Twisted Palace(41)

And as uncomfortable as it is for me, it’s a million times worse for Reed. He can’t play tonight because he still has stitches in his side from the stabbing orchestrated by Daniel Delacorte. He’s benched for another week, but he’s still expected to stand on the sidelines.

I wish he could sit up in the stands with us. I hate how alone he looks right now. And I hate that people keep whispering and pointing at him.

“That’s the Royal boy,” some woman hisses loud enough for all of us to hear. “I can’t believe they let him come here tonight.”

“It’s shameful,” another parent agrees. “I don’t want him around my Bradley!”

“Someone needs to talk to Beringer about this,” a male voice ominously chimes in.

I wince. So does Callum. Beside me, Steve seems totally unconcerned by all the negative attention. As usual, he’s talking my ear off, this time about some European trip he’s planning for us. I don’t know if us means me and him, or if that includes Dinah, too. Either way, I’m not interested in going on a trip with him, even if he is my father. He still makes me so nervous.

The funny thing is, I can totally see why my mom was drawn to him. In the week he’s been back, he’s been filling out. His face is no longer gaunt, and his clothes are actually starting to fit his lean, muscular frame. Steve O’Halloran is decent looking—for a dad—and his blue eyes always hold this boyish twinkle. Mom had a thing for the playful types, and Steve definitely fits that bill.

But as his daughter, and not someone who’s romantically interested in him, I think the boyish act is kind of annoying. He’s a grown-up. Why doesn’t he act like one?

“You’re sulking,” Sawyer murmurs in my ear.

I snap out of my thoughts and turn to the younger Royal. “No, I’m not,” I lie, before looking past his shoulder. “Where’s Lauren?” Technically, Lauren is Sawyer’s girlfriend, so she’s usually his date for these types of things.

“Grounded,” he answers with a sigh.

“Aw. Why?”

“She got caught sneaking out to meet me and—” He stops when he notices Steve listening in. “Me,” he finishes. “Just me.”

I hide a grin. I don’t get Lauren Donovan at all, but I think it’s kind of ballsy that she’s so open to dating two boys. I can barely handle one.

Speaking of my one, Reed looks miserable on the sidelines. His gaze is glued to the touchdown zone. Or the end zone? I can’t remember what it’s called. No matter how many times Reed and Easton try to teach me how the game works, I still don’t like or care about football.

I can tell Reed is upset that he’s not out there with his teammates. The defense is on the field—I know this only because one of the blue-and-gold jerseys down there reads “ROYAL.” Easton is lined up in front of an opponent. I see his mouth moving behind his facemask, which tells me he’s making some smartass comment.

Yup, he totally is. When the play starts, the opposing player lunges at Easton like he wants to murder him. But East is dangerous out there—he sweeps by his opponent, who falls to his knees, while two other Astor Park players tackle Marin High’s quarterback before he can throw the ball.

“That was a sack,” Sebastian says helpfully, leaning over his brother to explain the play to me.

“I don’t care,” I reply.

On my other side, Steve chuckles. “Not a fan of football, I gather?”

“Nope.”

“We’ve been working on her,” Callum says from the end of the row. “But no luck yet.”

“It’s all right, Ella,” Steve tells me. “The O’Hallorans are a basketball family, anyway.”

Just like that, I tense up again. Why does he keep saying stuff like that? I’m not an O’Halloran! And I hate basketball more than I hate football.

I muster up a smile and say, “Harpers are anti-sports. All sports.”

Steve’s mouth curves in a tiny smirk. “I don’t know about that… If I recall correctly, your mother was very…ah…sporty.”

My mouth slams shut. Was that some sort of disgusting innuendo? I’m not sure, but I think it was, and I really don’t like it. He’s not allowed to talk about my mom that way. He didn’t even know her. Not outside of the biblical sense, anyway.

On the field, the Astor Park offense is lining up. Wade is our quarterback, and he’s shouting unintelligible words to his teammates. I think I hear him yell “STUDMUFFIN!” at one point, which prompts me to poke Sawyer in the side.

“Did he just say ‘studmuffin’?”