Page 68 of The New Guy
“Just like I taught you,” I grumble, and the crowd laughs.
He only needs one more point.
It’s my turn to serve. But as I get set up, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I hesitate for a second. But there are a lot of eyes on me right now, so it will have to wait a moment. The buzzing stops.
I serve, trying to ace him with a zinger to the far left. But he returns it. And off we go, our rally lengthening into four and then six returns. I send the ball back and forth across the table, making him work for it.
He’s more unpredictable, which keeps me guessing.
My phone starts vibrating again, damn it. And the idea that there might be some kind of emergency at home is just distracting enough that I send him the ball right in the center of the table.
He returns it with a lob that shouldn’t work at all. It’s too slow. But it’s also shallow, and very far to my left. I try to get there, but I only get the edge of my racket on it.
It yeets itself off the table, useless.
Everyone roars.
“Pay up, gents!” Jimbo calls, waving an envelope around.
“Oh Jedi master, you’ll get ‘im next time,” Castro says. And I accept a bunch of high fives, but I’m working my way toward the edge of the room so I can check my phone.
The calls were from Eustace.
I lost that game to Hudson because of my mother-in-law?
Fuck.
The phone rings again in my hand. And even though I know better than to answer a call from her when I’m agitated, I do it anyway. Because I’m not home at the moment and what if there was some kind of emergency?
“Hello Gavin,” she says primly. “We need to talk about summer camp before it’s too late to enroll Jordyn.”
“Wedidtalk about it,” I growl. “She’s not spending a whole summer away from me.”
“August, then,” she says. “Four weeks.”
Fuck. I walked right into that. “Absolutely not. She’s too young, and…” The truth is that I will have trouble articulating all my objections in a way that doesn’t sound like a declaration of war. “I’m not willing to send her away for more than a couple of nights.”
She gasps. “That is not fair to Jordyn. You have to work in August! She could be riding horses and enjoying the fresh air!”
I lean against a paneled wall and close my eyes. Misery sets in, because I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing. “I’ll bring her for a visit in July,” I say weakly. “That’s all I can promise you right now.”
“That’s not good enough,” she says in a voice that’s still calm, but ice cold. “I’ve retained a lawyer, Gavin. He thinks I have a chance at getting visitation. Or maybe even custody.”
My eyes fly open. “What?Alawyer?”
“She could have a stable home with two adults who love her. She could go to a better school, and see her old friends.”
“That’s…You’re…” My head spins. “You’ll never get custody. I’m her only legal parent.”
“If the judge sides with us, it won’t matter,” she says. “You sold the house that Eddie bought for her, with the backyard and the swing. You took her out of the school that Eddie chose for her. You’re too young, and you lead a single man’s lifestyle.”
“What doesthatmean?” I demand. And then I realize I’m just letting her lead me down the garden path. “Never mind. You’re behaving like a troll. And you’ll never win custody.”
“I might lose, but I might win. But if you don’t give us the summer, you’ll be hearing from our lawyer.”
She hangs up before I can even process the threat. But when I do, I gasp for air, and feel an angry pain behind my breastbone. I’m so upset I might detonate into fiery pieces right here in the bar.
My phone lights up with a text, and I almost can’t bear to look.
