Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
"When the plane took off from Columbia, I was scared to death," Nicky said. "I was so relieved to leave my parents and everyone I knew, but I didn't know if being in Germany would change anything. When I landed, my new host brother was waiting for me in Arrivals. Erik Klose," Nicky said, sounding it out like he was saying it for the first time. "He taught me to believe in myself. He showed me how to balance my faith and my sexuality, and he made me okay again. I know it sounds dramatic, but he saved my life."
Nicky flipped his hands over and laced his fingers together. The look he turned on Neil was as reassuring as it was worried and made Neil want to edge away. "That's what love is about, see? That's why Exy isn't ever going to be enough, not for you or Andrew or anyone. It can't hold you up, and it won't make you a stronger or better person."
"Okay."
Nicky wasn't impressed with that neutral response. "I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, but I'm not the dullest, either. I've figured out by now you've got all the trust issues of a stray tom cat. But sooner or later you're going to have to let someone in."
"Can I study now?"
Nicky scooped Neil's math pamphlet off the ground but held it out of reach. "It's your turn. Why don't you like girls?"
"I don't not like them," Neil said, but Nicky only snorted in disbelief.
Neil thought of his mother's heavy fists on his skin and her fingers knotting in his hair. She'd told him time and time again girls were dangerous. They got inside a man's head, she said. They got under a man's skin. They could make a man want to change the world starting with himself. They'd turn him inside out and pull out all his secrets. They might mean well but it'd get all of them killed in the end.
"It's complicated," Neil said at last. "Let me work now."
"At least promise me you'll think about it?"
"Promise," Neil said.
"You are such an unrepentant liar." Nicky huffed and handed over Neil's work.
Neil glanced at his watch, winced when he saw how much time they'd lost, and flipped to the equation he'd left off on. Nicky grumbled a bit under his breath as he reorganized his own notes but quieted down as soon as he got back to work. Neil pushed the entire conversation from mind so he could focus. Within a couple minutes he'd forgotten all about it, and honestly he expected it to stay forgotten.
It came back to him at practice when he spotted Andrew and Renee. They were standing together near the goal, and Andrew was gesturing excitedly as they went on about something or other. Neil watched them longer than he meant to and remembered Nicky's words.
There was no point dwelling on it when he knew how the year would end, but for a moment Neil wondered. He thought about Nicky's story and how he'd met Erik in the nick of time. Nicky had been at the end of his rope, but Erik was strong enough to hold him up. There was only one person in the world strong enough for all of Neil's problems, and she was dead now. Neil wouldn't wish his mess on anyone else.
Except he'd already started sharing that burden, albeit unwillingly. He'd divided his secrets between Kevin and Andrew. Kevin reacted the way Neil expected everyone would to the truth: with a horrified demand that Neil leave immediately. Andrew, though, nodded in the face of it and told Neil to stay. He stood his ground when Neil asked him for murder and gave him a key to their house.
But that didn't count, because Andrew was Andrew, and this was definitely the last turn he needed his thoughts to take. He dragged his attention back to the task at hand and vowed never to listen to Nicky again.
CHAPTER EIGHT
October arrived without warning. Neil knew their match against the Ravens was coming up fast, but it still startled him when he realized they were already a week into the month. The game was only six days away.
If the Foxes were having a typical season, the match might have drawn a little less attention, even with Kevin on their line. This year, however, they were at an unprecedented six-and-one record. The only game they'd lost was their opener against Breckenridge. They'd won three games by the skin of their teeth, but victories were victories no matter how they got them. The Foxes were pulling together and getting stronger one week at a time. No one expected them to win against the Ravens, but it was obvious they'd put up a spectacular fight.
The Foxhole Court didn't have enough seating to accommodate the crowd this game was sure to draw, so the school sold discounted seats in the basketball stadium and promised to broadcast the game live on the scoreboard televisions there.
Palmetto State University spent the entire second week preening and prepping for its day in the spotlight. Groundskeepers trimmed every square inch of the sprawling campus. Cleaning teams drained and scrubbed out the manmade pond in front of the library. Student clubs were invited to design and hang banners wherever they could fit them. Rocky Foxy the mascot walked the campus for hours every day and poked his oversized head into classrooms to get the students worked up. The Vixens set up camp in the amphitheater to pass out temporary tattoos and foam paw prints.
There was an event every night leading up to Friday. The school's choir and jazz band had free concerts on the stadium lawn on Monday. Seventy percent of the student body wore orange for Tuesday's Orange Day. Wednesday was White Day with a higher turnout. Thursday was the pep rally, which the Foxes were required to attend. Several thousand students stopped by to cheer and party. News cameras were on hand to televise the festivities and take comments from the small team. Wymack kept Neil away from the microphone, not trusting Neil to behave himself.