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)
He’d known it was coming, but Jeremy’s jagged, “He’s gone,” echoed in his thoughts as Jean stared at Cody. “He jumped.”
“Officially, no. The press release said he was trying to get a picture of the skyline and leaned too far, or some weak excuse like that. Since the footage was never released, the Wilshires could spin the story however they liked—and what they liked was to farm his death for pity points and privacy. Needed something to counteract Jeremy’s disastrous evening. Coldblooded, if you ask me,” Cody added. “Jeremy needed help, not damage control. I really thought we were going to lose him for a while there.”
It was so unexpected Jean could finally shove Noah and Elodie from his thoughts. Cody grimaced at the sharp look Jean sent them and gave a helpless shrug. “To really get into that, we’d have to talk about the rest of the night. Do you want that story from me or Jeremy?”
“He said I can ask,” Jean said. “I will ask.”
“Your call,” Cody said. They checked their watch and collected their trash. “Just promise me you’ll keep an eye on him tomorrow. Most everyone who was a problem back then should’ve graduated by now, but I know at least one who’s still around. These kinds of grudges don’t go away so easily.”
“He is my partner,” Jean said. “I will protect him.”
He’d gotten Neil through three weeks at the Nest; dragging Jeremy through one banquet would be easy. Having to behave would be the only difficult part.
-
The west-coast fall banquet was a dinner affair, scheduled to start at six mountain time. Rhemann wanted his team in Tucson an hour ahead of time, which meant they were due at the stadium by half-past eight for a nine o’clock departure. A charter bus and its driver were waiting for them in Exposition Park. Loading their overnight bags and dinner clothes into the storage compartments was easy work. White and Jimenez took a head count in the parking lot, and Rhemann and Lisinski did another once everyone was on board.
There were enough seats that the coaches could each sit alone and a few of the Trojans could similarly spread out. Derek and Derrick, unsurprisingly, packed in side-by-side. Jean’s four students sat together, one pair in front of the other. Jean’s satisfaction was short-lived, as there were also five strangers in their midst.
“Dates are allowed,” Jeremy reminded him when Jean voiced his disapproval. Despite his reassuring tone, there was a telltale smile tugging at his mouth. Jean scowled at him and slid into the next available seat. Jeremy settled in beside him and said, “Fair warning: there’ll be more of them this December. It’s just rough finding people this early in the year. First weekend, you know? Everyone’s still getting settled.”
“All the more reason to forbid it,” Jean insisted, but Jeremy only laughed.
With Jean, there were nine bodies in the so-called floozy group. Cody was the odd one out, but they were quick to fill the empty space beside them with a bag of snacks. Pat and Ananya had the seat behind them, and Cat and Laila the one in front. Jeremy and Jean were across from the girls, and Xavier and Min claimed the spot behind them.
Jean was content with his spot on the outskirts, and he only paid their cheerful conversation half a mind as he watched Los Angeles slide by out the window. He’d loaded a few matches onto his laptop last night, but it wasn’t likely to do him much good. He’d learned early on that reading or watching anything while traveling made him wretchedly carsick. He’d spent most away games with the Ravens simply sleeping away the hours, desperate to make up for time lost at the Nest.
The first few hours were easy, sliding in and out of a doze while his friends laughed and chatted about anything under the sun. He woke to find Cat and Cody now sharing a seat, both hunched over handheld game devices, while Laila solved a crossword puzzle. Jeremy was on his knees facing backwards so he could talk to Xavier and Min; trust the man to never run out of anything to say.
Jean planned on going back to sleep, except he was too rested to drift off. That was annoying and unexpected. He wasted half an hour trying before he gave up and started counting teams on his fingertips. He named as many strikers as he could think of, half-heartedly quizzed himself if they were right-handed or left, and mentally assigned them his best-guess at jersey numbers. He was halfway through the list when Jeremy realized he was awake, and the captain broke off his conversation to settle down at Jean’s side.
“Good news,” he said, with a touch too much cheer. “Three hours down, six to go.”
Jean flicked him a withering look. “I will leave you behind at the next rest stop.”