Page 73 of The Hardest Fall

I stabbed my fork into my salad and gave him a long look. “I don’t think it’ll be as glamorous as you think it will. I’m gonna have to do my best to stay out of Mark’s way.”

“So? Just don’t tell him you’re coming along. Crisis averted.”

“Yeah? And how exactly do you suggest I get on the plane without him noticing? Or let’s say I managed that—how am I supposed to make sure he doesn’t see me at the hotel or on the field as I’m trying to photograph his players?”

He took a bite of his sandwich and nodded. “You make a good point.”

“Yeah. Still, it wasn’t my idea, so it should be okay, and anyway, I promised not to tell Chris anything. If we need to take any one-on-one shots, I’ll make sure Miriam covers Chris, that way Mark can’t complain any more than he probably already will.”

“If he says anything, please don’t just sit there and take it.”

I dropped my fork and rubbed my forehead. “If he was anybody else, yeah, I would have stopped taking shit from him a long time ago, but he is my…”

“Your dad—yeah, I know.”

“I wouldn’t call him that exactly.”

“I don’t know what your mom was thinking when she called to let him know he had a daughter. Didn’t she already know what kind of guy he was?”

Yup. I was the surprise Mark never wanted. “She loved him, which is really weird, and bad. Her last few weeks were really bad. I think she just wanted Mark to come visit her, and I was the excuse. She was my mom, and I loved her, but at the same time, I’m so pissed at her, too.” I shook my head, still having trouble believing everything she’d told me. “I can’t believe she gave up her son like that.”

Jared took a swig from his water bottle, his eyes calculating. “I bet it was all Mark talking her into it. We know for sure he is the father, right? Your father, I mean.”

“Yeah, unfortunately. He wanted a DNA test after he got the call from my mom.”

“Well, still…that doesn’t mean he gets to jerk you around.”

Picking my fork back up, I ate a few more bites before answering him. “I know it doesn’t, and he won’t get to anymore. I thought we could have some kind of a relationship, but I’m over it now. It was just about Chris when I first came here. I never thought it’d take him three years or that things would end up this way. Every time I got a wild hair and decided I should just stop Chris on the way to one of his classes, I got scared and Mark got all…I want to get to know you, Zoe. I want us to get closer.” I huffed and snorted. “I’m so stupid. Time is up now. Chris is graduating this year. I’m going to wait until the season ends, not because Mark told me to, but because I think that’s best for Chris…and maybe the combine, but I don’t think I can wait that long. The Mark thing is done though. I’m not answering his calls—we have nothing to talk about.”

“Screw him. He’s a bastard anyway. Who sleeps with his wife’s friend, gets her pregnant, and then convinces the wife it’s a good thing because they can finally have a kid? You’re better off.”

“Yeah.”

My appetite gone, I sipped my orange juice then cleared my throat.

“Let’s forget about Mark. What are we going to do about Kayla?”

This time it was Jared’s turn to sigh heavily and stop eating. “I called her last night, just a random call to say I missed her, and her shit of a boyfriend answered, told me she was busy and I shouldn’t bother her that late. It was only nine o’clock, for goodness’ sake. I bet she was right there and the fucker didn’t even let her pick up her own phone.”

“Do you think she’ll break up with him soon? It’s been longer than usual this time.”

“I damn sure hope so, but…”

“But, she’d probably take him back when he came crawling again…yeah.”

“Should we talk to her then? Intervention time?” Jared asked.

“We already did that last year and look what happened—they got back together after a month and now the douche knows we don’t want Kayla to be with him, which is why he is making sure she sees us as little as possible.” I shook my head and pushed my half-eaten salad away. “She thinks we don’t get it, but we do. She’s loved him since she was sixteen. She thinks she can change him, and whenever I try to hint at stuff, she gets sad and tells me I don’t get it. Of course it doesn’t help that the douche manages to be sweet to her every once in a while.”