Page 151 of His Hungry Wolf

For example, my father was a real redhead who went from pale to freckled pink, while I had dark hair. He was left-handed while I was right-handed. He liked foods I found disgusting. He was super hairy while at 22, I still struggled to grow facial hair. And, I was pretty sure he was colorblind. Either that or he severely rejected societal pressure to match his socks.

None of those things meant anything on their own. But add them all together? It had always made me think. Now add that to my dad’s rants and I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“What?” My father said having felt me stare.

Did I ask him about it while he was still somewhat sober? Would my asking him be the thing that finally made him leave? I couldn’t deal with this. Not now, at least.

“What?” He asked again, this time a little pissed off.

“Your ticket will be at ‘Will Call’,” I told him looking away and heading to my room.

He grunted in reply.

“Boy?”

“You know I don’t like it when you call me that,” I told him.

“You know scouts will be there on Saturday, right?”

“I know.”

“You prepared?”

“Coach has us ready.”

“Good. Who was that boy you brought around last night?”

I stopped my exit as soon as he brought up Quin. If I was going to have a life with Quin, at some point I was going to have to talk to him about it.

“I told you. He’s my tutor.”

“He didn’t leave last night.”

“We were up late preparing for the exam I took today.”

He grunted not taking his eyes off of me.

“By the way, I know you like her, but I don’t think it’s working out between Tasha and me.”

“Make it work. She’s good for you. Teams will like her.”

“I can’t be with someone because some team might like the way we look together. There’s more to life than that.”

“Do you know how much I sacrificed to get you where you are? You couldn’t even begin to guess.”

“And I appreciate that, Dad. But I don’t see what that has to do with who I date.”

“Don’t you go ruining this now, Boy.”

“I’m not ruining anything. I’m just telling you that she might not be the one.”

“And, who is?”

“I don’t know. But there are a lot of people out there.”

“And none of them would do what she can do for you.”

“You mean stand beside me on draft day and look pretty? I can’t base my life on one moment that will have more to do with how I play on Saturday than who I stick my dick in.”