Second Chance At Love

No.

Cgc

"Cgc!" I hear Rhys whisper yell as I wake from my slumber. He slaps my face lightly as if he's trying to keep me awake and alive. I grab his wrist as I open my eyes. If he doesn't have a good reason as to why the hell he woke me up on Friday, I'm going to be pissed. He's standing above me, his eyes widened in panic mode. Great. "What, man?" I ask, annoyed, my voice still raspy. "Your parents are downstairs!You didn't tell me they were coming into town," he says, his voice still low in a whisper. My whole body freezes at the mention of my parents. They're here. What the hell are they doing here?

I pull the comforter off my body and slip on some drawstring pants off the floor. I don't bother finding a shirt before making my way downstairs with Rhys. I run fingers through my messy dark brown hair as I reach the bottom. Both Archer and Kayleen sit on one of the couches, looking very uncomfortable. "Not even a warning call before coming?" I say, catching both of their attention. My dad stands first and my mom follows shortly after. "Rhys, can we talk to our son alone, please?" my mom asks, her voice nicer than usual. He glances at me quickly before looking back at her.

"Of course, Mrs. Scott." He grabs his water bottle from the counter and disappears upstairs quickly. Luckily Valdez and Xander both stayed the night at the dorms with their girlfriends. I hope they don't come home when my parents are here. I walk into the kitchen and open the fridge to avoid them as best as possible. "You know you could have rented a nice apartment instead of living. . . here," my mom says from behind me, clearing her throat afterward. I scoff. "Did you come here to bash my house or are you here for something worth your time?" I ask bluntly.

"Straight to the point, son," my dad states. He stands in the middle of the living room with his hands in the pockets of his black slacks. He wears dress shoes and a white button-up to match his more formal attire. My mom and dad aren't older like most of the parents of people my age at 37 and 39. Neither of them looks a day over 28 which makes us look more like friends than father and son and mother and son. "Always," I say, taking a swig from my bottled water. My mom loops her arm around my fathers, standing confidently by his side. "I need you to come back home with me," my father says.

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What? When?" I ask quickly. "Now. You'll have to miss your game tomorrow," he says like it's nothing. "Hell no. I'm not missing my game, are you crazy? No way, man," I say firmly with a shake of my head. "Cai-" my mom starts, but I cut her off quickly. "First of all, it's Cgc. Second, if you think you're going to change my mind, save your breath. I'm not going anywhere. I'm captain, I can't just pick up and leave when you need me to," I tell both of them.

"Football is temporary. A means to an end, we've been over this. My company, your future company, isn't," my dad says. "Is this about the Alexander's again?" I ask. My dad nods once. He called me last week when I was about to tell Brynn about them - my parents. New Orleans is huge, there are lots of different real estate companies in the city but my father owns the one of most successful one. Then there's the Alexander family real estate company which rivals my father. They're newer, but they're good. They've stolen seven of his sales so far and he hates it. He hates them. They stole one of his sales just last week which is what the phone call was about.

He made me an offer. One I could not and did not want to accept. I'm guessing he's here to try and change my mind about it. He wants to take me back home to New Orleans for something and if it has anything to do with the offer he made me, I'm going to be pissed. I had no idea the Alexander's were a problem until just last week. I tried to remain as calm as possible when my dad was talking to me because Brynn was in the room but after I left, I called him back and that call was more brutal than the last.

"I told you, I'm not going to do it. I already called Jeffery and nothing changed. I told you they wouldn't budge if I called. I'm still in college, they don't care what I think," I tell my dad. He shakes his head and steps forward. My mom releases her hold on him, but stands behind him, having his back in this absurd plan. "That's not true, son. They're bitter. They resent us because their oldest son isn't you. Jeff is jealous that I have a son who loves real estate, who's going to be better than him when he steps into one of my offices come August. They want you. Imagine how fucking good it would feel for them to think they stole you from me," my dad says, voice hard.