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)
Neil looked to Aaron, waiting for him to interfere. Aaron was tense but quiet as he stared at Andrew's knife. Neil gave him another second, but he couldn't wait forever. He didn't know what would finally set Andrew off and he didn't want to find out.
"Hey," Neil said, looking back at Andrew. "That's enough."
"Quiet," Nicky said in English, barely louder than a breath of air. "Quiet. It's fine."
"Hey," Neil said again, ignoring him, but he wasn't sure what to say. Questioning Andrew's sanity or calling his bluff would end with Nicky in the hospital. He wouldn't pretend to accept Nicky's advances just to calm Andrew down. What Neil needed was a distraction, something more important to Andrew than Nicky. That left only one thing that Neil knew of. One person, rather.
"Are we playing or what?" he said. "Kevin's waiting."
Andrew looked at Neil as if that hadn't occurred to him. "Oh, you're right. Let's go or we'll never hear the end of it."
Andrew let go of Nicky and spun away. His knife vanished under his armor before he reached the door. Aaron squeezed Nicky's shoulder on his way out. Nicky looked shaken as he stared after the twins, but when he realized Neil was watching him he rallied with a smile Neil didn't believe at all.
"On second thought, you're not my type after all," Nicky said when the door closed behind his cousins. "You need some more water before we hit the court for round two?"
"That's not okay," Neil said, pointing at the door.
"That's nothing," Nicky said.
Neil caught his arm as Nicky passed and hauled him to a stop. "Don't let him get away with things like that."
Nicky considered him for a moment, his smile fading into something small and tired. "Oh, Neil. You're going to make this so hard on yourself. Look," he said, tugging free and turning Neil toward the door. "Andrew is a little bit crazy. Your lines are not his lines, so you can get all huff and puff when he tramps across yours but you'll never make him understand what he did wrong. Moreover, you'll never make him care. So just stay out of his way."
"He's like this because you let him get away with it," Neil said. "You're putting all of us at risk."
"That was my fault." Nicky opened the door and waited for Neil to precede him out. "I said something I shouldn't have, and I got what I deserved."
Neil wasn't convinced, but he couldn't demand better explanations for an argument that had happened in German, so he led the way to the inner court. Neil looked first to Andrew, who was jogging to the half-court line, and then to Kevin, who was standing on the fox paw logo at the court's center. Aaron was at the door waiting for Nicky and Neil, and the three entered the court together.
Kevin barely waited for them to stop at his side before dividing them up with a flick of his fingers. "Aaron is with me. Nicky and Andrew get the child. Two-man team scrimmage with an empty away goal."
"I'm not a child," Neil said. "You're only a year older than I am." Two, really, but he wasn't about to tell them he'd lied about both his birthday and his age.
Kevin ignored that, but Nicky spoke up, "Shouldn't Andrew be with you and Aaron? Then Neil can practice shooting on him."
Kevin looked bored by the suggestion. "If I thought he could make it to the goal, I would have set it up that way."
"Them's fighting words," Nicky said, grinning at Neil. "Bring it, kid."
There were only five of them, but they set up as if they had two full teams: Neil and Kevin spaced out on the half-court line, Nicky at first-fourth, and Aaron at far-fourth. Andrew acted as dealer from his place in home goal and slammed the ball all the way to the other end of the court. The second Neil heard the crack of Andrew's racquet, he started moving, pushing up before Aaron could close him out.
Kevin should have done the same and pushed up the court toward Nicky, but he stayed on the half-court line. Likewise, Aaron let the rebound go past him. Neil didn't stop to think about it but scooped the ball out of the air. He only had it for two seconds before Kevin appeared out of nowhere. Kevin smashed their racquets together so hard the ball popped one way and Neil's racquet flew the other. Neil swore at the sharp pain that stabbed up his arms.
"Keep count," Kevin said before going after the ball.
Neil scrambled for his stick and hurried after him, but Kevin's headstart was too much. Nicky tried to fend Kevin off, but Kevin faked him out and scored a few seconds later. Andrew, who should have been guarding their goal, was using his oversized racquet as a prop. He looked over his shoulder as the goal lines lit up red but didn't react otherwise.
"You could at least try," Kevin said.
Andrew thought about it, then said, "I could, couldn't I? Maybe next time!"
Nicky caught the ball and tossed it to Andrew, who caught it with his goalie glove. The four set up to go again, and Andrew started them off with another vicious serve. This time Kevin jogged to meet Nicky, leaving Neil to get past Aaron. Neil ran for the ball and Aaron fell in alongside him on his way by. As soon as Neil was close enough to catching the ball that body-checking was a legal move, Aaron slammed into him full-force. Neil stumbled, off-balance, and ground his racquet into the floor to stop himself from tripping over his own feet. Aaron caught the ball and threw it right over his head to Kevin. Andrew watched as Kevin scored again.
"What's Andrew doing?" Neil asked.
"Nothing," Aaron said, as simple as it was obvious, and they set up for another serve.
At the twenty-minute mark, Kevin checked Neil into the wall and pinned him there with a gloved hand to his chest long enough to demand, "Are you even trying?"