Kyle...

I waved to the security guard as I drove up to the large gate that had just opened up in front of me.

"Hey Mr. Greg," I said.

"Kyle, it's good to see you man," he smiled at me. "Congrats on that winning shot at the game. You had my whole house going crazy!"

"Thanks man," I chuckled.

I gave a quick wave again and continued driving down the short driveway. Once I was parked in my usual spot, I got out and looked at the massive house in front of me. Mom and dad really went all out when it came to this house. It's a bummer that I never really lived here.

After they got married, mom and I moved out of the apartment and into a house Eli had bought. It wasn't a mansion, but it was still huge. I spent most of my teen years in that house.

But after mom's big idea to open up the publishing company, they decided New York would be the best place to move and bought this big ass mansion. They only moved when I graduated and got to college, as they didn't want me to have to move again when I only had a year left. So, I literally spent maybe 2 months here before I moved out of state for school. It turned into the cool place I came to hang out at on holidays.

The door opened and out walked my dad.

"You made it," he said.

"Am I in trouble?" I asked.

He chuckled. "No Kyle, you're not."

As I had predicted, family lunch did not go too well. Mom was pretty upset and made sure we all knew. Dad tried his best to keep the peace. I had planned to go no contact for a while to give mom some space, but I had to ditch that when dad called this morning asking me to come over.

He gestured for me to come inside and I followed. We walked through the massive house and my eyes were peeled for any clue of my mom.

"She's not here, she's out with Krissy," dad said, easing my nervousness.

We eventually made it to the back, where the basketball court was. He grabbed the basketball off the rack and tossed it my way.

"Up for a game?" He asked.

"I should be asking you that. Are you sure your old knees aren't gonna give out on you again?" I grinned.

"You're never gonna let me forget that, are you?"

"Nah," I said before dribbling the ball on the court.

Long before mom and dad were married, when they pretended that they didn't have feelings for each other, Dad, who was just Eli to me then, used to take me out to play basketball and just talk. At 12, I needed a man around to talk to, and he easily became that. It's been 12 years since, and we still do it.

In those 12 years, Eli has always been there for me. Taught me everything I needed to know about responsibility, love, the dreaded sex, and how to just be a man on a whole. We've grown so close that even my mother, who's been there my whole life, gets a little jealous. Sometimes, I've even forgotten that my actual father didn't want me.

Sometimes.

We played for a while before dad started getting tired.

"See, I knew you couldn't handle it," I laughed.

"Shut up!" he said, making his way to the bench and sitting down. He grabbed the water bottle that was next to him and took a chug.

"So, are you going to tell me what this game is about?" I asked.

Our one-on-one games were used as a segue for us to talk a lot of the time. I had a feeling this was no different.

"You know what it's about," he said.

"You said I wasn't in trouble."

"You're not. That doesn't mean we don't have to talk about it though."

I sighed in annoyance and took a seat on the bench next to him.

"I'm not gonna go in on you ok? Your mother already did enough of that," he said, "I just wanted to remind you to be careful."

"I am careful, dad."

"I know, and I trust you. But you know it's a bit different when it comes to your mother."

"But it's been years, 25 to be exact, why can't she be over this already?"

"Look, it frustrates me just as much as it frustrates you, but her getting over this thing is up to her not us. She'll have to actually admit it's a problem to herself first before anything can change."

I nodded in agreement.

As a kid, I've always seen my mother as strong and nothing less. She was this image of power that I always wanted to have. But it took me growing up to realize that it was all a face she put on for me.

Being left by the guy she thought was the love of her life to raise her child on her own, really took a toll on her. It was obvious when she and Eli started dating, and she got over that with time. But her love life wasn't the only thing affected.

My mother and I's relationship was great, but things started to change a bit when we moved to DC. I was becoming a teen with a curious mind. After the infamous sex talk with Eli, the "Don't get no girl pregnant" warnings came. It was annoying but funny, and I just brushed it off because I knew I had no intention of doing that. But then I turned 16 and she went crazy. She got very controlling, and as a 16-year-old, I rebelled. I had to plead with her to let me go to school out of state. She had said no, but I went anyway. Those few years were the hardest on our relationship. It was also hard on her marriage. She and dad didn't fight much, but when they did, it always seemed to be about me. She would go on a rampage about my behavior and he would always be defending me. He didn't always defend me, he let me have it too when it was deserved, but he and grandma seemed like the only ones who cared about me then. She has toned down on her controlling a bit, but it was still there.

