Her brows furrow as she nods. “Say no more; you know I’m familiar with your dad.” She sure is because the few games he’s come to have always led to tense conversations between them. “I’ve met plenty of guys like him; they’re not unique. There are real men and then there are men who need to try to make women feel small and irrelevant to make themselves feel better about what they lack. You hold so much power inside of you, Liv. Don’t ever let anyone take it from you.”

My hand flies up to my eye to catch the fat tear that’s gathering there, and Coach Naughton pats my shoulder gently. “Thank you. Really.”

“Of course. You let me know if you ever need to talk.” When we make it to the locker room, she wraps me up in one of those soul-healing hugs. The ones where they rock you back and forth and you just want to sob on their shoulder.

I thank her again, and with renewed confidence in my power, I make my way back to my dorm to meet Kai.

“Liv.”

I freeze at the deep baritone in that voice. What the fuck is he doing here by my dorm building?

Slowly, I turn around to come face to face with my father.

“What are you doing here?”

“We didn’t finish our conversation earlier. I made you an appointment for tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at ten a.m.”

I push my shoulders back and walk until the tips of our shoes touch. “I’m not going to any damn appointment with you. I told you I’m keeping this baby and guess what? There’s nothing you can do to stop that, so you can either fall in line and get ready to be a better grandfather than you were a father or you can get out of my life. Those are the options, Dad. There is no third. Now, I’m tired. I missed the nap I wanted to take today, and my feet hurt so I’m going to go cuddle with my boyfriend and rest. You can call me another time.”

I turn toward my dorm building with my head held high, but I only make it three steps before his words make my stomach drop. “Then Kai can kiss his future goodbye.”

Frozen in my tracks, I slowly turn to face him again. “What did you say?”

“If you don’t go to that appointment tomorrow, Kai’s future is over before it even starts.”

“What do you mean by that?”