Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 117363 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117363 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
On Friday, Jeremy made it to the house right as they were starting dinner. Laila and Jeremy made themselves comfortable on two of the three stools to chat while the other two set to work, Jean clumsily dicing peppers and Cat searing meat at the stove. Jean was halfway through his pile when Jeremy’s phone quacked.
Jean had heard his phone go off enough times to know it was a backliner messaging him. Jeremy, for reasons he could not sufficiently explain, had assigned each line-up a different animal as an alert noise. His group chats had chimes in varying pitches, and his family always stood out as a jarring chord. It was a regular cacophony whenever Jeremy was over, and as annoying as it was it made Jean think of Renee, who he’d yet to reach out to since arriving in California.
Jeremy leaned to one side to dig his phone out. “Cody,” he said, sounding surprised.
“Probably wondering why they haven’t been invited to meet Jean yet,” Laila said.
Cat brought her pan of meat over and forked the cubes out onto some paper towel. She nudged Jean with her elbow as she said, “Cody’s technically got no rank on the team, but they consider themselves the de facto leader of the defense line. This summer they’re down the coast in Carlsbad with Ananya and Pat, so you’ll have to have a meet and greet at some point. Jeremy, ask them if they’ve worked up the nerve to—”
“It’s Lucas,” Jeremy said, in a tight tone of voice that shut Cat up immediately. Rather than explain, he dialed out and put a hand over his free ear. It took almost no time at all for Cody to pick up, judging by how quickly Jeremy asked, “How is he?”
“Ah, shit,” Cat said quietly.
“No, I haven’t been keeping up with it. I was—” In one heartbeat, Jeremy’s entire demeanor changed. Jean watched the blood drain from his face even as Jeremy hopped off his stool and turned away from them. The line of his shoulders was rigid as he listened to whatever Cody had to say. After an age he said, in a voice that didn’t sound at all like his, “Thank you for taking him in. If you guys need anything, just let us know. Yeah, I—I’ll handle it here.”
He hung up, dropped his phone on the edge of the island, and tipped his head back to stare at and through the ceiling. Laila and Cat exchanged a long look as Cat took her pan to the sink, but Jean went back to dicing. Jeremy needed a minute or two to sort out his thoughts before he moved up alongside Jean. Jean looked from his outstretched, open hand to the only thing he was holding before finally turning over the knife. Jeremy in turn put it down as far away from both of them as he could reach.
“Lucas all right?” Laila asked.
Jeremy put a hand up in a bid for patience and kept his eyes on Jean. “There’s been an accident,” he said, and grimaced like it wasn’t at all the word he wanted to use. He worried his lower lip between his teeth before getting right to the point: “I’m sorry. Wayne Berger is dead.”
Jean stared at him as he waited for the words to make sense. “How?”
Jeremy took his time figuring out how to say it, but the truth he had to give could only be softened so much: “Word is he knocked out his therapist and stole her letter opener. She found his body when she came to. I’m sorry.”
None of the Raven strikers could fill the void Kevin left, but Wayne had been the best of a second-best lot. He’d fought like hell to be Riko’s primary on-court partner, and his efforts and backstabbing had paid off for his senior year. Now Riko was gone, the Nest was closed, and the glorious future the master promised them was in ruins. Jean wanted to be surprised that he’d broken, but he was just tired. Ravens graduated; they didn’t leave.
“Were the two of you close?” Laila asked Jean.
“He was a Raven,” Jean said, as if any of them could understand the complicated emotions behind such a thing. They were an angry world unto themselves, interlocking links on a chain where compassion and consideration were outlawed. They needed each other. They were stronger together. They hated each other. They hated everyone else more. “But he was not my partner, and I will not grieve him.”
He reached for the knife so he could get back to work, but Jeremy slid it further away. Jean flicked him a disapproving look. Jeremy wasn’t cowed but said, “It’s okay to be upset, even if he wasn’t your friend or your partner. He was still your teammate for a few years. It’s normal to be shocked by loss.