“Um, Izzy?”
I look over at Paul, and he’s looking at something in the distance. I turn my head to see what it is and immediately want to scream.
What the hell? Apparently today is about to get even more eventful.
“What are they doing here?”
Craig McGarretty is parked up across the street from the student parking lots, not on school property (he’s made sure of that) but wearing his letterman jacket, as are all the buddies he brought along with him.
My head turns back towards the school just as Ethan, Finn, and several of their teammates stroll out of the main entrance. They’re laughing at something and standing around chatting. They haven’t noticed them yet.
“Wait here,” I tell Paul, already striding towards Craig.
He sees me approach before I reach him, and a wide smile covers his face as he looks me up and down.
“What are you doing here?” I ask brusquely.
“There she is.” He smiles smugly. “The one and only Izzy Carlington. Was starting to think it was all a dream.”
I bite back a sarcastic retort and don’t bother to correct him about the fact that I don’t use my dad’s name. “You need to leave,” I tell him, looking back towards the school. Ethan and his friends still haven’t spotted him. “What are you even doing here?”
“Babe, no need to be like that. I mean you just ghosted me. I was hurt.”
My jaw tenses. There’s not a chance he’s hurt. He’s just looking to stir up more shit. “Just leave.”
He glances behind me and a smirk covers his face. “Come on, babe. Don’t be that way. We should give things a shot.” He’s not even looking at me as he says it. His eyes are fixed behind me and, with a feeling of dread, I know they’re probably fixed on Ethan.
“Stop trying to use me to fuck with Ethan,” I snap.
He chuckles and finally turns back to me. “Hey, I don’t want any bad blood with Ethan Carlington. Who knows? If things work out between us, he could be my new brother.”
His friends snicker around us and my fists clench at my sides. This is all about Ethan, all of it. What Rachel said is true—this guy is so threatened by Ethan and his talent, so jealous he’s willing to show up at Ethan’s school, where all his friends are, just to try to get one over on him. Again.
I feel a presence behind me. “Get the hell out of here.” Finn’s voice is only just containing the anger in it as he steps up behind me.
I look around and see Ethan, Matty, Logan, and a bunch of other guys from their team standing behind me—and to my annoyance, quite a few other students too. Clearly they’re all expecting some sort of show.
“Just stopped by to see the gorgeous Izzy,” Craig says, a smirk planted firmly on his face. “I don’t know how you boys can concentrate in class.”
“You told him to come here?” Matty asks me sceptically.
My jaw drops. “What? No. I didn’t—he’s not here…I have nothing to do with—”
“Don’t, Izzy,” Finn says sharply. He doesn’t even bother to look at me. “Just don’t.”
Yeah, they definitely think there’s something going on between us.
“Hey, man.” Craig nods his head at someone behind me, and I turn to see it’s Ethan he’s talking to. Ethan takes a step forwards so he’s standing next to me. “Just thought I’d swing by to clear the air now that we have something in common and all. Don’t want any bad blood between us, especially not before tomorrow’s game.”
I suck in a breath. I could slap him. “Tomorrow’s game?”
Craig chuckles. “That’s right. Burdown versus Northview tomorrow night, the biggest game of the season.” His eyes harden on Ethan. “It’s ours this year.”
Logan barks out a laugh behind me and I look between them. Please tell me Craig isn’t here stirring up shit over a football game.
He takes a step forwards and tries to grab my hand. Ethan physically tenses, and I immediately snatch it back.
“Stop it,” I hiss. “Get out of here.”
He completely ignores me. “So you heard me and your sister are new buddies, huh?” He chuckles. “Or at least some kind of buddies.”
I want to throw up at his not-so-subtle hint at us being fuck buddies. I’d rather burn my British passport than go there again. That’s how much I regret hooking up with Craig McGarretty.
Ethan lets out a noise suspiciously close to a growl, and I feel like screaming. Craig’s here to get at Ethan. He’s not even trying to hide it, and I gave him the ammunition to do it. I hate myself for it.
