My dad’s looped on painkillers when we leave the hospital, so as much as I want him out of my house, I’d feel like too much of a dick taking him to a hotel for tonight. And yes, it’s tonight. The entire afternoon evaporated while we waited in there. Besides, if I do drop him someplace, there’s a good chance he’s going to ignore the doctor’s orders and go walking around without his crutches, which will end up costing me more money, and probably more time.

“Sorry about this.” My dad gestures to his foot, his head resting against the window. He sounds anything but sincere.

“Once you’re off the crutches, you need to go to a hotel.”

“C’mon, kid, this was an accident. You can’t be pissed at me ’cause I fell.”

I grip the steering wheel. “You can’t show up, create all this chaos, and expect me to be okay with it.”

“I tried to call; you didn’t answer. I just wanted to visit with my son. Where’s the crime in that?”

This conversation is pointless. Aside from being on a bunch of medication, my dad’s not one to own his mistakes, or be honest. But I’m angry, so instead of keeping my mouth shut, I go ahead and say things I shouldn’t—even though all it’s going to do is rattle the cage.

“You know, I could deal with it when it was just me in the house, but Lily lives there now, too, so you can’t camp out on my couch for three weeks until you pull your shit back together anymore.”

“You embarrassed of me? Is that the problem?”

“Yeah, I’m fucking embarrassed. I get home last night from a weekend away, and you’re wasted as shit. It wasn’t really a great introduction.” I hit the brakes when the light turns yellow and piss off the guy behind me because I don’t run it.

“I’ll apologize to her later. Will that make you feel better?”

“It might if it actually meant something, but you were already into the beers again this morning. You’ve got a problem, and you need to deal with it.”

“Everyone’s got problems. That’s not a reason to send me to a hotel.”

I look at my dad, at the mess he’s made of his life. “That’s not why you can’t stay with us. I don’t trust you with her.”

“I’m not gonna touch your chippy.”

“She’s not my fucking chippy, and that’s not what I mean. I mean I don’t trust you not to be an asshole, or to say something to make her question my loyalty to her. But since you mentioned it, if you lay a fucking finger on her, for any reason, I will kick the motherfucking shit out of you.”

He raises his hands in the air in mock surrender. “Whoa, whoa, settle down. I’m not here to mess with you, or this girl you’re so hung up on. Just watch your back, kid. They’re always after something.”

“You mean like Mom? She had such unrealistic expectations and all, what with wanting you to keep your damn dick in your pants and out of the bunnies. Pretty fucking unreasonable, yeah?” I pull up in front of the house. “You need to get out. I gotta get Lily from work.”

He doesn’t move for a few seconds, just stares at me. “Randy—”

“Lily’s waiting on me, and I don’t have time to listen to your bullshit.”

He fumbles around with his crutches and opens the door. It takes him a bit to get out, and I don’t offer to help.

I roll down the window when he’s on the sidewalk. “Try not to get sauced before I get home. It’d be nice if you could keep a handle on your mouth in front of Lily.”

I feel a vague sense of vindication at the look of remorse on his face as I take off, but I doubt it will last long. It never does.

It’s after seven thirty by the time I arrive at the arena, and Lily’s on the ice with Finlay. I knew I wouldn’t make it before they got started, so I stopped at a coffee shop, and I even picked up something for him, because I’m trying to be nice. I want to take Lily out after this since I couldn’t meet her earlier—and partly to avoid spending any more time with my dad. I also have to break it to her that he’s staying a couple more nights with us, and I don’t know how she’s going to feel about that.

I stay close to the door instead of taking a seat in the stands, so as not to appear like the jealous boyfriend I am. She’s so graceful out there. Sometimes I still can’t believe she was robbed of her opportunity to be in the Olympics. Whenever I mention it, she reminds me that if she’d gone, we probably never would have met. I don’t think I’m better than the Olympics, but Lily always tries to find the positive, and I’m glad I get to be her silver lining.

I wait until the last five minutes of their ice time before I approach the boards. They seem to be mostly done, so I’m not at risk of interrupting. Lily raises her hand in a wave and holds up a finger. I lean against the boards and pretend to look at my phone while I wait.

I have messages from Lance, seeing how I’m dealing with my dad being around. Lance’s family relationships are strained, too. Much of his family’s still in Scotland, though, so he only sees them once or twice a year. He’s aware that things with my dad aren’t good, so when Randall, Sr., comes to town, Lance and Miller have a tendency to check on me.

“Hey, you.” Lily’s skates send up a spray of ice as she stops in front of me.

I look up from my phone. “Hi. I brought you tea, and a coffee for Finlay, if he wants it.”

“That’s sweet of you. He’s already gone to change.”

I look around the rink to find it empty.

She leans in with a knowing smile and kisses my cheek. “I saw you skulking by the doors.”

“I wasn’t skulking. I didn’t want to make Finlay nervous. Or seem like a jealous boyfriend.”

She arches a brow. “Are you jealous?”

“Mostly I wanted to see you on the ice.”

“Mostly?”

“Yeah, mostly. Ninety percent is me wanting to watch you skate; the other ten percent is me being jealous.”

She presses a quick kiss to my lips. “I can deal with ten-percent jealousy.”

The heavy feeling in my stomach eases up a little. “I was thinking maybe we could go for dinner once you’re changed, unless you’ve eaten.”

“I had a snack, but that sounds fantastic. I’m starving.”