Songs for Cricket by Laine, E. (best books to read in your 20s TXT) 📗

Finley, and it was never worth the effort to fight him about it. He was only asserting his authority. After all, he had insisted that be my name.

“Daddy.” I hated sounding like a little girl and took a cleansing breath. “I did it.”

No warmth or nicknames for me when he spoke again. Just straight to the point. “Did what?”

“I made the team,” I said as my heart raced.

“Great. I’ll tell your mother, so she can add your game schedule to her calendar. I’ve got to go.”

Before he could hang up, I said it. “Not soccer, Daddy. I made the football team as the kicker.”

Silence. It was louder than anything he could have said in that moment.

“Are you doing this to embarrass your brother?”

Not brothers because August was the golden child, even though Cooper was the actual sports star out of all of us.

“No, Daddy.”

I couldn’t stop using that little girl word as tears filled my eyes.

“Well, you’ve made your point. But now you have to quit.”

“I won’t,” I said, adding strength with conviction.

“You’ll just get hurt and cause undue attention to this family.”

“Maybe, but then you might notice you have a daughter and another son.”

I did something I’d never done before. I hung up on my father.

Tears stung my eyes before they leaked out. I got up because August couldn’t see me like this. He’d pester me until he found out why I was upset. Then it would be World War III between him and Dad. I’d be the cause of their fight and would ultimately be blamed for any strife between them. It’s happened before.

I threw open the door, and Shepard was there as if waiting for me. Seeing me, he rushed forward, closing the distance and cupped either side of my face in his hands.

“What’s wrong? Did someone say something?”

I shook my head as his thumbs brushed my cheeks like windshield wipers. I stepped back, wishing there had been glass between us because his touch wasn’t the balm I needed.

There were too many unresolved feelings on my part clouding the situation further. Even though we weren’t as close as we’d been as kids, years of friendship allowed me to speak without thought.

“I told Dad.”

I didn’t have to explain what. He instinctively knew and cursed.

“He told you to quit.”

It wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway. Shepard understood more than maybe August. When his parents got divorced and his father got into legal trouble, it had been Mom who had championed him to move in with us when things at his mom’s didn’t work out.

The space between us evaporated, and he was too damn close. His words feathered over my lips, creating a breeze against my mouth.

“I hope you’re doing this for you and not him. Because if you aren’t, you don’t need to play.”

As much as I’d sought my father’s approval, I loved the game.

Something happened in that moment between words. My fantasy mixed with reality surely because his lips descended meeting mine. They were so soft, softer than I’d imagined. Then his tongue snaked across the seam of mine, and I parted my mouth, letting him in.

He tasted of mint and Gatorade. For a second, I was lost in a dreamlike place until his hand threaded in my hair and down to the base of my neck. That instant contact of skin against skin broke the make-believe trance I’d entered. What the hell was I doing?

I shoved him back.

His wide eyes gave him the dazed appearance I’d felt. But that all cleared up when I pushed him.

“I don’t need your pity. And I damn sure don’t want seconds after you had your tongue down that girl’s throat.” I wiped a hand across my mouth. “That’s just gross.”

I marched for the bathroom, Shepard following close behind.

“Wait,” he called.

“No,” I half spun so fast, the end of my ponytail stingingly slapped at my cheek. “Stay away from me.”

I shut the door in his face and let my tears fall. I rested my hands on the counter before grabbing my toothbrush.

Many nights I may have dreamed about Shepard doing what he’d just done but never with some other girl’s germs on his tongue.

A door closed before I turned the water on. Good, he’d gotten the message. It was most certainly time for me to move on from childhood fantasizes of a father who loved me and a boy I’d wanted to be mine.

I thought about the note Billy had slipped me after practice. He was cute, and he’d stood up for me when my brothers had said nothing. He may not be who I wanted, but maybe he was exactly what I needed.

8

shepard

Banging my head on my forearm where it rested on the doorframe didn’t take away the colossal fuckup that had just occurred.

There was no explaining to Finley about that stupid kiss. She’d been sure of what she’d seen.

Lacey had tricked me into thinking she wanted to tell me something, and then her lips were on me before I could stop her. I’d pulled back in time to see Finley’s back. I thought maybe she missed whatever happened. I certainly hadn’t kissed Lacey back.

I pounded my fist on the frame before deciding I couldn’t let my one shot go to waste. I would try to explain everything. I’d tell her the truth about how I felt. Who knew if I would get another opportunity before Billy or some other guy took that away from me.

It took a few minutes, but finally she came out of the bathroom into the hall where I waited.

“I told you to leave me alone,” she protested in an attempt to evade me.

I caught her by the arm. “No, you’re going to listen because I didn’t kiss her.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she barked a short laugh. “Oh what, they do sign language with tongues now?”

The smirk on her face wasn’t friendly.

“No, she kissed me.”

She tried to wiggle out of my hold. “And that makes it better?”

“I didn’t kiss her back. She told me