It had worked when I'd wanted to go camping with Dani at thirteen. It had worked when I'd wanted a convertible for my sixteenth. And it sure as hell better work now, when I needed to make my dad understand that Kye was a good guy, without tipping him off to how involved we already were.
Not that Kye saw it that way. Uh-uh, he'd made it clear in no uncertain terms just how 'over' we were last night. I understood his reticence. His declaration from the heart about seeking his dad's approval had made me cry.
But I didn't give up that easily.
I'd seen his reluctance to leave me when we'd made it back to the academy last night, had seen how torn he was. He had feelings for me, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. And once he figured out my dad wasn't a big, bad ogre who'd kick him out on his ass if he found out about us, we could spend every spare moment together.
His tennis career was important to him, I got it. And I didn't want to mess that up for him. But what I felt when I was with him? Indefinable.
It wasn't just the sensational sex, which made me tingle just thinking about it. It was how he made me feel when I was with him: cherished, adored, and a little bit bad. When I was with Kye, I wasn't good girl Mia Cresswell, study nerd who achieved great grades but was lousy socially.
I was Mia, who made him smile and laugh and hold me tight.
I liked being just Mia. And I'd be damned if I sat back and did nothing, content to see Kye occasionally on the academy grounds but not much else.
I spied my dad exactly where I thought he'd be this early in the morning: at the practice courts, watching his protégés hit out. Perfect. He'd be in a good mood, as morning was his favorite part of the day.
"Guess who?" I covered his eyes with my hands, wondering if he'd remember the countless times I'd done this as a kid and how he'd deliberately make crazy guesses, each more outlandish than the last.
"Hmm, let me see …" His hands covered mine, patting them. "Miley Cyrus? Lady GaGa? Katy Perry?"
I laughed. "If that's your attempt at trying to sound trendy, Dad, it sucks."
I lowered my hands and he spun around, embracing me in a bear hug that squeezed the air from my lungs.
"How are you, Chickadee?" He released me and I stared at the man who'd raised me, the man who'd do anything for me, the only man in the world I truly trusted.
I was hoping to add Kye to that exclusive list.
"Fine, Dad. You?"
"Never better." He gestured at the grass courts. "Keeping these guys on their toes keeps me young."
I glanced at the court and tried to hide my surprise at seeing Kye smashing returns as fast as a machine served up balls. Guess I wasn't the only one who'd had a sleepless night and he'd come down here at the crack of dawn too.
"Looks like you've got some good prospects in this batch." I tried to sound casual and keep my gaze averted from Kye.
My dad wasn't a fool and the last thing I needed before I'd laid down the groundwork was to alert him to the fact I was crazy for Kye.
"Yeah, though time will tell." His eyes narrowed as he stared at Kye. "Not too sure about this one."
Uh hell.
"Kye?"
My dad's head swiveled toward me, his glare suspicious. "You know him?"
I made a split second decision to play it cool while delivering a semi-truth to test the waters. "Yeah, he seemed a little lost at your intro party the other night, so I showed him around LA yesterday."
"That's not like you, playing tour guide to the jocks." A frown appeared between my dad's brows. "You know you don't have to do that."
I shrugged. "I know, but I'm on vacation, and he seems nice, so I thought I'd do the right thing."
If my trite answer appeased my dad's suspicions, he didn't show it. "Be careful of Sheldon. He may appear nice on the surface but he's got a past and I'd prefer you kept your distance."
Uh-oh. This wasn't going to plan.
I'd wanted to ease into a conversation about Kye, pave the way to gaining Dad's approval. Instead, he'd warned me off? Shit.
"Dad, I'm not a little kid. I'm a pretty good judge of character and Kye seems—"
"What did you do yesterday?" Way too astute, my dad's steely gaze swung from me to Kye and back again, as I valiantly hoped he couldn't read my feelings for Kye on my face.
"Drove around and checked out the usual tourist spots in LA, then Santa Monica."
I willed the heat suffusing my body not to flush my cheeks in a dead giveaway that we'd done much more than drive around.
Sadly, I couldn't stop the blush and my dad's stare turned flinty. "Mia, you say you're a good judge of character but you know what guys on the circuit can be like."
His lips compressed, like he didn't want to say the rest. "These jocks have women throwing themselves at them all the time. They're transient, moving from one tournament to another."