I turn to Ethan. “I don’t know what he’s doing here,” I tell him. “I swear I haven’t seen him since that night.”
Ethan doesn’t even look at me, and I feel sick. I feel sick that my brother thinks I betrayed him and now the guy I betrayed him with is here taunting him in front of all his friends. I really messed up.
“He’s just trying to get to you,” I tell him, and he flashes me a look of such hurt that I have to suck in a breath. He really hates me right now. I can’t say I blame him.
“Thought you might wanna wear my jacket at the game tomorrow, Izzy,” Craig says, shrugging it off and holding it out to me.
“Bring that jacket any closer to me and I’ll set it on fire,” I warn him.
His friends laugh and Finn steps closer, pushing me back from them slightly, and despite the fact that he’s clearly disgusted with me—he’s definitely not trying to hide that—he still wants to protect me from Craig, which momentarily fills me with warmth…until I catch the look he sends me. By the look on Finn’s face I don’t think Rachel told me even half of the story between the two teams. The rivalry between them seems very much real. Finn will have hated him for hospitalising Ethan when they were younger and he’ll hate even more that I’ve allowed him to ridicule Ethan again.
“Stay away from my sister,” Ethan tells him calmly.
“Hey, I can’t help it if she was begging me for it,” Craig throws back, clearly enjoying himself. “Obviously she can’t get what she needs from this bunch of pussies. You should be thanking me for meeting your sister’s needs.”
I am beyond mortified.
“I met her needs real good, in several different positions.”
Those are the words that break Ethan’s calm demeanour. He lunges for Craig, but Matty and Logan grab him and pull him back, trying to get their struggling friend under control. “You wanna go, McGarretty?” Ethan shouts. “Let’s go. Just you and me.”
Matty tightens his hold on Ethan, and between them they manage to pull him away from Craig whilst Finn squares up to him, crowding him back towards his car. Craig’s friends suddenly look nervous. I mean, what did they expect? They’re seriously outnumbered.
“You wanna mess with us, huh?” Finn says, complete rage in his voice. “Stay away from her and stay away from us or I promise you’ll regret it.”
Craig laughs in his face. “You seem pissed, Sullivan. Don’t tell me I got there first. You not happy I hit it?”
Finn pulls his right arm back and before I can think about it, I grab it and use all my strength to try to pull him away.
Craig laughs louder. “Don’t be pissed, Sullivan. We can share.”
Finn has him pushed up against his car with his arm against his neck before I can blink and I’m just wondering how the hell I’m going to be able to stop this when a whistle blows loudly and I turn to see Coach Dyson on the steps of the school making his way down towards us.
Finn releases his hold and Jessica’s boyfriend puts her hand on Craig’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Craig nods, glancing back towards the school nervously. My guess is Coach Dyson will have no problem reporting him to his school for turning up here. He takes one last look at Finn and then turns his attention to Ethan, a smirk covering his face. “See you tomorrow, Ethan—and hey, you’re welcome for me taking care of your sister. I kept her real happy. Let me know if you need me to take care of your girl too.”
/> Ethan’s trying to keep his cool, but at that comment, he tries to lunge again, and it takes another one of their teammates to help Matty and Logan keep him under control.
“Oh, don’t worry, Craig,” I jump in. “If any of the girls at Northview want to roll around for ten minutes and not get anywhere close to an orgasm, I’ll make sure they know who to call.”
There’s a bark of laughter from nearby as Craig flushes and jumps in his car just as Coach Dyson arrives. “What’s going on?” He’s looking at Ethan.
“Nothing,” Ethan mutters, pushing off the hands that are restraining him and then smoothing down his hair. He’s barely able to contain his anger, his hands are shaking he’s that worked up. “I need to get home.”
