Page 60 of The Perfect Pass
“Your dad is a great—”
Their mouths slammed shut in unison, and Jackson felt a slow smile tip his lips. “You missed me, huh?”
Calla rolled her eyes, but the gesture didn’t have its usual bite. “You know what I meant.”
He watched her intently until her flush deepened a shade or two. Then she looked away, concentrating on the dish in her hands harder than he’d ever seen anyone stare at a plate before.
“I’m pretty sure I do,” he said.Hemissedheralready and he hadn’t even gone back to his real life yet…
Not for lack of trying on the Victory Club’s part.
She grew still beside him. He could practically hear that creative brain of hers overthinking before she spoke. What was it going to take to get her to let her hair down like she’d done on Halloween? “I knew something was wrong when you weren’t at practice. For a while there, I thought maybe they’d run you out of town.”
“I haven’t gone anywhere.”
Yet.They were both thinking it, but neither of them dared to say the word out loud.
His hands stilled in the soapy water, and he turned to look at her with quiet intention. “Your dad called mesontoday. I know it’s just a turn of phrase, but coming from him, it felt like it meant something.”
It had certainly meant something to Jackson—it meant that he’d finally done something right and meaningful with his life besides put points up on a scoreboard.
“It did. Dad doesn’t just throw that phrase around, but I’m sure you’ve figured that out already.” A ghost of a smile flickered across her lips. “The garage apartment used to belong to Ethan, you know.”
“I kind of guessed.” The accessible features like wide halls and doorways to accommodate wheelchairs and the roll-in shower had jumped right out at him.
“My dad likes you a lot, Jackson. He respects you—for more reasons than you probably realize.”
It was everything Jackson had always longed to hear from his own father and never had. Maybe that’s why he found the kind words so hard to believe. He’d tried so hard to make his parents proud when he was young. Somewhere along the line, he’d just…stopped. He’d carved out a life for himself where other people’s approval didn’t matter, unless it related to his career. He’d grown so accustomed to people thinking the worst of him that he didn’t quite know what to do when they didn’t.
The Victory Club and their ridiculous antics didn’t scare him at all. Nor did the kids switching teams. Those things, he could deal with. But this newfound desire to do right by someone sure as heck did. This was new, and it was daunting. He didn’t have a great track record when it came to pleasing others, but he wanted to make Calla happy. Hewanted to help her and her family heal. He wanted that more than he’d ever wanted anything else in his life.
“He did say I was the best mascot caretaker that Bishop had ever had,” Jackson said, smiling at the memory.
“Well, there you go. If there’s one way to Dad’s heart, it’s being kind to animals.” Calla scrunched her nose. “Other than winning a state championship, obviously.”
“I guess I’ll have to work on that, then.” Jackson chuckled.
One step at a time, he told himself. First, they had to beat Rustwood. He had all weekend to come up with a plan. Tonight, he needed to rest. He’d just had to grab all his possessions and pick up and move with next to no notice. Even Principal Dean had been sympathetic when he found out about Jackson’s housing emergency. He’d urged him to take the rest of the day off and hadn’t once uttered the wordtardy.
“You’ve got this, Coach. I believe in you.” Calla placed a hand on his chest. His pulse quickened at her touch, and in the quietest corner of his heart, he felt like everything was going to be all right. “Promise me something, though? Please?”
“Anything,” Jackson said, covering her hand with his.
“Promise me that no matter what happens, you won’t leave without saying goodbye.” She met his gaze full-on as she said it, but the hitch in her voice told him just how vulnerable the request made her feel.
He smiled into her eyes. “I promise. When it comes time to go, you’ll be the first to know. I’d never leave without telling you goodbye.”
And in the unfiltered honestly of the moment, he almost promised to kiss her goodbye, too. In fact, he thoughtthey should practice that goodbye kiss immediately…and every possible chance they had between now and the end of the season.
But Calla removed her hand from his chest before he could form the words. “Do you mind finishing up here without me? I’ve got a column due by midnight, and I think I need to delete it and start over again from scratch.”
“You’re going to erase the entire thing?” He tilted his head as he regarded her. Those wheels in her head were definitely turning.
“Yes,” she said with a firm nod.
“Why?”
“You took a stand. Heck, even Dad is going against the Victory Club now, and those guys are his friends.” She gathered herself with a deep inhale. She was proud of her father, and she was proud of Jackson, too. A lesser man might’ve packed up and moved on by now. Not Jackson, though. “I think it’s high time I took a stand, too, come what may.”
