Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
"I am not a pipe dream," Neil said. "I'm not going anywhere."
"I didn't ask you."
"Ask me," Neil insisted, "or stick around long enough to figure it out for yourself."
"I'll get bored of you eventually."
"You sure?" Neil asked. "Rumor has it I'm pretty interesting."
"Don't believe everything you hear."
Neil ignored that dismissal because Andrew was already pulling him down again. They kissed until Neil felt dizzy, until he wasn't sure he could hold himself up anymore, and then Andrew pulled Neil's hand off the beanbag chair. He held it up away from them for an eternity, then slowly pressed it flat against his chest and let go. Andrew tensed up underneath Neil's hand but relaxed before Neil could pull away.
Neil wasn't fooled. Andrew had made it very clear the first time he kissed Neil how important an actual "yes" was. This casual surrender wasn't genuine consent. Andrew was doing this because of what they'd said on Wednesday, but Neil wasn't sure which one of them Andrew was trying to convince. It'd only been three months since Proust's abuse and four months since Drake's attack. Neil didn't know when Andrew would be okay with this but he knew it wasn't today. Neil left his hand on Andrew but refused to move it from that spot.
"I won't be like them," Neil said. "I won't let you let me be."
"One hundred and one," Andrew said, "going on one hundred and two."
"You're a terrible liar," Neil said, and Andrew kissed him into silence.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Saturday morning Wymack stopped by Fox Tower with a guest. Andrew's bedroom door was open as Neil and Aaron traded rooms, so Wymack settled for rapping on the doorframe. Neil glanced up at the first sign of movement in the doorway but forgot what he was going to say when he saw the woman standing at Wymack's side.
Theodora Muldani was a former Raven backliner who now played for the Houston Sirens and the US Court. Her thick black hair was pulled back in intricate braids, and pastel make-up looked shockingly bright against her dark skin. Her stony expression was the same look she favored cameras with when she caught them watching her. A short dress did nothing to hide long, thick legs and chiseled arms. She looked like she could hold her own against Matt in a fight. Neil bet she was absolute hell on the court, an unmoving tank unimpressed by strikers stupid enough to oppose her.
"Kevin," Neil said.
Kevin was planted in front of the TV, laptop open in his lap, as he watched the repercussions of last night's incendiary remarks. None of them expected much to come of it. The Ravens denied everything, of course, but it was a toss-up as to what they honestly believed. The team was used to a violent hierarchy and harsh punishments, but willfully handicapping one of their own—handicapping Kevin Day of all people—might seem farfetched to even them. None of the Ravens had been there when Riko broke Kevin's hand. Jean was the only witness, and he was also the only one the press couldn't yet find for comments.
"Kevin," Neil said again, but Thea wasn't waiting any longer.
She came around Wymack and strode across the room toward Kevin. Kevin was too engrossed to care who was coming up on him, so Thea grabbed his laptop and threw it off to one side. Kevin started and looked up, mouth open on an angry retort he abandoned the second he recognized his guest. Thea grabbed his left wrist and hauled his arm around where she could see the scars on the back of his hand. Kevin let her move him, too stunned to fight back. Thea surveyed the white lines across his fair skin and flicked a hooded look at Neil.
"Get out."
Neil didn't know what caught Andrew's attention, the clatter of Kevin's laptop across the carpet or an unfamiliar woman's voice, but he materialized in the doorway a second later. He looked from Thea to Kevin and back again and didn't intervene. Neil shouldn't have been surprised; Renee only knew about Thea and Kevin's relationship because Andrew knew about it. Andrew knew Thea wasn't a real threat to anyone here.
Thea was less accepting and swiveled her stare to Andrew. "You get out, too."
Andrew stared back at her like she hadn't even spoken.
"Thea," Kevin finally said, and scrambled to his feet. "What are you doing here?"
Thea cut a hard look from Kevin to the TV, but all she said was, "They'll leave or I will. I won't talk to you in mixed company."
"We are mixed company regardless," Kevin said. "I am not a Raven anymore."
He didn't say "Neither are you". Even though Thea graduated from Edgar Allan almost three years ago she still wore her Raven jersey number on a pendant around her throat. It made Neil wonder how Ravens fared after they'd left the Nest's hive mind. Maybe it took years for them to recover. Maybe they never did. Maybe they broke and carried pieces of Evermore with them the rest of their lives.
The look on Thea's face said she was not at all impressed by Kevin's logic. "I will count to three. One."
"Stop it," Kevin said. "Just talk to me."
"Now you want to talk," Thea said, a tad derisively. "Two."
"I always wanted to talk, but it was complicated."
"'Complicated'," Thea echoed. The air quotes she threw him were angry and mocking. "'Complicated' is having to find out from a press conference that you broke your hand and left the line-up. 'Complicated' is finding out the hard way you disconnected your old number and having to hear from Jean that you didn't want anything to do with any of us effective immediately. Don't you dare use 'complicated' on me. I deserve better than that. Three."
She turned to go, but Kevin caught her wrist. "Jean," Kevin said, like that somehow answered all of her accusations. The twitch of Thea's mouth was as much anger as it was incomprehension. Kevin shook his head and insisted, "If you're going to believe me, you need to see Jean first."