Coach nods his consent, and Ethan and the rest of his crowd turn and walk back towards the senior lot. I see to my horror that there were way more witnesses to that little scene than I thought. It feels like half the school is standing behind me, and I’m not surprised it caught Coach Dyson’s eye.
“Wait!” I hurry after Ethan, who is striding away with Finn. “Wait,” I say, grabbing his arm. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what he was doing here. Nothing is going on.”
“Forget it, Izzy,” Ethan says, yanking his arm out of my grip, his voice is completely detached, and it makes me want to scream. “Just forget it all.” He’s not even looked at me in over two weeks but then he broke up with Evie because of what she did, and stupidly, despite myself, I couldn’t help thinking this afternoon might be a new start for us. I thought he might actually think about speaking to me again because he took my side over hers.
And then Craig bloody McGarretty has turned up and taken us right back to square one.
He reaches his truck, opens the door, and throws his bag inside. He climbs in, turns it on, and reverses so fast I have to jump out of the way.
“Happy now?” Finn demands. His tone tells me just how pissed off he is with me. “Just felt like screwing him over that little bit more did you?”
“I didn’t know…I don’t know why he came here.”
“He came here to mess with Ethan. Because of you he thinks he can do that. Are you happy now? Are you glad you managed to hurt him that little bit more?”
He doesn’t stop to wait for an answer. “Congrats Izzy, you did it again.” Then he turns and gets into his own car, leaving me standing all alone.
No, Finn. I’m not happy. I’m just about the furthest thing from happy that I could be.
That brief half a day last week when I felt like Ethan might be ready to stop hating me after he broke up with Evie feels like a lifetime ago. He and Finn are back to not even looking at me, or at least Ethan is. Finn looks at me plenty, and to be honest, I wish he’d just stop. I’m sick of him judging me all the time.
In fact, dinner with my dad, something my father wasn’t letting either of us get out of, is the closest I’ve been to Ethan in days.
“I’ll take the ribeye steak, rare with a side of peppercorn and salad.”
I watch as my father gives his order to the waiter and then scans over the drinks menu.
“And a large glass of the Marlborough Sauvignon.”
The waiter glances over at me and I order my chicken dish before Ethan places his order—around three times more food than me—before the waiter disappears and leaves the three of us to the silence of the table.
My father turns his attention to Ethan. “I hear you beat Burdown last week. Good job.”
Ethan just nods, sending a glare my way (like I’m somehow associated to Burdown now), and doesn’t elaborate further. I heard, of course, that they beat them in the school announcements and was relieved that at least Ethan didn’t have to deal with that humiliation from Craig, but I haven’t tried to bring it up with him or anything. I don’t want to piss him off any more than I already have.
“You’re undefeated this year?” my father asks. I’m actually surprised he’s making the effort and trying to have a conversation. From what I’ve seen, this is seriously unlike him.
“Yeah,” Ethan replies, without any excitement in his voice. “The aim is to get to the playoffs again.”
“Very good.” He pauses whilst the waiter returns with our drinks and he takes a large sip of his wine. “And Izzy, have you settled in?”
I frown. He actually sounds semi-interested. He’s not just talking at me for a change but instead is asking me questions. He’s never been like this, not in the last times I’ve seen him since I’ve been in the States or when I’ve spoken to him on the phone, not even when I was living in the UK and we’d have our bi-annual dinners. “Yes.”
“And how are your classes?”
I sneak a glance at Ethan, who looks as perplexed as I feel.
“They’re okay. I’m doing well in them.”
“Yes, yes. You always were very smart.”
He takes another long swig of his wine.
“Ah, um…I saw your grandmother today, and she’s not very pleased that you’re ignoring her messages and didn’t go to the gala.”
Well it didn’t take him long to criticise me about something, but I don’t care that I’m ignoring her so I just shrug. I never agreed to go, and I’m not going to speak to her. I don’t want to have to deal with someone who talks about my mum the way she does.
“I did invite her tonight so she could see you both, but she had another engagement.”
