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)
Matt stole the ball from his striker and passed it to Aaron. Aaron's only clear shot was to Andrew. It bought him a couple seconds to get ahead of his striker mark, and Andrew hit the ball to rebound off the wall in front of Aaron. Aaron caught it and threw it with everything he had.
"Neil!"
Neil was already moving, following the arc of Aaron's racquet and realizing the pass was meant for him. Leverett swiped at his racquet, trying to ruin his catch, and Neil grit his teeth at the twinge in his wrists. He brought his stick around to beat hers out of the way. It cost him the precious second he needed to snag the ball, and he almost overextended his arm to catch it. Leverett rammed into him, trying to knock him over, but Neil hugged his racquet close, protecting the ball between his body and his net. Leverett snapped his racquet again to pop the ball free. Neil took another step back to brace himself, gave her a chance to catch the ball, and shoulder-slammed her hard enough to knock her to her ass. He snagged the fallen ball and bolted with it.
"Fucking whore!" she yelled after him.
Neil carried the ball ten steps and threw it to Kevin. Kevin caught it, only to get his racquet smashed away again. Gorilla pounded past him after the ball. Kevin pressed his left hand to his gut and twisted in search of Matt.
"Get him off of me!"
Matt didn't answer, but he heard. The next time both teams were up inside the first-fourth line, Matt dropped his striker and went after Gorilla. Matt tossed his racquet aside to free up his hands and took one powerful swing, punching Gorilla right under his chest armor. Gorilla slumped forward a bit under the blow and the buzzer called a foul. Gorilla needed only a second to get his breath back and then went after Matt. Matt backpedaled away from his giant hands, putting as many people between him and Gorilla as he could. Gorilla shoved his teammates out of the way as he chased Matt across the court.
As soon as Matt passed the goal, Andrew stepped into Gorilla's path. He looked ridiculously small as he watched Gorilla bear down on him, but he stood his ground and waited with his racquet at his side. Gorilla jerked a beefy hand at him in a demand to move, but Andrew stayed silent and still. Neil held his breath, waiting for Gorilla to move Andrew with force. Andrew might be psychotic, but he was also half Gorilla's size. One perfect punch from Gorilla would crush his skull.
Luckily the referees got there before things could escalate. Matt accepted his yellow card without argument and flashed Kevin a thumbs-up. Through the open court doors Neil could hear the crowd jeering and cheering the short fight. Matt jogged off the court to let Nicky on and was greeted by the home crowd like a returning champion. Gorilla left the court through the Jackals' side a couple seconds later. Neil saw him limping through the wall.
"Matt can hit," Neil said.
Dan smiled. "His mother's a professional boxer. She taught him a couple tricks. Now what…?" Neil followed her distraction to the court door where Wymack still waited. It was almost time for Allison to come on for Dan, but Wymack had both Seth and Allison with him. Wymack gestured between them, leaving the choice to Dan. It only took Dan a second to catch on and she whipped around, looking for Kevin.
Kevin was standing with Andrew inside the goal line, left hand out so Andrew could tug at his outer glove. Andrew undid the straps and peeled it off, then hooked it under his arm so he could take off Kevin's arm guard. He left Kevin's under-glove on, but unhooked the loop from Kevin's middle finger so he could slide the black cloth to Kevin's wrist. Kevin flexed his fingers slowly, staring at his scars, then turned his hand over and flexed his fingers again.
"Kevin!" Dan said.
Kevin and Andrew looked her way and followed her pointing finger to the door. Neil couldn't hear what Andrew said, but Kevin shook his head. Andrew pushed Kevin's glove and armor against his chest and took a step back, and Kevin turned toward the court door. Dan squeezed his shoulder on his way by. As soon as Kevin was out of earshot she muttered something vicious under her breath and sent Gorilla a dirty look through the court wall.
The crowd outside greeted Kevin's arrival with the same enthusiasm they'd shown Matt. He'd only played half an hour, but for now it was good enough just to have him on the court.
"Line up for a foul shot," Dan said as Seth took Kevin's place on the court.
The referees left and locked them in. Foxes and Jackals moved out of the way to let Gorilla's replacement have a clear shot on goal. A buzzer gave the backliner the go-ahead. He took a couple extra seconds to weigh his options, then fired at the corner of Andrew's goal. Andrew slammed the ball all the way down to the far court wall.
Neil ran down the court as fast as he could, wanting more than ever for the Foxes to win this game. He knew they couldn't, but the way the Jackals were playing was infuriating. Gorilla really had been trying to hurt Kevin's hand his first day back on the court, which was unbelievably cruel. Neil hoped Matt had bruised some ribs with that punch.
He snagged the ball from the air as it came flying his way. He ran for the goal, making five steps before Leverett was right on his tail. He fired a shot at the goal that the goalkeeper just barely deflected. Seth dodged around his new backliner mark to catch the ball, but he didn't have a clear shot. He threw the ball back to Neil instead.
Leverett moved as if to intercept it, but Neil didn't let her. He slammed his stick into hers almost hard enough to send both their racquets flying. She cursed as she lost her grip, and then there was nothing to stop Neil from getting to the goal. He caught the ball and carried it all ten steps, calculating angles and the goalkeeper's body language as he ran. His last step was a half-step that helped tilt him forward and he put everything behind his throw.