Free The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton Page B

better. And she could put up whatever defensive line she wanted, but Mick wasn’t the kind of guy to back down from a good defense.
    It was time to shore up his offense.

FIVE
    “HOW WAS FOOTBALL CAMP?”
    “Fine.”
    “Did you learn any new plays?”
    Shrug.
    “Meet any new friends?”
    “Mom, I’m not six years old. It was fine, okay?”
    Nathan took his cereal bowl to the sink and dropped it in there.
    “In the dishwasher, please. I’m not your maid.”
    “Whatever. I have to go get ready for practice.”
    He rinsed his bowl and threw it in the dishwasher, then huffed out of the kitchen and into his room, where he slammed the door shut.
    Delightful.
    Tara let out a long sigh. Why didn’t parenthood come with a manual? There were no guidelines for dealing with a teenager, and she had no parents or siblings to go to for help.
    Had she been this difficult at his age?
    Probably.
    Ugh. Then again, she was much nicer than her own parents had been. Point in her favor. Not that it was helping with Nathan. She could be pleasant to him or she could be surly, and neither seemed to impact him in any way. He had attitude down to an art form. No matter what she did or what she said, he was pissed-off about it.
    He was turning fifteen in a less than a month. She should plan something fun for him, let him invite his friends over, and ...
    And what? She had no idea what he liked anymore. He had his earbuds shoved in his ears and listened to music or played games on his laptop when he was home. Otherwise he played football and hung out with his friends. The kid wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. As far as she knew, girls hadn’t yet entered the picture.
    As far as she knew. And admittedly, she didn’t know much, though she was determined to not be like her parents. Like it or not, she was going to be involved in her son’s life.
    She chewed on a hangnail and nursed her cup of coffee, pondering how to reach her recalcitrant child who really wasn’t a child anymore.
    He was almost fifteen. At fifteen she’d been partying with her friends and with boys. And she was getting pregnant, mainly because her parents were too busy with their own private demons to pay any attention to what she was doing with her life. And oh, how she’d screwed up her life.
    Lord. She rubbed her temples and sent a silent prayer to God that history wouldn’t repeat itself.
    No, it wouldn’t. She was on top of Nathan and what he was doing. She wouldn’t let him fall through the cracks. She loved her son, paid attention to his schoolwork and his after-school activities. It was only this past freshman year in high school that he’d gone quiet and sullen on her, and she’d chalked that up to hormones and puberty. She had to give him some space, hated those parents who laid a thumb over their kids, never giving them any freedom. So far, Nathan’s grades were good, and he hadn’t given her any reason to think he was in any kind of trouble.
    She owed him her trust—until he gave her a reason not to trust him.
    And she hoped to God she could trust him, because it was summer and she had to go to work and he was too damn old for a babysitter.
    But at least he had football practice that would keep him busy for part of the day, and that was part of the day she wouldn’t have to worry about what he was doing or what kind of trouble he was getting into.
    Which was another reason she couldn’t get involved in any kind of relationship right now. Nathan was her first priority. She had to stay on her toes, and frolicking with a hot guy like Mick Riley would definitely divert her focus away from Nathan. That she refused to do.
    By the time she got into the office, she’d managed to shove worry over Nathan into the corner of her brain she normally compartmentalized him into. Always there, but not overpowering her every thought. He had a cell phone and knew he could call her in case of an emergency. Her office was ten minutes from home, so she could get there in