Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Cody was studying him thoughtfully, so Jeremy finally said, “I’m sorry.”
Cody waved that off. “You know him best. I’ll follow your lead.”
“Thank you,” Jeremy said, and the three left the showers at last.
They dressed in their separate rows, and Jeremy saw them off before moving to the inner court with his books.
Jean had acquired a second student, it seemed: Mads was out with Tanner at the half-court line. Jeremy wasn’t sure what they were trying to accomplish, but from Jean’s body language the drills were obviously not going well. Jeremy would understand if the freshmen gave up and retreated, but the two simply waited until he finished chewing them out before trying again.
When Mads completely butchered the exercise a third time in a row, the Raven in Jean threatened to come out at her. It was lucky for all of them that Mads was laughing at something Tanner said, as neither of the freshmen saw it when Jean’s hand went back with every intent to strike. Jeremy’s heart gave a startled lurch as he came off the bench, mouth open on a warning that would come too late.
Jean remembered himself just in time. He aborted the swing so forcefully he had to take two steps back and turn away, and he stormed off toward the first-fourth line. Tanner and Mads turned at his abrupt retreat, confused. Jeremy thought he heard Tanner’s voice echoing off the wall, but Jean only waved him off with a quick flick of his racquet.
The freshmen jogged off to gather their scattered balls, but Jeremy had eyes only for Jean as he paced short lines back and forth. On one of his laps, Jean finally noticed Jeremy on the sidelines. He came to stand across from him with only the wall between them. Walking it off had taken some of the tension from his shoulders but none of the frustration out of his face. Jeremy idly wondered how much of that was at his trainees for failing, himself for wanting to hurt them, or Jeremy for keeping a close eye on him.
They’d always known the Ravens were capable of extreme violence, and Jeremy had seen more than a few clips of the ugly brawls Jean got into on the court, but somehow, he’d still forgotten. Jean had been working hard to curtail his aggression on the court these last few weeks, courtesy of the contract he made the Trojans offer him. He slipped up now and again—throwing Jeremy off his feet, leaving bruises all down the arch of Derrick’s foot, and slipping in a nasty trip here and there when he wasn’t thinking—but this felt different.
Jeremy wondered what the trigger was behind this near-miss: was Mads really that offensive in her performance, or was Jean so caught up in Raven drills he’d forgotten who and where he was? After everything he’d seen of Jean this summer, Jeremy leaned toward the latter, but he would have to have a serious talk with Jean later. Jeremy wouldn’t put his teammates at risk no matter how badly Tanner wanted to learn the Ravens’ tricks.
He wasn’t sure Jean could hear him, both through the wall and his helmet, but Jeremy enunciated “Be nice,” and hoped Jean could at least read his lips. Judging by the way Jean scowled, Jeremy figured he got the message. It wasn’t the most encouraging response, but Jeremy needed to believe it was enough. More importantly, he needed Jean to know that Jeremy trusted him to do the right thing. Rather than push Jean for more concrete reassurances, he held up his French book where Jean could see it and offered a cheery, “Salut!”
It didn’t matter if Jean could hear him—the look that crossed his face when he realized what Jeremy was holding was more than enough. He looked genuinely thrown, like he hadn’t believed Jeremy was being serious about learning, and his confusion was enough to finally take the lingering irritation out of him. Jean treated Jeremy to a searching look, and Jeremy tipped his head to indicate the freshmen who were waiting for him.
“Have fun!”
Jean rolled his eyes as he turned away. Jeremy laughed as he retreated to the bench to study, reassured that Jean’s mood was steady enough to continue. He set the book aside in favor of his LSAT guide, and he flipped to where he’d left off. Five minutes later he hadn’t read past the first sentence, so Jeremy dropped it over his shoulder and went back to studying French.
-
July slowly settled into a routine. Lucas and Jean continued to avoid each other, unable to reconcile their differences when Grayson’s suicide sat unresolved between them. By the end of his first week back, Lucas was no longer rushing out of the court after practice. By Tuesday of the second, he was talking to everyone except Jean, but his hollow performance on the court gave lie to his feigned normalcy.