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)
Renee hadn't been exaggerating when she said she and Andrew were a lot alike. They had violent, unstable upbringings thanks to their mothers and spent time in both juvie and the foster system. Their paths split irrevocably after their respective adoptions. Renee let Stephanie shape her into a decent human being and atoned for her past brutality whereas Andrew murdered his mother the first chance he got. Neil finally understood why Renee wasn't afraid of Andrew.
"Then why don't you and Andrew work?" Neil asked.
"I'm sorry," Renee said. "Work how?"
"Why haven't you asked him out?"
The look on her face said it was the last question she'd expected from him. She bought herself time by motioning Neil into the next shop. Neil went in first but stepped aside so she could lead the way. The look she gave him on her way by was assessing, but she turned to the task at hand soon enough and rummaged through the trinkets on the closest shelf.
"What is all this about, if you don't mind my asking?" she asked. "You've never seemed interested before."
"I'm not," Neil said, but that didn't make sense considering he'd been the one to bring it up.
Neil grasped for a good way to explain. He didn't want to tell her he'd spent Friday night thinking about dying. He hadn't wanted to think about a future he didn't have, so he stood at the railing and thought about his teammates instead. It was a strange exercise, as fascinating as it was discomforting. He wasn't used to worrying about anyone but himself and his mother, but he'd tried imagining the Foxes' lives a year or two down the road. He wondered what sort of strikers Kevin would recruit to replace him and how much fallout the Foxes would face after he gave himself over to the FBI.
But mostly he thought about them as the people he'd spent the evening with, the people he was getting to know almost against his will. They'd never be perfect, but they were going to be all right. They'd come to the Foxhole Court as fractured messes but they were fixing each other one semester at a time. Even Kevin was going to come out of this on top. He wasn't going to fade into obscurity like Tetsuji and Riko thought he would; he would ride the Foxes' resurgence to the top and reclaim his place in the spotlight.
The only one besides Neil who didn't have a way out was Andrew. Kevin and Nicky both thought they had the right solution for Andrew's problem, but Neil wasn't sure anymore which one of them he believed. But he couldn't tell Renee that, either, because he didn't want to explain why it was suddenly so important. It wouldn't mean anything to her when she didn't know who he was and what Andrew had offered him.
"Never mind," he said.
He started to turn away, but Renee said, "I'm not Andrew's type, Neil. There's nothing between us."
"Allison said that," Neil said, searching Renee's face for the truth. "She told Seth not to worry about you two getting together. But the others are all waiting for something to happen. You have to know how many times they've bet on you. If you can say 'no' so easily to me, why haven't you set anyone else straight yet?"
"It's complicated," Renee said, "and we profit more from silence. Allison believed me when I said I wouldn't fall for Andrew. The others stopped listening when Andrew and I started talking more. I reward Allison's trust in me by stacking the odds in her favor on any bets about us. She and I split the proceeds. I put my winnings aside for our Christmas Adopt-a-Family project. Allison buys manicures with hers."
"How does Andrew benefit?" Neil asked. "Free entertainment watching everyone guess?"
"Peace of mind," Renee said after a moment's consideration.
"I don't understand."
Renee hesitated again. Neil watched as she rummaged through a collection of leather wallets. She held one up and turned it this way and that. "Andrew said you would have questions for me. I asked him what he wanted me to say if you came by, but he said he didn't care and didn't have time to play moderator. If he knew this was what you wanted to talk about I'll assume he knew this would come up."
Renee put the wallet back, let her fingers linger a few seconds longer as she debated, then turned to face Neil fully. "When I said I wasn't Andrew's type, I meant it. It's not about my looks or faith. It's that I'm a woman."
Neil heard her words but was slow to understand them. He blinked at her in confusion, blinked again when it clicked, and said a little too loudly, "Oh. Then Andrew and Kevin—"
Renee laughed and waved that off. "Oh, no. You'll meet Kevin's girlfriend later this year, I'm sure."
"You're lying." Neil stared at her. "Kevin doesn't have a girlfriend. He's under too much scrutiny from the press and his fans to hide that kind of thing."
Renee cased the store in a slow, easy look. This time of day there was only one other customer, and he was on the far side of the store from them. "They're not official, and Kevin knows better than to be indiscreet. Can you imagine what Coach Moriyama might do if a woman distracted Kevin from his game?
"I'm sure it does not surprise you that she is a Court-ranked player. Kevin needs someone who can keep up with and challenge him. Fortunately she is also a Raven alumnus, so she knows the repercussions of getting caught with Kevin. Maybe they'll have more luck after we've settled things with the Ravens this year."
"Thea?" Neil asked, startled.
Renee smiled at how quickly he put it together. "Impressive."
It wasn't that hard to figure it out, even with her vague explanation. There were only two women on the Court's roster. One was a dealer from USC. The other, Theodora Muldani, was a backliner from Edgar Allan. Her ascension to the national team two years ago drew a lot of attention since she was the only player who'd turned down her initial invitation. Her official reason was she didn't want the Court schedule interfering with her fifth year at university. No one expected the national team to give her a second chance, but the Court's representative was waiting for her at her final championships game.