Chapter 7 - A Lesson in Family Love

Asher

“Hit the showers!” Coach yells, signalling the end of practice. He’s been training us to the bone lately, but we all knew it was to prepare for the first game of the season between the Waterford Capitals and Mountford Rebels in three weeks’ time. To be honest, I’m pumped up about the game; it takes my mind off current things.

“Y’all wanna chill at the diner this afternoon? I could fucking use one of Mamma Jane’s Capital’s right about now,” Brock asks as he stands there buck naked while we exit the showers.

Mamma Jane’s was a popular mom and pop diner most of us frequented, and a Capital was a fully loaded burger exploding with carbs. It shows you how much football ruled this town; the local diner named a burger meal after our team.

The majority of the guys were up for it, but I had my lie planned out already.

“Can’t. My fucking dad has a tutor coming over later. The asshole is threatening my college fund if I keep on failing.” I say as I put on my briefs and jeans. They all looked at me with understanding then because I knew we were basically in the same boat.

“Fuck, man. My old man did the same thing,” Dale mumbles in an angry tone, and I nod at his words. My father might not have hired a tutor, but he definitely had me balls to the wall.

I slap on some cologne and throw a button-down shirt on before saying goodbye to my teammates, knowing full well where I am headed. Today would probably be awkward as hell, but I needed to do something about my grades before everything got taken away from me.

Football is my life. My dad knew this, and he always waved my tuition in front of my face. Some days I think he wants to live his own football dreams through me. It is as if this is what he trained me for - I was his prodigy before I was his son.

I park my truck a block away from Liam’s place and get out to walk the rest of the way. I know it’s a dick move, but I couldn’t risk someone recognising my car parked outside of the only openly gay guy in town. My friends would drag me for days.

As I walk up to Liam’s house, I spot him sitting on his patio and looking down at his phone. He lifts up his head as I near him, then cocks his head towards the back entrance of his house. This surprises me more than I care to let on, but I know why he wants me to go around; no one is supposed to know about this arrangement.

He enters the front door and closes it behind him; then, I wait for a beat before walking towards the backyard. Luckily, his house had high shrubs on either side instead of a fence so that I could enter from the side and no one would see me.

The back door is open when I approach, and Liam steps out with a smile on his face. “Hey,” he greets me, and I can’t help but notice how different this smile of his looked compared to the tight ones he offers people at school.

I shake the thought from my head and follow him inside while returning his greeting. The first thing I noticed about the inside of his house was how homey it felt. You could tell that a lot of love and effort went into what was chosen here, unlike our huge, cold house. The things on display back at my place were all for decoration and to show off my parent’s wealth. It didn’t feel like a home at all.

Liam’s house was different, and it depressed me a bit.

“Okay, I thought you might be more comfortable if we studied in the kitchen area; it’s open and light with minimal chance of distractions from neighbors. Did you bring your chemistry books? We can start with that first since you have the extra credit to finish.” He says in rapid succession again.

I don’t remember him being such a neurotic chatterbox at all, but I nod and follow him into the kitchen, anyway. He sits down and asks me for the paperwork Mrs Williams gave me regarding my extra credit.

“5 Page essay on how kinetic-molecular theory explains the properties of plasmas, including examples and citations. Wow, Williams really meant for you to do this extra credit.” He says and pushes up his spectacles, wincing slightly.

I sat down opposite him and couldn’t help but notice how his eyes shone as he read the rest of the paperwork - did this kind of thing really excite him that much?

I shrug. “It’s currently all gibberish to me, hence why I came to you for help,” I say, and when he looks up at me, our eyes meet for a second before he looks away again, a blush forming over his cheeks, and he clears his throat.

“Okay, well. This is where we start….”

I have to admit, Liam made things seem a hell of a lot more straightforward than the teachers do. I even found myself answering a few of his questions, and this made me wonder what he was doing so differently. By the end of his lesson, I had a bit of confidence returning when we had the first draft of my essay done. I smile when I look down at my notes, and I can feel his eyes on me, but before I could say anything-

“Working hard or hardly working?” A voice came from behind, startling the both of us.

Liam smiles without looking up. “Hey, mom,” he says, and I turn my head towards where the voice came from. It was Liam’s mother: Tall, blonde and has the bluest and kindest eyes I’ve ever seen. She regards us with amusement, and I flash her a smile.

“Hey, Mrs Marsh,” I say, and she returns my greeting.

Then I realised my error; I had forgotten Liam’s mother was basically the town’s doctor whose husband had left her. She sees the look on my face and chuckles.

“Don’t worry about it, please, Asher. I hope Liam hasn’t liquefied your brain too much because I’m making tacos for dinner.”

Wait, dinner?? I grab my phone and look at the time. What the fuck? It was 7 pm already!

“Oh! I didn’t realise that it was this late already. I gotta get going,” I say, gathering my things together.

“You sure? I got enough to feed an army here.” Dr Marsh asks, and I nod, smiling at her kindness.

“Yes, unfortunately. Maybe next time?” I say, and she returns my nod and continues to pull ingredients from the pantry.

With my backpack slung over my one shoulder, I turn to Liam, and he stands up.

“Thanks for today; it helped a lot. I think I should be able to finish the essay sooner than expected.” I say while he leads me towards the side entrance again.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet; there’s still lots to learn.” He says with a chuckle as he leans against the door, and I shrug.

“I’m not that dumb, Marsh,” I say and wink at him before walking out. “See ya,” I say without looking back.

I reach my truck up the road and floor it as I go home, hoping that my mom wouldn’t be pissed at me for staying out late. But when I reach my house, I get no weird vibes from my parents, well, from my mom at least.

She was in the kitchen, busy with prepping food for the week. She looks up when she hears me.

“Asher,” she greets me, then points to the warmer. “Your supper is in there.” Walking up towards her, I plant a kiss on her cheek.

“Thanks, mom, sorry I’m so late. I got a kid from school to help me with some of the subjects I’m struggling with, and we lost track of time.” I say as I grab my food from the warmer, suddenly feeling starved for days.

My mother smiles, “Well, tha-”

“Well, thank God for that,” I hear behind me, and my mom and I both stiffen at the sound of my dad’s voice. I look up at him, trying to gauge his emotions, but get nothing.

“Wouldn’t want you to lose that one foot you have in at Ohio State, would we?” He says, crossing his arms.

This man. If there was anyone who could put the fear of God into me, it was my dad. The asshole had my mother and me under his thumb, and he knew it. On certain days, when he gets a bit in too deep with the Tennessee whiskey, he reminds us of how worthless we were without him. We both have the scars to prove this as well.

“No, sir,” I say, suddenly losing my appetite.

My dad shakes his head. “Good. Because I’m giving you two months to get your grades up, if you fail, I’ll spearhead the quarterback from Mountford to OSU in your stead. Don’t fuck this up, Asher.” He then stomps out of the kitchen area, leaving nothing but the stench of whiskey in his wake.

Did I mention how much I loved my father?