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)
"Are you sure you're okay, Neil?" Dan asked.
"I'm sure we have a game to win," Neil said. "Worry more about that and less about me."
The referees let them on-court for drills. Neil focused on his every move so as not to think about anything else. By the time starting line-up took their places for serve, Neil was so lost in himself and tonight's game he'd almost forgotten what transpired in the locker room. The ghost of it still clung to him, even if he wouldn't acknowledge it, and it egged him to go harder and faster. Kevin didn't warn him to scale back, and they crashed into their backliner marks with an unusual aggression. Neil had a yellow card before the halftime break. He expected Wymack to use it as an excuse to pull him, but Wymack said nothing about it when he took his team back to the locker room.
Neil thought he smelled blood but knew it was impossible. There was too much space between the changing room and the foyer, and the stench of his teammates' sweat and deodorant clogged the air.
"Where's Abby?" Dan asked, and Neil realized he hadn't seen her since serve.
"She had to go on campus for a bit. No one get mauled in her absence." Wymack gestured to the cooler. "Everyone drink up and stretch out. We don't have a lot of time."
The Foxes played second half like they had everything to lose. Neil used the passing and shooting skills Kevin had taught him and slipped in some of the defensive footwork he'd learned with the Ravens. When he had to call to Kevin he did so in French. He didn't say a word to his backliner mark, no matter what the man said to him. He didn't have the breath for senseless snark and he needed every ounce of his flagging energy to get through the game. He knew the silence was getting to his mark, judging by the growing sharpness in the other man's tone. Neil didn't acknowledge him except to push against him and past him.
Matt was a dominating force on the far side of the court. Nicky was still the weakest link on the defense line, but Andrew balanced him out with ruthless efficiency. When Aaron came on, he and Andrew played together as if nothing was wrong. Neil didn't know if they closed ranks because of Riko's interference or if the game was enough to distract them from their personal problems. For now Neil didn't care what the reason was so long as they cooperated.
With eight minutes on the clock the Foxes started to slow down. They'd gone too hard too early. As long as they could hold their ground, they'd be okay, because they had a two-point lead, but Neil wanted another point to revitalize the team. He and Kevin were up against fresh backliners, though, and the defense cut them off at every turn. Neil knew Kevin was as frustrated as he was, because Kevin was starting to toe the line of unacceptable checking. Neil snapped a warning at him when they lost control of the ball again. Kevin snarled something rude back.
Two minutes later, the Foxes got the surge they needed. A Terrapin striker got around Matt and raced at the goal. Matt couldn't quite catch up, but he managed a glancing blow when the striker went to shoot. The striker stumbled, racquet twisting in an attempt to hold onto the ball, and got one step too close to the goal. Andrew was outside of his box in a heartbeat, and he body-checked the striker hard enough to floor him. The striker stayed where he was for a good five seconds, too dazed to get back up again. The game didn't wait for him. Matt went after the ball with a war cry and flung it up the court to Allison. The next time Neil took a shot on goal he made it, and the Foxes rallied.
The Foxes won, eight-five, and the crowd almost blew the roof off with their racket. The Foxes took their celebration to goal because Andrew wouldn't come to them. Nicky and Renee had hooked him into the partying last season because he was too sick to fight back. Now Nicky made as if to pounce on him and Andrew pointed his racquet at Nicky in warning. Nicky thought better of it and hung off Aaron instead. Andrew stayed a disinterested spectator on the outskirts while the Foxes jumped and yelled a few feet in front of him. Somehow Kevin got around everyone else to say something to Andrew. Neil couldn't hear it over his teammates' noise, but Andrew's dismissive gesture said he wasn't concerned with Kevin's approval.
They shook the Terrapins' hands as quickly as they could and booked it off the court. Wymack and Abby were waiting for them, Wymack with a toothy grin and Abby all smiles. Wymack's glee only kicked Dan's excitement up another notch, and she ran at the crowd to rile them. Nicky and Matt tore off after her. Wymack let them go, knowing the reporters would rope them in as the easiest targets, and ushered his Foxes to the locker room. Neil made it all the way to the foyer before he remembered the mess that was waiting for him.
"Do you have a mop I can use?" Neil asked.
"Shut your face," Wymack said. "You're not dealing with that right now. We just won."
"Eight-five," Allison said, as if Neil had already forgotten. The edge in her voice betrayed how angry she still was about all this. Neil didn't flinch at the next words out of her mouth, but it was a near thing. "I guess you can consider that your birthday present from the team."
"Allison," Renee said.
"No." Allison stabbed a finger at Renee to cut her off but kept her eyes on Neil. "I've hit the limit of what bullshit I'll tolerate this week, let alone this year. I need to know how much worse this pissing contest between Neil and Riko is going to get."