Erin started filming the dance with her phone, stifling her laughter with one hand. George smiled faintly as he followed our gazes, but then he knitted his brows and looked back at me. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, lowering his voice so that only I could hear it. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry. It’s just… lately I’ve been getting the impression that you aren’t particularly happy here.”
I sighed glumly. “I thought I was doing a pretty good job of hiding it from you and Mom, but I guess not.”
“You know you don’t need to hide anything from me,” he said, face softening. “Tell me what’s going on. Have I done something to upset you?”
“No, it’s not you. I swear.” I briefly chewed on my bottom lip before speaking up again. “Honestly… it’s Jax. He’s hated my guts ever since we met, and he’s been making things at school pretty rough for me.”
‘Pretty rough’ was a massive understatement, but I didn’t want to crap all over Jax in front of his own father.
George’s shoulders sagged. “Ah,” he said, turning to look out at the field. “I was worried that might be the case.”
“You were?” I said, brows shooting up.
“Yes. I hoped I was wrong, though.”
“Does that mean you know why he has such a huge problem with me?”
George nodded. “Yes. I was hoping he’d get over it, but here we are. I have to say, I’m very disappointed in him.”
“So… what is it?” I stared at him, eyes saucer-wide. “Why does he hate me?”
“It’s a very, very long story, and probably not one I should tell in the middle of a busy stadium.” George leaned forward and looked past me. “Erin, how long do we have before the game kicks off?”
She glanced at her watch. “We still have fifteen minutes.”
“All right. Do you mind if I steal Kinsey for a few minutes? We need to have a chat.”
“Sure. I’ll keep your seats for you.”
George and I trudged up the walkway leading out of the stadium, dodging fans decked out in black and gold scarves and beanies. When we reached the edge of the parking lot, George led me over to a bench and sat down. He took a long sip of his drink. Then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I was really hoping I’d never have to tell you any of this, Kinsey,” he said.
“Why?”
“It’s about your father.”
My mouth fell open. That was the absolute last thing I expected to hear.
“My dad?” I slowly shook my head. “What about him?”
“Before I tell you, I should let you know that your mother isn’t aware of this,” he said. “I don’t keep any other secrets from her, but this one… I didn’t see the point in dredging up such a painful memory. Especially one which disparages her ex-husband so much.”
“Okay.” I swallowed hard. “So what did my dad do?”
“Well, as you already know from our chat at the funeral, he got a scholarship to CPA, so we met and became friends there. But our friendship wasn’t just limited to school. After we finished our senior year, we went to college together, and then we came back to Crown Point and shared a house while we established our careers. I took over the Kingsley Hotel from my father, and your dad started working at a local law firm.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, nodding slowly. I already knew most of this stuff from my dad, although I didn’t know he shared a house with George as a young adult.
“I always tried my best to help him,” George went on, staring up at the stadium lights. “I knew how hard it was for him to come to a place like this from a less-fortunate background. Crown Point isn’t the easiest place to fit into when you come from very little.”
“No shit,” I murmured.
“Anyway, I did whatever I could. I helped him get his job through my uncle, who owned the law firm, and I didn’t charge him rent in the house we shared, seeing as I already owned it outright. I figured that would allow him to save up extra money, which would help him fit in more easily.” George dropped his eyes to the ground and slowly shook his head. “Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to work.”
“What do you mean?”
“His insecurities got the better of him. I found out that he never felt we were truly equals. At some point he’d started thinking that I viewed him as a charity case, which of course I didn’t. I just wanted to help him because he was my best friend. But he didn’t see it that way. Our friendship became strained, and then he started drinking a lot. I think that’s when his addiction started.”
“Oh,” I said in a small voice, picking at a fingernail.