I've always thought that she was just being controlling, but dad said she was afraid that I would go through the same thing that she did and she was trying to prevent it. She had good intentions but was going about it the wrong way. Right now, it was up to her to get over the fear and learn to trust me.

"Want to get back to playing?" He asked "Or do you want to talk about that girl at your place? Do I need to be thinking about setting an extra seat at the table for Christmas?" His brow raised with a smirk.

"God no!" I laughed. "I just met the girl."

"So? When I just saw your mom I knew she was it for me. I've told you this before."

I rolled my eyes. "And I still don't believe you."

"So you don't believe that you can meet a girl or even see a girl for the first time and feel something? Other than lust?"

The girl at the bar from the night before instantly came to mind. There was this odd pull to her I just could not explain. That couldn't be the same thing he was talking about, Right?

"What was that?" My dad asked.

"What was what?"

"There was a look on your face," he said smugly.

"There was no look."

"Stop lying Kyle, spill the beans."

I groaned.

"Don't worry, I won't tell your mother."

I sighed in defeat. He was the best person after all to talk to about this.

"Noelle, the girl at my apartment, wasn't the girl I initially was trying to talk to," I said, "There was this girl sitting at the bar, that Paxon said had been staring at me all night. I was going over to her to talk and when we locked eyes it just...I can't even explain it, it was like this..."

"Pull?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"So what happened when you talked to her?"

"I didn't. Some drunk girl bumped into me with her drink and by the time I looked up, she was gone."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that!" I confirmed. "I met Noelle at the bar after that."

"Oh wow," he said, then smiled. "So you see, it is real."

"I didn't even get to talk to her dad."

"It doesn't matter. The heart wants what the heart wants," he said. "It knows when it has found its better half."

I rolled my eyes again. "You know what, let's just play."

"Fine," he said, getting up from the bench with a groan. He bent over and rubbed his knees.

"Need an ice pack for them arthritis knees?" I asked and laughed at his expression.

"Shut up and throw the ball over here."

And with that, the two of us went back to our game.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was late in the afternoon when I stepped back into my apartment. I locked the door behind me and I dropped onto the couch. My body hurt a bit from the intense game with dad, but it was time well spent.

My grumbling stomach caught my attention and I groaned. I literally ate an hour ago at my parents' house, and my body was already needing more food.

I painted a visual image of the contents of my refrigerator, trying to figure out what I could eat. All that was there that I could eat right now was the leftovers from the lunch mom cooked, tucked away in the back in a Tupperware container.

I reluctantly pulled myself off the couch and was about to head over to the kitchen when a knock on the door stopped me in my tracks.

I turned to the door in confusion. Who could it be? I had just seen dad, so it couldn't be him. Maybe it was mom coming over to apologize? I grabbed my phone from my pocket and checked the notifications. There wasn't a text from anyone saying they were coming over. Maybe it was Noelle?

The knock came again, pulling me from my questioning thoughts.

"Coming!" I said, heading to the door.

I peeped through the peephole and saw a guy in a suit with shades on. He kind of looked like a bodyguard. My brows pulled together in confusion.

I stepped back and opened the door. The man stood there, just staring.

"Can I help you?" I asked and then he simply stepped aside.

Behind him stood another man in a suit, but he wasn't a bodyguard, he was obviously the one being guarded. He straightened his suit and looked at me nervously. I knew that face and he had every right to be nervous.

"Kyle," he greeted.

"Anthony." 

Sorry for the inconsistent update guys, still trying to find my bearing with all the changes going on for me. Next update will be before the end of the month, but I can't give an exact date. DO NOT HESITATE to remind me by commenting or sending a PM, it keeps me motivated and on my toes. 

Until next time guys!

PS: I'm looking to join a bookclub, so if you or anyone you know on Wattpad is hosting one, let me know! Hoping to get some productive distraction from school work.