Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 87395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Without truckers to distract him Neil could use the walk to think. The only clear memory he had of last night was Andrew's accusation. He didn't know what else Andrew had asked him or what he'd said in response. Hopefully he'd been smart enough to lie through his teeth despite the drugs.
One thing was for sure, though. Neil couldn't afford another night out like that. If Andrew really thought Neil was a threat to Kevin, how far would he go to prove it? Neil didn't want to see what came next, but avoiding that meant compromising. He had to tell Andrew something. The truth was out of the question, but Andrew would smell a lie a mile away. What Neil needed was something inbetween that could explain everything: his money, his appearance, and his obsession with Kevin.
Neil spent the entirety of the three-hour walk sorting out a perfect half-truth. The details he was going to give up made his blood run cold, but if he could get Andrew to keep quiet about them somehow, Kevin couldn't use them to identify him.
Neil wasn't quite ready to face Andrew yet and he didn't want to deal with his teammates' curiosity over his prolonged absence, so he went to Wymack's apartment instead. By the time he arrived it was half past four. Wymack had made Neil keep the spare key, but Neil knocked on his door anyway. Wymack wrenched the door open like he wanted to take it off his hinges, but surprise washed out the fury on his face when he saw Neil.
"Where the hell have you been?" Wymack demanded, looking Neil up and down. "Andrew got back from Columbia hours ago. Matt called me to say you weren't with them."
"I took a different route."
"Yeah?" Wymack gestured at his drenched clothes and sweaty skin. "What'd you do, run here?"
"Walked," Neil said, and Wymack stared at him. Neil realized too late Wymack was being sarcastic. He couldn't take it back, so Neil traced his path in the air with a finger. "I hitchhiked to Spartanburg, then to Northlake, and I walked here from there. I know it's kind of sudden, but can I stay here for a little while?"
Wymack grabbed his elbow and hauled him inside. He slowed just long enough to slam the door behind Neil. "Are you stupid or just crazy? Do you have any idea what could have happened to you between here and there? What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking I wasn't going to ride back with them," Neil said.
"You should have called me," Wymack said. "Me or Abby or any of the upperclassmen. All you had to say was you didn't want to stay with Andrew. Any of us would have come and gotten you."
Neil stared at him, too startled to respond. Wymack threw his free hand up in exaggerated disgust and dragged Neil down the hall to the kitchen.
"Stretch out and drink some water," he said, letting go of Neil.
Neil did as he was told but watched as Wymack stormed out of the kitchen again. Wymack paced up and down the hall with angry, heavy footsteps. On his second pass he had his phone out and at his ear. He was out of sight when someone picked up on the other end, but Neil heard his furious voice loud and clear.
"You have five seconds to get your retarded psycho ass to my apartment! You even think about telling me no and I swear to god I'll throw Kevin's contract down a garbage disposal."
Neil didn't think Wymack stayed on the line long enough to get an answer, because he was off the phone when he came back a couple seconds later. He was carrying a towel and an armful of clothes, all of which he shoved at Neil.
"You're a sopping mess. Get out of my sight and clean up before I wring your neck."
Neil took everything down the hall to the bathroom and locked himself in. He kept the water tepid as he washed away the day's heat and sweat. The clothes Wymack leant him were ridiculously big on him, but at least they covered his scars. Neil bundled his dirty clothes into the wet towel and left the bathroom with them. He felt relaxed for the first time all day, but that faded at the sound of Wymack's angry voice. Neil crept down the hall toward the living room.
Andrew was standing silent in the middle of the room as Wymack went up one side of him and down the other. Judging by the impatient look on his face, Andrew was still sober. He was also facing the door, which meant he spotted Neil first.
"Have a nice stroll?" he asked, interrupting Wymack's tirade.
Neil returned his cold stare with a heated, "Fuck you."
Wymack snapped his fingers in front of Andrew's face, trying to get Andrew to look at him instead of Neil. "I don't know what the beef is between you two, but it ends here and now. Abby and I made it clear we wouldn't tolerate a repeat of last year, Andrew."
"This isn't a repeat." The edge in Andrew's voice said he'd already argued this point several times. "We only gave him crackers. You think he'd have made it back here on his own otherwise?"
"Don't 'only' me. What the fuck were you thinking?"
"What were you thinking, bringing him here?" Andrew returned.
Neil decided to cut in before Andrew shared any of his theories. "Coach, I need to talk to Andrew for a minute. Can we use your office?"
"No," Wymack said. "I don't trust you two not to kill each other, so you're staying right here until this is resolved."
That left only one option, but Neil hated losing his wild card so early in the game. He hoped Wymack couldn't speak German and switched languages to lay into Andrew. "What the hell is your problem? How can you threaten Nicky for coming onto me but condone drugging me out of my mind against my will? Why can't you just leave me alone?"