Ethan snorts. “She owes us an apology for the way she spoke about Mum.”
My father opens his mouth to immediately retort but then snaps it shut. He drums his fingers on the tablecloth, clearly debating his next words in his head. “Yes,” he finally says. “Perhaps she does. I’ll speak to her about that.”
I couldn’t be more surprised than if he’d told me he’d gone broke.
He clears his throat, opens his mouth to speak, and then hesitates, looks around the restaurant, and takes another long sip of his wine, almost finishing the glass.
Something is going on.
“So, I was thinking…” He trails off, and my heart starts beating a little faster in my chest. This isn’t like him to be so hesitant and almost…nervous? He’s about to tell me something he knows I won’t like. Why else would be beat around the bush like this? But then I dismiss that thought. That isn’t his style—he wouldn’t usually give a damn about what my reaction might be.
“Um…how are you both doing since your mother’s death?”
Ethan’s mouth falls open in shock and his eyes flit to mine. I don’t know about him, but my father hasn’t mentioned my mother to me since her funeral. I genuinely didn’t think he’d thought about it since.
“I know it must be difficult.”
“Yeah,” Ethan says hesitantly. “It sucks.”
“Yes…it must seem very unfair to you both.”
Unfair? Unfair isn’t a big enough word for what it is, but I don’t react to his statement or throw out a sarcastic comment because he actually seems sincere for once in his life.
My dad clears his throat. “I…um…I actually wanted to speak to you, Isabella.”
I stiffen slightly at this. I don’t like having his attention. It never leads to anything good for me.
“I spoke to your school guidance counsellor.”
I freeze.
“Ms. Joot.”
Oh, Jesus.
“She seems quite tenacious, to put it mildly.”
I can just imagine what she said to him. No wonder he’s sat here trying to make conversation with his kids. She probably gave him the roasting of his life.
“She’s really quite persistent.”
I take that to mean she’s refused to be ignored by him and passed over to his assistant. If I know anything about Ms. Joot, it’s that she gets what she wants.
“And we had a phone conversation.”
I try to keep a straight face, but my mind is spinning thinking about the possible things she might have told him. Please don’t let her have told him about me and
Craig. Please don’t let her have given him any ammunition he can use against me. He already has enough control over me.
“And um…she mentioned to me that perhaps you’re not dealing very well with your grief over your mother’s death, that your behaviour is fairly reckless at the moment as a result of your grief.”
I bite down hard on the inside of my mouth but don’t show any emotion on my face.
“She wouldn’t go into any details about your behaviour.” His voice hardens. “I know you’ll be conscious not to embarrass the family name.”
Of course it’s not as simple as his enquiring about my mental wellbeing. He’s finding a way to have a go at me, still letting me know who’s boss.
“But she did mention that perhaps you’re struggling with the upheaval in your life.”
Ethan snorts and mutters something I can’t quite hear under his breath.
My dad glares at him before turning back to me. “I’ve arranged for you to see a therapist every week. He’s one of the best in Houston. Someone will pick you up from school every Tuesday and drive you to your appointment and then return you home.”
He’s just throwing money at the problem again, as per usual, but what’s really sad is that this is the closest he’s come to showing he cares about me in years.
“So it’s agreed then. You’ll start seeing a therapist from next week?”
“No.” I shake my head to emphasise my point. “I don’t need a therapist. I’m fine.”
“It’s already been arranged. Ms. Joot seems to think you’d really benefit from it, and I think she might be right.”
More like she laid into him about how messed up his father skills are and he’s doing what he thinks makes him look best in this situation.
“It’s okay, Dad. I’m fine.”
Ethan lets out a muffled laugh from across the table, and I glare at him.
“The therapist is highly recommended.”
“It’s not necessary.”
“Yeah, right,” Ethan chimes in.
“Shut up.”
My father looks between us. “Of course I’ll have an appointment arranged for you too, Ethan, if you feel like you need it.”
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