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)
"I hold onto them when he's adjusting his schedule," Kevin answered. "Game nights or nights like tonight when he wants to go into withdrawal, it's better if someone else keeps the bottle. If he has his pills he'll take them. He won't be able to help himself."
Kevin wasn't speaking any louder than Neil had, but the foreign sounds got their teammates' attention. Neil feigned not to see the curious looks Matt and Dan sent him but went back to his snack. Kevin looked at Andrew again. Andrew missed it, as he was digging his phone out of his pocket.
Nicky noticed Andrew's distraction and whined, "That's not Coach, is it? We won tonight. He's not allowed to harass us."
"Just Bee!" Andrew said. "Bee being stupid. Bee being, ha. Look."
Andrew tossed Nicky his phone. Nicky took one look at the screen, laughed, and reached across Aaron to show Neil the phone. Neil didn't care about the team's shrink but he obediently looked at the image she'd sent. It was a grainy picture of Betsy Dobson wearing a bee costume. Nicky waited a beat for Neil's reaction, realized he wasn't going to get one, and passed Andrew's phone back via Neil and Kevin. Andrew typed out a response as soon as he had it back in hand.
"She with Coach?" Dan asked.
"Coach and Abby invited her over," Andrew said without looking up.
"Why is she messaging you?" Neil asked.
"Oh, she does that sometimes."
He didn't sound bothered by it. Neil didn't understand. He knew Andrew had mandatory weekly sessions with her, but he assumed someone like Andrew would resent counseling. "Why do you let her?"
"Not everyone dislikes her," Renee said mildly.
Dan looked startled. "What do you have against Betsy?"
"She's a psychiatrist," Neil said. "I distrust her on principle."
"Give her a chance," Matt said. "She's good people."
"She's pretty badass, you mean," Nicky chipped in. "I was really worried for her when we all went for our first meet-and-greet." He waggled his thumb between himself and Aaron. "Andrew goes through shrinks like he's trying to break a world record only he knows about. She's his eighth one at least."
"Thirteenth," Andrew said. "She made sure to ask me if I was superstitious."
"Some insane number," Nicky said. "But when Andrew waltzed out of her office at the end of his first session with her she was right on his heels and completely unfazed. Pretty impressive, right?"
"No," Neil said.
Nicky sighed. "Eat your ice cream, jerk."
Neil fought the urge to roll his eyes and dug in. When they left Andrew brought a stack of napkins away from the table with him. Neil didn't have to ask why. He didn't know how many of Sweetie's servers sold cracker dust, but hiding the packs between extra napkins was an easy way to make deliveries. Andrew waited for Kevin to get in the passenger seat first, then dumped the stack of napkins in his lap for Kevin to sort on the drive to the club. By the time they got to Eden's Twilight Andrew's smile was gone for the night.
Eden's Twilight was a two-story nightclub near the heart of Columbia. Nicky had worked there as a bartender when getting the twins through high school, and Neil had a feeling Andrew had helped out under the table. They'd left the city for school but came back as often as the season allowed. Nicky's friendship with the staff and Andrew's generous tips got them instant access and ridiculous discounts on drinks.
The upperclassmen came in Allison's car. When Nicky pulled over at the curb out front of Eden's Twilight, Allison double-parked beside him to let her passengers out. Andrew collected VIP parking passes from the bouncer on duty. Kevin handed Allison hers and gave her quick directions to the parking garage in case she got separated from Nicky in traffic. She nodded understanding and pulled away.
The bouncer on duty looked a little confused by how many people Andrew had with him, but he waved them through without question. Andrew pushed open a second set of doors and led them into the club.
The doors put them out on the dais, a curved section packed with tables and the main bar. Two short stairwells led a few feet down to a crowded dance floor. Halfway between the doors and bar were the stairs up to the second floor. Neil had yet to go up there, as the balcony was meant for private parties. Andrew could have easily gotten them access, but his preferred bartender Roland always worked the downstairs bar.
It took work to find a table through the crowd, and the one they found only had two stools left. Andrew shrugged it off as inconsequential, since chances were most of the Foxes would end up on the dance floor anyway. He left most of his teammates to guard the table and dragged Neil through the crowd toward the bar for their first round.
It took Roland a couple minutes to work his way to them. Anyone who showed up to the club in costume was rewarded with a free shot, so Andrew gestured over his shoulder toward their table. Roland peered through the crowd until he spotted them. His eyebrows went up when he saw three unfamiliar faces with Kevin and Aaron.
"All grown up and making friends?" he asked. "Never thought I'd see the day."
"I'll tip you double if you never say such stupid things again."
Roland grinned, did another headcount, and began setting up a tray for them. He didn't ask what they wanted; he knew the cousins' tastes by now and could easily throw in a couple of the bar's more popular concoctions for the upperclassmen. Roland knew Nicky was missing, but he didn't know to include something for Allison. Neil didn't say anything, figuring Allison could have his shot, except Roland didn't stop at eight drinks. He mixed close to twenty.
"How many DDs?" Roland asked.
"Just two," Andrew said.
Roland added two cans of soda to the tray and slid it across the counter to Andrew. Neil led the way back through the crowd and made room for Andrew as he went. Andrew got the drinks to the table without spilling a drop. He passed one soda to Renee and left the other for Neil, but no one drank until Allison and Nicky caught up with them. Allison looked vaguely impressed by the amount of drinks Andrew had procured for them.