Brody
“Any thoughts about the last condo we toured?” Dad lifts the scotch to his lips and takes a healthy drink. “Pretty nice, wasn’t it?”
We flew in late last night and met with the Mavericks’ defensive coach this morning for breakfast. He and the old man played together in Chicago before Dad was traded to Detroit. Then we spent the rest of the day with Dana, the realtor who is showing us around Milwaukee. We got back to the hotel about an hour ago and stopped at the bar to have a drink.
I nod, but I’m not really paying attention to what he’s saying.
I thought this trip to Milwaukee would help take my mind off of Natalie. I could focus on the future and put a little distance between us. All I did was sulk around the house. I caught a glimpse of her on campus yesterday, and it nearly brought me to my knees. I just wanted to grab her and…
I pinch the bridge of my nose.
What? What was I going to do?
Shake some sense into her?
Demand that she acknowledge her feelings for me?
No. I couldn’t do either of those things.
Until I can wrap my mind around the truth that her feelings for me don’t run as deep as the ones I have for her, I need to steer clear. And getting out of Dodge seemed like the best way to do it.
But all it’s done is slam home the realization that once I graduate this spring, I’ll be moving on with my life. I won’t see Natalie anymore. I won’t run into her on campus. Or at a party. Or in class.
That chapter of my life will be over.
Someone needs to explain to me how I’m supposed to walk away from her. From the one woman who actually makes me feel alive.
“Brody.”
I jerk out of my thoughts and back to the present. “Yeah?”
Dad eyes me over the rim of his crystal tumbler as he takes another drink. “You need to get your head out of your ass and focus on what’s important.”
I break eye contact and stare sightlessly out the wall of windows overlooking the busy street. It’s been gray and rainy for most of the day, which matches my disposition perfectly. “I am, Dad.”
He raises a brow. “This is exactly why I didn’t want you getting involved with someone at this stage of the game. You don’t need some girl fucking with your head.”
Irritated by his words, I drag my fingers through my hair and snap, “Can we not do this right now?” Dad is the last person I want to discuss Natalie with.
“You’re better off without her, Brody. I tried telling you that before, but you refused to listen.” He stabs a finger in my direction. “You keep it light. No relationships.”
It takes a moment for his words to sink in. My brows furrow. “What are you talking about?”
After our discussion at brunch where he told me to cut Natalie loose, I’ve gone out of my way not to mention her. And I sure as shit didn’t tell him about our breakup because I didn’t want to hear yet another rendition of the I-told-you-so lecture.
I need that like another freaking hole in the head.
“That girl broke up with you, didn’t she? That’s why you’re in such a pissy mood?” Dad places the tumbler of scotch on a coaster. “Listen, the best way to get over one woman is to get under another. Go out tonight and have a little fun. You’re in the perfect city for it.”
Those words send my temper skyrocketing. “How do you know that Natalie dumped me?”
His eyes flick around the bar before settling on mine again, and he shrugs. “I don’t know. You must have mentioned it the other day.”
Even though I shake my head, I keep my eyes focused on his. He’s lying. “No, I didn’t.”
He sits back, putting distance between us. “Sure, you did.”
I lean forward and rest my forearms on the glass table. My voice sharpens. “No, I didn’t. After what happened at brunch, there was no way I would tell you anything about her.”
“If you didn’t mention it, how else would I know?”
There’s something he’s not telling me. I feel it.
“I don’t know,” I mutter. But an idea is taking shape in my brain. One I don’t want to believe could’ve happened. I think about the days leading up to the breakup, recalling the odd sensation that something wasn’t right between Natalie and me and being unable to pinpoint exactly what it was. The last time we made love, there was a strange intensity behind it. Desperation had poured off of Natalie in thick, heavy waves. And she wrapped herself around me afterward as if she couldn’t bear the thought of letting go. At the time, I hadn’t given it much consideration. I hadn’t understood because I’d been flying high.
In retrospect, her behavior makes sense. All of the puzzle pieces now fit together perfectly.
I narrow my eyes. “What did you say to Natalie?”
A look of annoyance flickers across my father’s face. “What are you talking about?”
“You spoke to Natalie, didn’t you?” As I release the accusation into the air, I know it’s true. Christ, I’m such an idiot. Why didn’t I see this before?
He blusters before glaring and pointing a finger at me. “I told you not to get involved with anyone! I told you that it would be nothing but a distraction and you wouldn’t listen.” He shakes his head and grumbles, “Getting into fights with a teammate and kicked out of practice, looking like shit on the ice…That girl needed to go, and I took care of the problem before she could fuck up anything else for you.”
Uncaring of the patrons around us, I slam my fist on the table as rage burns a hole through my gut. “You had no right to interfere in my relationship!”
Several people in the vicinity turn in their seats and gape. But I’m beyond the point of caring. Let them stare.
“I had every right!” Dad thunders. “You weren’t listening.”
“I’m twenty-three years old, for God’s sake! I’m more than capable of making my own decisions. You never should have involved yourself in my relationship with Natalie. It had nothing to do with you.”
He throws his arms wide. “What should I have done, huh? Stood idly by and let you fuck up everything we’d been working years for?” He shakes his head. “I wasn’t going to do that. This girl has you jacked in the head. Someone had to step in and save you from yourself.”
God-fucking-damnit!
“Natalie is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” I growl. “And you ruined it.” The chair scrapes back as I come to my feet. I can’t sit here for another moment and listen to the shit he’s spewing.
“Sit your ass back down, Brody,” Dad grits from between clenched teeth. “We’re not done talking.”
A muscle ticks in my jaw as I try to control the rage rushing through my body. My father and I have always been on the same page. After Mom died, it was just the two of us. But this time, he’s gone too far, and I’m not sure if I can forgive him for it. “We’re done.”
He rises so that we’re eye level. “Sit down,” he snaps. “And let’s discuss this like adults. Since you keep telling me that you’re twenty-three years old and can handle your own life, start damn well acting like it.”
I lift my chin. “Sure, let’s sit down and discuss how you went behind my back and ended my relationship.”
He rolls his eyes. “Don’t you think you’re being a bit melodramatic? What you had was nothing more than a fling. You let your heart get involved, and it got bruised. In a couple of days, you’ll move on. End of story.”
I ball my fists and take a step toward him. “It was more than that, and you damn well know it.”
He raises a brow. “Do I?” He reaches out and settles a heavy hand on my shoulder. I want to shake him loose, but don’t. “I didn’t force her to do anything. I put the decision in her hands, and she chose to break up with you. It was the right call to make, and she understood that.”
My heart twists because there’s a sliver of truth to his words. Natalie could have told me what Dad wanted her to do, but she chose not to. She hid it from me and broke my heart.
“It’s for the best, Brody,” he says quietly. “Further down the line, it would’ve only led to more heartache.”
Fury boils up within me, and I slap his hand away. “Fuck you, Dad.”
His eyes widen as I walk past him. “Where are you going?”
“I’m packing my bags and catching a flight back home.”
I have to see Natalie and figure out where her head’s at. The truth of the matter is that I love her, but I don’t understand how she could have walked away from me. If the situation were reversed, there’s no way I would have done the same. Nothing and no one could have ever forced me to turn my back on her.