Page 43 of Fall For Me
Taking the phone from her, I place it to my ear and greet him.
“Mackenzie!” Coach yells at me like always while Hannah watches my every move as I slide past her, pick my t-shirt up from the ground, and head towards my bedroom to change out of my sweatpants.
“Yes, sir?”
“What the fuck?”
“Look, Coach. I don’t want to get into this over the phone, but I don’t want things to be weird when we get there either. Yes, Hannah and I are together?—”
“No, we’re not,” Hannah interrupts, following me down the hall. Instead of arguing back with her, I continue my conversation with her father, “With all due respect, your daughter is a grown ass woman, and our relationship isn’t up for discussion or negotiation. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you find peace within yourself, because your opinion on the matter isn’t changing a damn thing.”
“Are you done?”
“As long as we’re clear,” I tell him, tossing on a clean t-shirt.
“You’ve got some balls on you, son.”
“Yeah, well,” I say, yanking a clean pair of jeans off the hanger and putting them on. “She’s important to me, and I’ll be damned if anyone’s getting in my way; that includes you.”
When I spin around and look through the open closet doorway, Hannah’s jaw is nearly on the floor. I saunter towards her, closing the distance between us. Pressing my fingertips against her chin, I kiss her lips, then head back into my closet to grab my shoes from the shelf,returning to my conversation with Coach. “What’s River dilated to right now?”
“I’m not sure. I thought they’d deliver by C-section, but that stubborn girl wants to do everything the old-fashioned way.”
“Sounds like River. Okay. We can be there in about an hour if traffic isn’t too bad. Oh, and Coach?”
“Yeah?”
I close the closet door and lower my voice. “The last thing Hannah needs to worry about tonight is how you feel about our relationship. She may be happy for River, and she may smile on the outside, but when she holds those babies, on the inside she’ll be mourning the fact that she can’t carry one herself. I’m warning you now, if you upset her further by giving her shit about us, boss or not, I will come unhinged, and you don’t want that.”
The line is silent for a few beats before he releases a deep sigh. “You really care about her.”
“You have no idea. See you soon.” Disconnecting the call, I open the closet door and walk out.
“You ready?” I ask Hannah, handing the phone to her, then grabbing my keys, wallet, and a hair tie for each of us.
“Not really. My dad is pissed at me.”
“He’s not mad. We’re on the same page, Rebel,” I say, ushering her out to my truck and praying for her dad’s sake that he doesn’t make a liar out of me.
Fourteen
Sean
Aside from the sound of music playing through the speakers, the drive on the way to the hospital is quiet. Hannah looks out the window, no doubt in her head, her knee bouncing up and down uncontrollably. I reach over, placing my hand on her thigh, and rub my thumb back and forth in a soothing motion.
“Are you okay?”
“No. I’m not okay.” She buries her head in her hands and groans. “God, it’s going to be awkward . . . A literal shitshow. I’m about to do a walk of shame in front of my father, and no offense, but we both know he’s not your biggest fan. Dammit . . . you and your big fat mouth, Sean. Why did you do that?”
Because I’m sick and tired of her feeling the need to tiptoe around her father. And I’m fed-up with people walking all over her and expecting her to put their feelings above her own. It’s time she stands on her own two feet and does whatever the hell she wants to do without worrying about pissing off her father or anybody else for that matter.
I don’t tell her what’s running through my head, of course, becauseit won’t help my case, and voicing my opinion isn’t going to ease her mind, so instead I say, “Your dad and I are good, Rebel. I had his approval before I hit the end button on the call. We’re done hiding behind lies and secrets, sneaking around like teenage children. That shit is over.”
I know I sound hypocritical. I’ve been railroading the shit out of her, but you know what? I never claimed to be a fucking saint. If I thought she didn’t want me anymore, I’d leave her alone, but while her mouth tells me one thing, her body tells me another. She wants me back.
“I told you that us fucking wasn’t going to change anything.”
“You're right. It didn’t change anything Rebel, it changedeverything.”
