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)
He had his mouth open to refute that when he remembered who else was on her roster of patients: Nathaniel Wesninski and that creepy little goalkeeper Andrew Minyard. The Foxhole Court was a veritable goldmine of personal issues and abuse. Jean wanted nothing to do with her, but she’d weathered some intolerable personalities thus far. It didn’t make him like her any, but he couldn’t deny a smidgen of respect.
“We’re going,” he said, pulling the handle.
Dobson got out without further comment and let him into the stadium. They found a place up in the stands to stare at the court. Jean wasn’t sure how long they sat there before Kevin, Nathaniel, and Andrew showed up. Andrew followed the weight of Jean’s stare right to him. Nathaniel needed only a moment longer. Kevin saw nothing but the court, but Jean had stopped hoping for more than that years ago.
Jean wanted nothing to do with them, so as soon as the court door closed behind the last of them, he got up and went down the stairs toward the locker room. Dobson followed him down without comment and took him back to Abby’s house.
“Welcome home,” Abby said when they arrived.
Jean wanted to say This is not home, but he needed all his breath to keep moving after pushing his knee so hard. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and this time he didn’t dream.
CHAPTER FIVE
Jean
The day before Edgar Allan and Palmetto State were to face each other in finals, Abby brought Jean his dinner and an unexpected problem: “I’d rather not leave you here in the house alone tomorrow, but everyone I trust to sit with you will be in West Virginia with us.”
That the Foxes were taking their shrink along was surprising, but Jean supposed she’d have her work cut out for her when the Ravens annihilated them. He didn’t care why she was going so long as she wasn’t here. She’d been by almost every evening since the Raven box arrived. She had nothing to say to him past a warm greeting, seemingly content to simply sit beside him on the bed, but he didn’t trust her or want the comfort of her steady company.
“I considered taking the safety in numbers route and moving you to Fox Tower for it,” Abby said, and remembered a moment later he wouldn’t understand. “It’s the athletes’ dorm, which means there are plenty of bodies to be a shield. If we put some gauze over your tattoo you might fly under the radar long enough to camp out in the Foxes’ empty rooms.”
Aside from his one outing with Dobson, Jean had spent the last six weeks going between this bedroom and the restroom. He would prefer to return to the stadium, but he didn’t think he could handle it alone. A crowded athletes’ dorm sounded like the next closest thing to normal. “I will go there.”
“I don’t have a card to access the building, but I’ll see who can come collect you in the morning,” she said. “If I remember correctly, everyone’s due at the court by nine-thirty so we can be on the road by ten.”
Maybe he would’ve resisted the idea a little more if he’d realized who was going to come pick him up. Logic demanded it be Kevin, but Jean was walking careful laps around the bedroom when Nathaniel arrived at the house the following morning. Jean’s bedroom door was open, so he saw his unwelcome guest heading down the hall toward him. He scowled and went back to his slow pacing. His knee still felt a bit unsteady, with a soreness that was probably his injury but just as likely disuse. He was impatient to get back to his workouts, but Abby was guessing another six weeks on his ribs to be safe.
Nathaniel stopped in the doorway to wait on him, and Jean sighed as he ended his last lap in front of the shorter man. “Of course it’d be you, you tedious malcontent.”
“Good morning to you, too.” Nathaniel held up an oversized bandage.
For a moment Jean was tempted to refuse it. His number was a mark of pride, proof of his importance and his ranking in Exy’s future. It wasn’t something to hide just so he could sneak about like a common thief. Sneaking was better than risking the press showing up, though, so Jean took the bandage and peeled the protective strips off.
He knew exactly where his number was, consequence of staring at it for so many years and tracing its lines with his fingers. He pressed the bandage into place and flicked the crumpled trash at Nathaniel. Nathaniel wasn’t decent enough to take the bait but motioned for him to come along and went back down the hall.
Following was easy, and every slow step Jean took after Nathaniel eased a little of the hollow in his chest. Ravens weren’t meant to be alone, and with Nathaniel here now he could feel just how worn away he was despite the Foxes’ attempt to always keep another body in the house with him. Nathaniel was different; he always would be. He wasn’t a Raven, but he was, same as Jean. He was Jean’s misplaced forever partner, an unfulfilled promise Jean had stopped believing in years ago.