Friday Night Fire (T.Riggins)

Chapter Ten

Tami's POV

"Honey, we need to talk." I sigh, wiping my hands on the towel in the bathroom before walking back out into the bedroom. Eric looks up at me, heavy bags hanging under his eyes from the last night game he was watching on tv.

He sniffles, shaking his head slightly. "About what?" He asks, propping his head up with the back of his arm. I look at the window, watching the lightning crack in the sky and the rain pebble down.

I walk across the room to my side of the bed, climbing in and covering myself with the comforter. "You know how Bec was supposed to be going on a date the other week?" I ask, watching his head nod.

"Yeah and that asshole blew her off." He hums, a scowl forming on his face from the idea that someone would do that to his baby girl. "Did you ever find out who it was? They need a kick in the ass."

I give him a small smile, pulling the covers over my stomach. "Well, baby, I knew who it was. Becca made me promise no to tell you who it was so it wouldn't interfere with the football team and such."

He cuts me off, waving a hand. "You knew who put my baby through that and you didn't tell me? What the hell, Tam? I'm her father - I deserve to know who ditched my daughter. And why would the team be brought into this - this is family business."

I nod, pressing my tongue to the roof of my mouth. He looks at me, waiting for me to tell him exactly why I didn't inform him on who the boy was. I sigh, brushing my hair from my face. "It was Tim Riggins."

"Are you kidding me? He's no good for her! Why didn't you tell me?" Eric roars, shuffling the comforter off of his body before standing up. He grabs his phone from the bedside table, tapping away.

"Honey, sit please. Just listen to me." I try, leaning over to palm his forearm, pulling him back into the bed with me. He nearly growls, his lip twitching upwards in anger. "Babe, we need to talk this out - not go after the kid. He's 17 years old for christ sake."

Eric shakes his head, cheeks turning red. "I'm not going to talk this out when my daughter got stood up by the drunk of the town. I would've taken care of this the second it happened - why did'nt she tell me?"

"Because she knew you'd freak out like you're doing right now. Honey, our daughter is the most forgiving, sweetest girl in the entire world. She can't see the bad in people unless they prove to her how horrible they are. So, she ended up giving Tim and second chance." I say, watching his eyes twitch shut.

"Y'all should've told me. He would've been as far away from this family as possibly. The kids no good for Becca." Eric snaps, looking to the bedroom door and avoiding my gaze as I try to calm him down.

I move to snuggle into his side, resting my cheek on his bare chest. He brushes a hand through my hair, his heart hammering in his ribcage. "Listen to me. So she gave him a second chance and they were supposed to go out tonight -"

He cuts me off, pulling away enough to look down at me. "She didn't leave the damn house tonight. What do you mean they were 'supposed' to go out tonight?" He asks, the fire in his eyes returning.

"He didn't show up again. Now Becca said she didn't care and that she was fine but I can tell she isn't okay. I think you need to talk to her, help her understand that Tim Riggins is a lost cause and he's no good for her. She won't listen to me when I try to tell her." I say, hugging him into me.

"You're telling me that my player stood my daughter up twice? Who in their right mind would stand our baby girl up?" He breathes, exasperated from the entire ordeal. "I'm gonna kick his ass."

"Honey, calm down. She doesn't want you to do a single thing here. Becca just wants you to leave it alone." I sigh, brushing a hand across his cheek to catch his attention once again. "I want you to maybe talk to her - see what she's feeling."

He nods, swallowing. "I'm going to kill this kid, I swear."

Coach Taylor's POV

"I got it." I sigh into Tami's neck, pushing myself up from the bed. I grab one of my shirts from the chair and pull it on before exiting the room. Tami groans as the pounding on the door increases.

Walking faster, I make it to the door and pull it open. His hair covers his eyes before he looks up to me, soaking wet from the pouring rain. "Is Becca home?" Tim asks, his voice deeper than usual.

"Get the hell off my front step." I snap, watching him take a step sway. I walk out the door, shutting it behind me. "You know you're late don't you? You shouldn't have even showed up to my house."

He nods, looking away from my eyes. "Sir, I'm sorry. My truck broke down when I was trying to leave and Becca wouldn't answer her phone. I didn't know your home number so i couldn't let anyone know."

"Leave Riggins. I don't want to hear your excuses. I just found out an hour ago that my baby girl got stood up for the second time by a kid on my team. Do you know how that makes me feel as not only a father, but also a coach?"

"I'm sure it makes you feel horrible, Coach." He says, looking up at me with sincerity. "I had full intentions on taking your daughter out tonight, but I didn't think my truck would stall. I had to walk over here, I just want to see Becca."

I shake my head, wiping my hand down my face. "Why would I let you see my daughter after you screwed her over twice? Not once Riggins - twice."

He nods at me. "I know where you're coming from Sir, I do. But I really like Becca and I don't want her thinking that I intentionally ditched her this time. I didn't show up last week because I was nervous."

"Nervous of what, Riggins?" I spit, narrowing my eyes at him as he looks around the front of the house.

"I know I'm not good enough for her so I didn't want to drag her down by allowing her to date someone like me. I'm not getting out of this town, I probably won't even go to college, Sir. Becca will, she has dreams and goals and I think thats why i'm so attracted to her."

I cut him off, putting a hand up. "You got that right, you aren't good enough for my baby girl. She is way better than this town, she's going to do many great things in her life. Nobody is going to hold her back from that."

"I know, Coach. But I don't think I can stay away from her. She's the only girl I've been interested in in a long time, the only one who I don't want to spend a night with then forget about. She's different.. so please, let me see her."

I shake my head, moving back to the door. "Come here, we're gonna have a talk."