Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
It'd been weeks since kissing Andrew became a regular thing, but every night ended the same: with Andrew getting Neil off and then sending Neil on his way. He wouldn't even unzip his pants when Neil was still around. Neil didn't know if this break in routine was grudging trust or determination to not let Neil out of sight again. Neil didn't care right now so long as Andrew stayed. Neil hummed something into Andrew's mouth that could have been approval, could have been encouragement, and got a faint growl in response.
Andrew wasn't amused by Neil's support, but he wasn't annoyed enough to pull away, either. Neil held tight until Andrew finally went still. Andrew took a couple seconds to catch his breath, then pushed at the wall until Neil obediently dropped his arms and let him go. Andrew rinsed his hand in the spray before getting to his feet and helping hoist Neil up.
Neil stepped out of the tub, getting water everywhere, and wound his towel around his waist. Andrew leaned out of the shower to get the door for him, and he pushed it closed when Neil was gone. Neil lingered long enough to hear the slap of Andrew's soaked clothes against the floor, then went into the bedroom to air dry. He'd only bought one towel when he moved on-campus last summer, but Matt had some spares for laundry day and Dan's occasional sleepover. Neil pulled a clean one off Matt's closet shelf and hung it on the bathroom doorknob for Andrew.
He was still wet when Andrew turned up, and he shrugged at the look Andrew favored him. Andrew scrubbed him dry, careful around his injuries and too-vigorous everywhere else, and peeled the dripping bags from Neil's arms and face. Andrew ran a considering finger along the bandages on Neil's left arm before helping Neil into the loosest clothes he owned. It was cool enough out to wear long sleeves, but it wouldn't be for much longer. These wounds were going to scar where everyone could see them. Scarred was better than dead, so Neil figured he'd get over the stares eventually.
Neil loaned Andrew clothes so he wouldn't have to go back to his room in a towel but didn't stick around while Andrew dressed. He headed to the kitchen instead to grab his medicine and fill three mugs with coffee. Andrew wandered in as Neil was turning the pot off and claimed one of the mugs. Neil took the other two and his pills but hesitated at the suite door.
"I don't have my keys," he said. He'd put them in his travel duffel before the trip to New York, but Neil hadn't touched his gear since. He knew Matt had carried his bag into the stadium for him, but no one had bothered unpacking after his story last night. Neil couldn't believe he'd forgotten to check his things. He didn't know whether to chalk it up to his exhaustion or the trauma of coming clean. Maybe he could blame it on Renee and Dan, whose gestures at the end of that painful conversation had made him feel too safe to worry about anything else.
Andrew turned away without comment and fetched Matt's keys from his desk drawer. Only after he'd made it back to Neil's side did Neil remember Matt dropping them there last night after changing. Neil envied Andrew's perfect recall for only a moment; Andrew had already said most of the memories from his childhood were unpleasant. Neil didn't have many good memories, either, but at least he knew he'd forgotten some of the earliest injustices and tragedies. He couldn't imagine what it'd be like hanging on to every blow and loud word.
He considered asking Andrew if he had any good memories at all, but then he'd have to ask what someone so joyless actually considered to be "good". Instead he said, "Our game is over now, isn't it?"
"It's still my turn," Andrew pointed out.
"But after that?" Neil asked. "I have no secrets left to trade."
"Come up with something else."
"What would you take?"
"What would you give me?"
"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to," Neil said. Andrew slanted a bored look at him, unimpressed with having his own words tossed back in his face. Neil leaned a shoulder against the door before Andrew could open it and said, "I think I should get a few bonus turns, though, considering you got all your answers from me for free."
"You volunteered those," Andrew said.
"Circumstances kind of forced my hand."
Andrew gazed back at him in silence. Neil refused to take the hint or move, content to play the waiting game. It took a couple minutes, but finally Andrew held up a finger and said, "One free question."
"One?" Neil echoed. "The fewer you give me, the more you'll hate what I ask."
"I hate everything about you anyway," Andrew said. "I won't notice."
Neil moved away from the door. "I'll let you know when I come up with something."
Andrew got the door and locked it behind them. Neil lifted his little finger from his mug and let Andrew hook the key ring over it. Neil went next door, but Andrew continued down the hall to his own room. Neil didn't have a free hand to knock, so he gave the door a light kick. It took three tries before anyone inside heard him or realized that sound was someone asking to be let in. When Matt swung the door open Neil held one of the mugs out.
"You forgot this."
"Oh, thanks." Matt took it and stepped aside to let him in.
Dan and Renee were already showered and dressed. The empty couch cushion between them had no doubt been Matt's, but Dan motioned for Neil to take it. Matt perched on the arm of the couch to Dan's left and draped his arm over her shoulder. She twined her fingers through his and studied Neil's bandages. Neil let her look her fill and waited to see if she'd come up with any new questions overnight.