Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
"Oh, that's me," Andrew said. "I didn't enter the foster system with a last name, so I was tagged as a Doe. Like John Doe. Get it? Ah, they think they're clever. I changed my name when I was adopted. Yes? Nicky said he told you all about it."
Nicky only would have confessed his indiscretion to Andrew if he felt guilty for giving so much away. Neil assumed that meant the subject was touchier than a drugged Andrew could let on, so he answered with a vague, "He summarized it for us."
Andrew grinned and shrugged the conversation off. Neil was happy to let it die and gladder when his teammates didn't bring up Riko again. Finally it was time for them to leave. Wymack rounded up his team, waited while they changed out into more comfortable clothes, and got them on the road. The others fell asleep within a few miles, but Neil spent the entire ride thinking about Riko and his father.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Neil woke up on Wymack's couch. It took him a moment to remember where he was, but the view was as familiar to him as the one from his bed at the dormitory. Wymack had dropped everyone else off at the stadium but snagged Neil before he could catch a ride with his teammates back to the dorm. He hadn't said anything last night, maybe too tired to demand an explanation for last night's fiasco, but had relegated Neil to the living room and gone to sleep himself.
Neil untangled the borrowed sheet from his legs and sat up. The clock on the mantel was buried behind crumpled cigarette packs, but the light seeping into the room through the blinds was bright enough to be late morning. He wasn't surprised he'd slept so late, considering what time they'd gotten back to campus, but he still wasn't ready to face the day. Neil knew denial was childish, but he wanted to avoid Kevin as long as possible.
He slid off the couch and yawned as he crumpled the sheet into a messy ball. The soft click of dishes said Wymack was up and likely mainlining coffee. Neil hesitated in the hallway with the sheet hugged to his chest, tempted to sneak out and avoid this conversation altogether. With a sigh he gave in to the inevitable and turned away from the front door. He dropped the sheet off in the hamper right inside Wymack's bedroom door, detoured to the bathroom to freshen up, and joined Wymack in the kitchen.
Wymack didn't look up from his newspaper but pointed at the stove. A lid was keeping a skillet of potatoes and eggs warm. Neil put together a breakfast burrito and sat across from Wymack. He was almost through with his breakfast before Wymack finished reading the paper and set it aside. Neil didn't look up from his plate to return Wymack's stare.
"You want to tell me why you have a hard-on for antagonizing Riko?" Wymack asked.
"He started it," Neil muttered into his tortilla.
"That doesn't mean you have to sink to his level. Were you listening when I told you what kind of person he is, what kind of family he's from?"
"Yes, Coach."
"You said that last night when I told you to behave," Wymack said. "Your lip-service 'yes Coach' isn't going to be enough anymore. Don't lie to me about the important shit."
"I can't help it," Neil said. He tried to chew slower, but he was fast running out of burrito to hide behind. He opted for deflection instead. "How can you stand having a team like ours, Coach? Isn't it exhausting dealing with us and our problems day after day?"
Wymack emptied his coffee with one big gulp. "Nope."
Neil just looked at him, and Wymack stared back. Neil got tired of the staredown first and finished off his breakfast. He started to get up to clear away his plate, but Wymack took it from him. Wymack dumped it in the dishwasher and poured himself a second cup of coffee. Instead of returning to the table he turned and leaned against the counter as he considered Neil.
"I'm starting to think I misjudged you," Wymack said. "I just don't know how or where. I know I'm not completely wrong, but you're still not adding up right."
"Now you sound like Andrew."
"That's because they're his words," Wymack said. When Neil frowned at him, Wymack shrugged and knocked back some of his coffee. "First day of practice I told everyone Edgar Allan had transferred districts, you remember? Andrew spent that night here with me. At first I figured he was mad at Kevin for lying to him, but he was more worked up about you. I mostly tuned him out then, but I probably should have listened."
"Andrew and I are working on our trust issues. Sort of."
"He says you're a pathological liar," Wymack said. "I'm starting to believe him."
"It's what I was raised to be," Neil said.
"Attempt to tell the truth at least once," Wymack said. "Tell me why someone who came here early to get away from his parents and who flinched away from me the first time he thought I was going to strike him goes so far out of his way to offend someone like Riko Moriyama. I would have thought you'd have better survival instincts."
Neil slouched a little in his chair and fidgeted with the edge of the table. Wymack deserved some sort of explanation, but the only one Neil had to offer was one he'd hoped to avoid sharing.
"Riko's my age," Neil said, trying not to choke on his words. "If you knew what my parents were capable of you'd understand why I don't trust men who are old enough to be my father. I know here," Neil gestured at his temple, "that you're not going to hurt me, but it's instinctive to react. I'm sorry."
"I didn't ask for an apology, wiseass."
"Yes, Coach," Neil said automatically, then winced.
"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" Wymack asked, coming to rejoin him at the table. "Your parents must be something else."