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)
“Perhaps you will,” he agreed, and she left him to his thoughts.
On his fingertips he counted to two: A cool evening breeze. Rainbows.
-
By Friday night, Wymack and Kevin were back in South Carolina, and by Saturday afternoon, only three Foxes were left. Jean knew far too much about the others’ summer plans, courtesy of overhearing conversations between Wymack and Abby. He steadfastly tried to delete the knowledge from his brain as unimportant, because what did he care if this one was heading to Germany or that one was spending a few weeks with a cheerleader’s family? All that really mattered was that he still had most of a week to waste until he flew out.
On Monday the on-campus dorms closed for summer, and the remaining Foxes moved in with Abby. The sudden arrival of extra bodies added overdue life to the house, filling in the silence and space in a way Jean’s infrequent visitors never could. He woke to Kevin and Neil bickering about teams and drills and fell asleep listening to Abby harangue Andrew about his sugar intake. Now and then Andrew and Neil got going in a language he didn’t recognize.
“German,” Kevin said when he saw Jean watching them. It was the first thing he’d said to Jean since coming back to South Carolina. One day they’d talk about the Foxes’ victory; one day they’d talk about the Ravens. Today Riko’s death was a jagged chasm between them neither was ready to bridge.
“An ugly language,” Jean said, and Kevin retreated into his own thoughts.
Wymack was over less frequently now that Jean was mobile, but he still stopped by every other night to take advantage of Abby’s cooking and give his team grief. In the hours they were all in one place, Jean studied them, wondering how last year’s mess of a team had come so far. He watched how Abby and Wymack fit together, grumbling and fussing but always with an affectionate, easy undercurrent. When Andrew’s teammates were being particularly pedantic Andrew always looked to Wymack first. The cautious false-starts between Wymack and Kevin were the hardest to watch as they tested the unfamiliar lines between coach and father.
Jean noticed how Andrew and Neil moved like they were caught in each other’s gravity, in each other’s space more than they were out of it, cigarette smoke and matching armbands and lingering looks when one fell out of orbit for too long. He’d always assumed it was Neil’s arrogance that brought him to Evermore over Christmas. Now he thought it was something else, but it wasn’t his place to comment on it. Nathaniel was his broken promise; Neil’s life was none of his business.
He didn’t have long to dwell on it, anyway, because each day of the week brought more retribution from the fans the Foxes wronged by winning. Wymack sounded more tired than angry as he relayed each day’s newest disasters: the black ink that dyed the campus pond, the MURDERERS and CHEATERS graffiti across the stadium walls, and the bomb threats and arson that meant security had to escort the Foxes back and forth to their court for their unscheduled practices.
Wednesday morning a new rumor started to circulate among the coaches: Edgar Allan had closed the Nest. The Ravens had been scattered back to their homes for family time and mandatory counseling. Jean was out of the room before Wymack finished speaking, and he locked himself in his borrowed room with his notebooks the rest of the day. A gnawing panic almost had him ripping every page out of the books, but he managed to push them to safety just in time.
When Jean finally had to leave the room again for water late that night, Wymack was still wide awake and waiting for him. Wymack didn’t ask about the Nest or the Ravens but said, “You’ll be safer in Los Angeles. We’re out here on our own with no one on our side and maybe twenty people on our campus security team. LA is a different beast, and USC is nestled in its heart. No one’s stupid enough to start a fight with them because they know the city will always win.”
It wasn’t a question, so Jean didn’t respond. Wymack allowed him only a few moments to digest it before saying, “I’ve been talking to Coach Rhemann this week, just so you know. We’ve been getting a bit of pressure to put you and Kevin in front of a camera. We’re pushing back as hard as we can,” he said at the sharp look Jean sent him, “because we know it’s too soon to subject either of you to those vultures. But sooner or later our school boards are going to take the choice out of our hands.”
“It is not my place to speak to the press,” Jean said. “I won’t do it.”