Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 87395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Dan sat propped against Matt's shoulder, fingers twined with his, and nodded as Renee ticked ideas off on her fingers. She seemed friendly enough now that Andrew was out of sight, but Neil had already noted her spine. She was made of sterner stuff, his mother might have said. Neil guessed she had to be to captain a ragtag team like this.
Her roommate Renee was a mystery. The Foxes' senior goalkeeper had bright white hair cut to her chin. The bottom two inches of her hair were dyed in alternating pastel colors. It was interesting enough to warrant a second look, but downright odd when paired with her scant makeup, conservative clothes, and delicate silver cross necklace. Nicky had called her the sweetheart of the team. Neil understood why as he listened to her talk. He had no idea how she qualified for the Foxes' halfway-house team.
At five Wymack called to let them know Seth and Allison were on their way to campus from the airport. They were clearing away their glasses when Nicky showed up for Neil.
"I'm timing you," Dan said, showing Nicky her watch. "I know how long it takes to get to the court from here, especially with the way you drive. You take him straight there, you get me?"
Nicky waved her off. "Have a little faith in a guy, Dan."
"That's Renee's job, not mine. Mine is to make sure we start the year with ten working bodies."
"It's not like we're going to kill him."
"Kevin already tried," Matt pointed out.
"Nah, that was just a love tap." Nicky beckoned to Neil. "Can we go? These people are making me feel extremely unwelcome."
He didn't wait for Neil but vanished into the hallway. When Neil stepped out of the girls' room, Nicky was jogging to the stairwell. Neil had to hurry after him. Nicky waited until they were in the stairwell to slow. He arched his eyebrows at Neil in exaggerated surprise. "So you speak French."
"Yes," Neil said.
Nicky waited a beat to see if he'd elaborate on his own. "Why French?"
"My mother's family is French." It was a lie that probably had his British mother rolling over in her sandy grave. "She didn't really give me a choice on which language to study at school. How did Kevin learn?"
"You don't know?" Nicky asked. "You knew he'd understand you."
"I heard him use it once," Neil said.
"Jean taught him," Nicky said. "Jean Moreau? He's a backliner the Ravens imported from Marseille. He and Kevin were tight, and he taught Kevin French on the sly. Hey, maybe you can teach me a couple good pickup lines. Kevin refuses to help."
"I'm pretty sure I never learned the things you want to say."
"What a waste," Nicky complained.
Andrew was leaning against the car waiting for them. Kevin was already in the passenger seat, and Aaron was in the backseat alone. Andrew was between Neil and the door, so Neil had to stop in front of him. Nicky kept going around the car to the driver's seat, leaving Neil to Andrew's nonexistent mercy.
"You waited for us," Andrew said with feigned surprise. "A liar who practices occasional honesty. Clever. Keeps people guessing. Very effective. I would know. I do it myself, you see. Come on, then. After you."
Neil climbed into the backseat. Andrew followed him in, sandwiching Neil between him and his brother. Nicky already had the engine going. As soon as Andrew yanked his door shut Nicky peeled out of there like he wanted to take the asphalt with him. Neil automatically reached for his seatbelt, but one of the brothers was sitting on it.
Andrew sprawled against his side. "After everything we've done for you, you have to start a fight with us. For shame, Neil."
"You started this fight a month ago," Neil said. "If you want it to stop, leave me alone."
"I like fighting. It's just troublesome when Coach and Abby and the other busybodies start crying foul. Show some consideration."
"You show some consideration and stay out of my things."
"How do you know it was us, anyway? Maybe it was Matt. Innocent until proven guilty fails on an Exy court."
"I haven't heard you deny it yet."
"You wouldn't believe me anyway."
"I don't believe anything you say."
"Believe this, Neil: you can't put a leash on me. Don't think you can, okay? And don't be stupid enough to tell other people you will. It's not safe. You'll make me want to break you."
"You?" Neil said. "You can't."
Andrew's smile curved wider. "Ohhh, that sounds like a challenge. Mother may I?"
"Your mother's dead. I don't think she cares what you do."
"I know for sure she never did," Andrew said. "Well, she had to take offense to the dying part, but I thought that was rather fun. But you're right." He slapped the heel of his palm against his temple as if something obvious had just occurred to him. "I do as I please. Consider this your official invite, you suicidal wretch. I'm bringing you to Columbia with us this Friday."
He let go of Neil and held up five fingers, smiling at Neil through them. "You have five days to meet the others. Five days of practices and all of Coach's ridiculous bonding nonsense. Then it's our turn on Friday. You can get to know us off the court."
"We'll take you out to dinner," Nicky said over his shoulder. "We used to live in Columbia, so we know all the best spots. Even better, we've got a free place to crash so we don't have to worry about driving back drunk or exhausted. It'll be a blast."
"I don't drink or dance," Neil said.
"That's all right," Andrew said. "Kevin doesn't dance anymore and I never do. You can drink soda and talk to us while the others make fools of themselves. We can't get through this year with this little misunderstanding between us, so we'll take a night off and fix it."
'Fix' was a strange choice of words. Neil knew one of them would have to break for them to get along, and he was pretty sure Andrew understood that too. It was obvious Andrew expected him to be the first to give ground.