’t believe how good this feels. It takes it to a whole new level. Come on.”

  I shook my head. I wished that I could. Getting my mind off everything sounded like a wonderful idea, but I couldn’t give in to it. Not when things were already so shaky with me. “No. I can’t. It’s tempting, but I really can’t afford to get caught and lose out on my chance of playing in the NFL. That’s still my dream, and I don’t want to ruin something I’ve worked so hard at getting.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. So, other than football, how’s life treating you?”

  I told him all about Candice, about her new blonde hair, and about how I had been avoiding her. Then I told him about the conversation I’d had with my father and how disappointed he had been to hear that I had met up with her again. It was nice to let it all out. I knew that the other guys at school wouldn’t really understand. They would just tell me to ignore my father and her father and to just be with her. They would tell me that football wasn’t as important as I made it out to be. They would give me all the wrong advice.

  “I just can’t understand it, man. I know he doesn’t want me hanging around her because of her father, but why do they have to make their problems our problems.”

  “Ah, you know what it’s like. The union and Candice’s father have never seen eye to eye.”

  “Yeah, and now that Pop is head of the union, it’s made it even tenser. I guess I do understand where he’s coming from. I don’t have kids, so it’s hard for me to really put myself in his position. But it still sucks. Anyway, I’m not seeing her, so I don’t know why I’m so bothered by it all.”

  “You just miss her, that’s all.”

  I looked at Axel and nodded. I was glad to have someone to talk to about everything.

  “Yeah, that’s exactly it. I miss her.” More than I thought possible.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Candice

  It took a lot for my mother to convince me to come to dinner at home. I told her that I wasn’t ready to see my father, but she somehow managed to persuade me that it was a good idea. I knew I couldn’t avoid him forever. Also, I wasn’t even with Dominic anymore, so it seemed pointless to argue.

  There was one shining light in my life in spite of all this. I’d actually made a friend. Lily was a beautiful Japanese girl who had moved to America a few years ago. She understood what it was like to have a domineering father, and the two of us easily connected over these similarities. Her father wasn’t into politics, but he had strong views and believed that she should follow them. I liked Lily. She was fun, and kind, and a ray of sunshine in my otherwise dull life. I was glad that I finally had someone to talk to. I loved my mother, and I knew she was there for me, but it was good to finally talk to someone that didn’t have links to my father. It might have taken me a long time to make a friend, but I was glad that the one that I did make was someone I knew I would be friends for life with. I’d rather have one good friend than have ten that didn’t get me at all.

  Lily had knocked on my door that morning, holding two steaming cappuccinos and a bag of croissants in her hand. I let her in, and we enjoyed a mini breakfast on the floor of my dorm room. For some reason, we always enjoyed sitting on the floor of my room, our backs against the bed or the wall.

  “Bad news,” she said. “I’m not going to be here for spring break.”

  “What? Why not?” I said. I had envisioned the two of us spending all our waking time together. I already had a long list of things I wanted to do with her. We had already talked about it so many times. The thought of her not being there immediately made me feel sad.

  “We’re going to Japan. My father sprung it on us at the last minute. He has some work that he has to attend to. I wished he had at least given me some notice. I thought I was going to spend the whole time with you.”

  “Can’t you stay?” I pleaded.

  She looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Are you kidding me? My dad would never leave my mom and me here unsupervised. Trust me, I tried, but he shook his head sternly like he always does. And my mom is no help. Anyway, she wants to go back. She misses home and all her friends, so she doesn’t mind at all. I tried to get him to take you with us, but he said we have lots of family things to do while we are there.”

  I smiled at her. The fact that she had even asked her father meant a lot to me. “Thank you. That’s so nice of you.”

  “Yeah,” she s
aid while taking a bite of her croissant. “Well, I’m not all that keen on going without you. It would’ve been so much fun with you around. You would’ve been the talk of the town too. The town that I come from doesn’t have many pretty blondes walking around.”

  I giggled. “Oh, that’s a pity. Ah, what am I going to do without you? You’re my partner in crime.”

