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)
"If you dare give us a repeat of last year—"
"Then Bee will be here to pick the pieces up," Andrew interrupted, reappearing in the doorway at Neil's side. He'd lost the whiskey along the way and he splayed his empty hands at her in a calming gesture. "She did so well with Matt, didn't she? Neil won't even be a blink on her radar. You did invite her over, didn't you?"
"I invited her, but she declined. She thought it would make things awkward."
"Things aren't anything but awkward when Andrew and Nicky are around," Coach said.
Andrew didn't even try to defend his honor but looked at Neil. "Bee's a shrink. Used to work in the juvie system, but now she's here. She deals with the really serious cases on campus: suicide watch, budding psychopaths, that sort of thing. That makes her our designated handler. You'll meet her in August."
"Do I have to?" Neil asked.
"It's mandatory once a semester for athletes," Abby confirmed. "The first time is a casual meet-andgreet so you get to know her and find out where her office is. The second session is in spring. Of course, you're free to visit her any time you like, and she'll talk to you more about scheduling while you're there. Counseling services are included in your tuition, so you might as well make use of it."
"Betsy's amazing," Nicky said. "You'll love her."
Neil doubted it, but he let it slide for now.
"Let's eat, shall we?" Abby asked, motioning for Andrew and Neil to enter the room.
Neil had just about lost his appetite, but he sat at the table as far as he could get from Kevin and Andrew's seats. Conversation died as everyone got settled and served up what they wanted, but it started up again as they dug into chunks of steaming lasagna. Neil tried as best as he could to stay out of it, more interested in seeing the way they interacted.
From time to time the table split as Kevin and Wymack got caught up talking about spring training and recruits at other schools and Nicky regaled the other half of the table with gossip about movies and celebrities Neil didn't know. Andrew watched Kevin and Wymack, but he had nothing to contribute to the conversation. Instead he hummed to himself and pushed his food around his plate.
It was after ten when Wymack decided it was time to go, and Neil left with him. Getting in the car alone with him was the hardest thing Neil had done all day. Andrew was crazy, but Neil had an ingrained distrust of men old enough to be his father. He spent the entire ride frozen and silent in the passenger seat. Maybe Wymack noticed the rigid set to his shoulders, because he said nothing to Neil until they were back at his apartment.
When Wymack closed and locked the front door behind them, he asked, "Are they going to be a problem?"
Neil shook his head and discreetly put more space between them. "I'll figure it out."
"They don't understand boundaries," Wymack said. "If they cross a line and you can't get them to back off, you come to me. Understand? I don't have perfect control over Andrew, but Kevin owes us his life and I can get to Andrew through him."
Neil nodded and went down the hall to get his bag from Wymack's desk. It'd been locked up all day, but he unloaded it onto the couch anyway to check his things. The second his hands closed over the binder at the bottom of his bag, his heart kicked into overdrive. He wanted to go through it and make sure everything was there, but Wymack was watching him from the doorway.
"You plan on wearing the same six outfits over and over again this year?" Wymack asked.
"Eight," Neil said, "and yes."
Wymack arched an eyebrow at him but didn't push it. "Laundry room is in the basement. Detergent's in the bathroom cabinet under the sink. Use what you need, and take what you want from the kitchen. It'll piss me off more if you act like a skittish stray cat than it will if you eat the last bowl of cereal."
"Yes, Coach."
"I've got paperwork to go over. You good?"
"I might go running," Neil said.
Wymack nodded and left. Neil set his running pants to one side and stuffed his sleeping pants and tee under the couch for later. He changed in the bathroom and went around Wymack to lock his bag up again. Wymack didn't even look up from the papers he was perusing, though he grunted what might have been a goodbye as Neil left again. Neil locked the door behind him, stuffed the keys to the bottom of his pocket, and took the stairs down to ground level.
He didn't know where he was or where he was going, but that was all right. If he gave his feet a direction, they'd take him running past all of his thoughts, and he'd be happy to let them.
CHAPTER FOUR
Neil spent the following morning exploring the campus and memorizing its layout. When he was sure he knew his way around, he left school grounds and went for a long run. Gradually he looped his way back around. He had an hour to stretch out and eat lunch before he met the others at the stadium, and he made sure to show up early enough to change in private.
When the others arrived, Neil was waiting for them on the court. He watched as Kevin propelled Andrew toward the home goal. Andrew was laughing about something, but Neil couldn't hear what Kevin was saying to him. Aaron and Nicky scattered balls down the first-fourth line, and Nicky rolled a couple Neil's way. Neil spaced them out at half-court around him.
They started with drills, some of which Neil practiced yesterday and a few more he didn't know. The exercises gradually increased in difficulty and Neil grimaced a little as Andrew deflected every shot Neil aimed his way. It was only a little comforting that neither Aaron nor Nicky was scoring, either, but Kevin landed almost a third of his shots. It was a poor show from a former national champion, but it was also intensely humbling as Kevin had grown up playing left-handed. Seeing him take on Andrew righthanded was ballsy enough; seeing him actually score was surreal.