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)
Jeremy put his hands on his hips, tapping his thumbs as he thought it through. When he glanced at Cat, Jean assumed she was going to be the sacrificial Trojan, but then Jeremy smiled at Jean and said, “Then it should be fine if it’s me, right? I’m captain, after all. I’m not a backliner, but I bet we can learn a lot from each other on the court. You teach me some fancy Raven tricks, and I’ll teach you the Trojan way of having fun on the court.”
“Teach me something more relevant if you even know how,” Jean said, and sent him a shrewd look. “You don’t live on campus?”
“I’m here from June until the start of the school year, and then I’m usually only over on the weekends,” Jeremy said. Jean didn’t miss the way Jeremy’s gaze slid past him to peer into the distance, or the tight tug at the corner of Cat’s mouth. Jeremy was still smiling, but the light had gone out in it. It was an easy, practiced expression, but Jean had spent too many years trying to track Riko’s moods to not realize how empty it was. “I’ll be living at home the rest of the time.”
Either Cat was nosey beyond belief or she also noticed Jeremy’s mood dip, because she turned to Jean and asked, “You have siblings? You strike me as an only child.” When Jeremy pulled a face at her she said, “What? Laila’s an only child. It’s so obvious. I’m right, though, right?”
For a moment Jean felt a small hand tugging at his, but he slammed that memory back into place so hard his vision swam. His first year at Evermore he’d tried holding onto Marseille, wanting to believe there was something outside of the suffocating Nest and Riko’s practiced cruelty. In time he’d let it all go and watched it rupture without regret. His father had sold him to the Moriyamas knowing the sort of people they were and knowing what would happen to him. Why would Jean want to hold onto any of that?
It was a touch unfair, perhaps, that he expected his parents to defy the Moriyamas when he himself could not, but did they have to agree so quickly? His father hadn’t even asked for a moment to consider the master’s offer or to confer with his wife, and his mother had only shrugged and changed the subject when she heard the news later.
“My personal life is not your business,” Jean said, because Cat was still waiting for an answer. “Now or ever. Remember that.”
“Your personal issues are if you’re on my lineup,” Cat said, but there was no heat in it. She was studying him with unabashed fascination. “Anyway! We never got to finish the tour. Onward.”
She sailed out of the room, and Jeremy motioned for Jean to follow her.
Rather than backtracking to the front door and starting from there, Cat took them down a short hall where the bedrooms were. She opened each door as she passed so Jean could see inside and rattled off a quick explanation as she went. “This one’s ours. If the door’s open, come on in and say hello. If it’s closed, enter at your own peril. This one we converted into a study room. Rooms are too small to fit desks and beds, and no way are we getting studying done if our computers are in with the TV, right? That desk there is yours now.
“And here’s your room,” she said. When she pushed this last door open, she moved with it so she could lean against it where it stopped against the wall. It was bigger than the one he’d had at Evermore and smaller than the one at Abby’s. It came with some basic furnishings, though the mattress and curtain rods were bare. Jean knew there wouldn’t be a second bed, but he still looked for it.
“Where are your suitcases?” Cat asked. “Still in Jeremy’s car?”
“He only brought a carry-on,” Jeremy said.
“Oh? I’ll write down our address so you can have the rest shipped, then.”
Jean set his small suitcase off to the other side of the door. “What else would there be? You’ve made my gear irrelevant by signing me to your line.”
The way Cat looked at him made him wonder how he’d possibly misspoken this time. He didn’t have long to wonder because Cat started counting off options on her fingers. “Toiletries? Clothes? Shoes? If you tell me that you somehow fit everything in that little bag, I’m going to call you a liar right now.” When Jean just dismissively looked away from her, she straightened with indignation. He expected her promised insult, but what came out was a strident, “You are not telling me that is everything you own. What the fuck?”
Jeremy caught hold of her to drag her out of the room. He answered Jean’s cool look with an easy smile and only said, “We’ll leave you to get settled. Cat, let’s go fix up the kitchen before Laila comes back and sees what you’ve done to the place.”