  “I’m sorry. At least it’s only for two weeks. It will go quickly. Are you thinking of staying here?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. Yeah, maybe. I have dinner with my parents tonight. I’ll see what they say. We still have a few more weeks until spring break, so maybe I’ll come up with something. I know my mom wants me to go home but I’d way rather just stay here. I don’t care how quiet it is around here. I would much rather spend all my time reading and sleeping than trying to avoid my father.”

  She pulled a face. “Argh, dinner tonight? That sounds like fun. Have you seen your father since the fight?” she asked. I had told her all about the last conversation I had with my father.

  I shook my head. “Nope. Not once. We haven’t even talked on the phone. It’s crazy, really. After years of doing everything he asked me to, we are now fighting because of the one time I did something he didn’t like. I had no idea I had so little control over my own life. Anyway, at least with me being in college, he has no idea what’s going on. He probably thinks I’m still running around with Dominic.”

  “Nah, he probably has spies on you. I’m sure he knows you’re not seeing him. Otherwise he would’ve done something about it.”

  I smiled at Lily. She understood my father well even though she had never met him. I liked that I didn’t’ ever really have to explain to her.

  “You’re probably right,” I said. “He probably knows everything. I always underestimate him.”

  “I wonder if he knows about me,” she said. “Hey, you should totally tell him that you’re lesbian now, and that I’m your girlfriend. Can you imagine what he would say about that? Then, when he complains, you can turn around and tell him that he has a choice between me or Dominic. See what he says. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what he says? He’d be stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

  I burst out laughing. “He would have a heart attack. But that really annoys me, you know. I mean, why couldn’t I be with you? Or Dominic for that matter. Yeah, Dominic broke up with me, I know that, but say he didn’t. Why would it be such an issue? Surely the most important thing is me being happy. I’m his daughter. That should be his main concern.” Apparently, so I was told, that is what it was like in other families. Neither Lily or I had any idea what that was like, though. We both had fathers that simply wanted to tell us what to do.

  “No, Candice, don’t you understand? The most important thing is for you to meet a nice man with strong political ambitions. And then you can be a stay-at-home mom, and look after the household. You can cook and clean.”

  I laughed. “Isn’t that what the housekeeper is for?”

  “Oh, of course. My apologies. You can just sit and look pretty then.”

  We both groaned. “What a boring life,” I said. I pitied my mother then. I was sure that she wanted more out of life than just sitting around and being the pretty wife. Why did she put up with him? She deserved more than that.

  “Tell me about it. There is more to life than that.”

  I thought about inviting Lily for dinner that night, but it was going to be awkward enough as it was. The last thing I needed was for my father to hate me more than he already did. And anyway, my plan was to just have dinner and come home. I wasn’t planning on making a long night of it. I was really only doing it for my mother.

  When I arrived home, I was surprised to find my mother opening the door for me this time. She smiled when she saw me.

  “Oh, darling! Your hair! You look so pretty,” she said. I knew she had always hated my red hair. She hadn’t ever really told me, but I had seen it in the look on her face.

  I smiled. “Thanks, Mom. The red was fun for a while, but I wanted to go back to being myself again.”

  “Your father is going to be very pleased.”

  I groaned. “Don’t remind me. I should’ve stayed red then.”

  She chuckled but didn’t say anything. When I walked in, I saw that my father was sitting where he usually sat when someone walked in. On the sofa, his back up, and a magazine sitting on his lap. I saw the surprise on his face when he saw me.

  “Your hair. Much better,” he said.

  I smiled tersely. “Thank you.”

  Dinner was just as tense as I thought it was going to be. My mother had made a lasagna for the family, and I knew that she’d only done it to try and please me. My father, on the other hand, kept going on about why he couldn’t understand why she would cook if she doesn’t have to.

  “What’s the point of a chef if we don’t use him?” he said.

  “Maybe Mom actually likes cooking,” I said.

  “Nonsense. Nobody likes cooking. You do it because you have to. And we have a perfectly good chef here, so I just don’t see the point.”

  “Well, I for one am very happy that Mom cooked. This is my favorite dish, and I appreciate the effort she put in for me. Who needs a chef when you’ve got someone like Mom around?”

