Page 257 of Tell Me I'm Enough

“Coach.”

My dad turns, looking at me. “There he is. The man of the hour.”

It sounds like praise. But it isn’t.

He claps a hand on my shoulder harder than necessary. “I was just telling Coach about my junior year. And I wasaboutto tell him how I broke the receiving record my senior year.”

Coach smiles politely. “Oh yeah? I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah,” my dad says easily. “Had scouts at three games. Could’ve gone pro if I wanted to.”

I keep my face blank.

He looks over at me. “But I knew I wanted something bigger than just five minutes of fame, you know? I wanted to focus on building generational wealth. Stability. A legacy.”

Coach nods. “That’s impressive.”

My dad shrugs modestly. “It’s all about discipline. Focus. Not letting distractions derail you.” His eyes flick to me, knowingly, then back to Coach. “If this one right here would get his head on straight, he’s probably got the talent to reach that level too.”

Coach looks at me, giving a small, proud smile. “Mason’s been working really hard here.”

“Good. He just needs to keep pushing those limits, not get lazy and let the distraction of college get to his head.”

My jaw tightens. I just want to roll my eyes, but I hold it in and look away instead.

They keep talking as my eyes find Simone’s across the track. She’s standing with her parents and a couple of Gamma girls. She smiles at me, giving me a small wave, and I shoot her a wink, smiling—letting her be my favorite distraction.

That’s when my dad sees me looking off, and his gaze follows mine.

He sees her, then looks back at me, and leans in slightly, his voice lowering just for me to hear. “See,” he says under his breath, “if you weren’t so distracted and unfocused over pussy, you’d be a lot farther ahead in life already.”

I don’t respond. I just turned my attention to Chase beside me, who just walked over with his parents. “Hey, Mr. and Mrs.Alexander,” I say, forcing a grin and ignoring my dad’s presence. “Are y’all ready for the game tomorrow?”

Chase’s mom beams. “So excited. We watch every game online.”

“Just try not to screw the win up for us,” Chase mutters to me quietly.

“Shut up,” I say, elbowing him lightly.

I can still feel my dad’s eyes on me, but I continue to ignore him as he talks to all the other parents, showing off every chance he gets.

A few minutes later, Simone walks over with the Gamma girls she was just with.

Tank spots her first. “There she is! Current Ms. Edwards,futureMrs. Owens.”

I glare at him, tilting my head and crossing my arms. “Are youtryingto die, Tank?”

“You know I’m just messing around,” he says, pulling Simone into a side hug. “Plus, you already tried. Remember?” he jokes.

She hugs him back, laughing, then hugs Chase too.

Tank and Chase are already turned to all the other girls, flirting with them when Simone gets to me. She steps into my arms without hesitation, and I hold her tighter. Longer. She just fits there too easily. I can’t help it.

“You okay?” she murmurs against my chest.

“Yeah,” I say automatically.

She pulls back, smiling. “All the moms are so obsessed with each other and won’t stop yapping, so we escaped.”