  The two of us went on like this for the entire meal, each of us snapping away at each other while my mother tried desperately to placate us. I felt sorry for her, but I couldn’t help myself, and I couldn’t wait to get out of the house. But when I saw the desperation on my mother’s face, I decided to try and be a little nicer.

  “So,” I said. “Did you have a good day, Dad?”

  He looked up, surprised and could see that he was trying to figure out if I was being sarcastic or not. “Yes, it was good,” he said finally. “How about you? How is school?”

  “It’s good. I’ve been getting very good grades, and I’ve been putting a lot of effort into my studying. I really enjoy it there. It’s taken me a while, but I think I’m finally settling in.”

  “Good. You’re a very talented girl. I knew you would do well,” he said.

  I could see that my mother was pleased that the two of us were finally getting along. I smiled at her, and she smiled back. But, of course, the good vibes were not to last. My father had to go and ruin it all.

  “So, spring break coming up,” he said.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I was actually thinking of staying behind, catching up on some reading.”

  “Well, you can do that here my darling. No need to stay there. It’s quiet over the holidays. I’d much rather you come home. And the cafeteria is closed isn’t it? What will you do about food?”

  I hadn’t thought about that. “Well, I don’t know . . .”

  “Come home,” Mom said and smiled at me. I nodded. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as I thought it would’ve been. My father and I could be civil to one another if we wanted to.

  “Actually,” he said. “I was talking to Derek’s father, and I thought it would be good if we all spent some time together. They’re a great bunch of people, and we haven’t seen them in a very long time.”

  I dropped my fork and stared open-mouthed at my father. I probably shouldn’t be surprised at the words, but I was.

  “You want us to spend spring break with Derek’s family? And will Derek be there too?”

  “Well, of course, he will, Candice.”

  I shook my head slowly. “But we are not going out anymore. You know that. We broke up.”

  “I know. I know. But that does not mean that you can’t still spend time together. And anyway, we’re good friends with his family. That doesn’t have to stop.”

  “Dad, Derek hasn’t exactly been very nice during this breakup. He hasn’t been nice to me at all. Why on earth would you still want me to be friends with him?”

  “Oh come on, darling. Don’t make this into a big deal. They’re family friends. It will be fun.”

  “You are more than welcome t
o spend time with them. But I will not be a part of it.” I stood up and looked at my mother. “Mom, thank you so much for a wonderful meal. I really appreciate it. I’ll see you again in a few weeks when spring break starts. But I really need to leave right now.”

  “Don’t be absurd,” my father said. “Sit down, Candice.”

  “Bye Mom,” I said, avoiding my father altogether. Then I stormed out the house and immediately went to Lily’s dorm.

  “Uh oh,” she said as she opened the door. “That doesn’t look like the face of someone who had a good time at her family meal.”

  “Mind if I spend the evening here?” I said. “I could use a distraction.”

  “Junk food and magazines?” she offered and pointed to her bed where a myriad of chocolate and magazines were scattered over the bedspread.

  I laughed. “That sounds perfect.”

  For the next two weeks, I threw myself into school work and spent as much time as I could with Lily before she left for Japan. I avoided Dominic as much as I could. Thankfully, he had dropped Professor Jackson’s class, so I didn’t have to worry about seeing him there. Apparently, it had to do with football practice, but I was sure that he was just avoiding me. I couldn’t believe that my father had ruined my chances of being with him all over again. It was like I was repeating my childhood. But as much as I managed to avoid Dominic, I couldn’t do the same with Derek. He was everywhere. He kept popping out of nowhere, hassling me and asking me out. And the more I turned him down, the angrier he seemed to get with me. I couldn’t believe that I had actually gone out with him for so long. He wasn’t a good person, especially when he couldn’t get what he wanted. When the two weeks of school where over, I almost felt glad. I was going to miss Lily, but at least I wasn’t going to have to constantly worry about bumping into Dominic or Derek. I went back to my parent’s house for a while. When I’d said no to spending time with Derek’s family, my parents had decided not to go either. I knew my father had only wanted us to go in order to get me back with Derek. I had no intention of letting that happen. My plan was to just stay in my room as much as I could until the two weeks were up.