laughing good-heartedly, and I grin, leaning back on my elbows.
“All right, fellas,” the coach calls out. “Twenty suicides then you’re good to go. Tonight’s assignment: one hour of game film. As always, wear your jerseys to class tomorrow with pride.”
All the players call out “yes coach” then do as they’re told.
“I should go.” Vienna hitches her backpack over her shoulder. “It’s cool you’re still here. Wish I could knock the shit out of Victoria and stay.” She grins.
“Trust me,” I laugh. “It was the last thing I expected.”
“Look, if you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, needing to throw blows or something, find me. Don’t ruin what might be a good thing.”
“What makes you think I would?”
“That punch had nothing to do with Victoria. You self-sabotaged.” Her eyes bounce between mine before shifting the three heads our way. She looks back to me. “I do it too. It’s natural for girls like us.”
Girls like us.
Royce throws himself beside me and looks between me and Vienna.
Captain glances my way but drops his frown to his gym bag when he sees me looking and Maddoc glares over his water bottle.
“See you later, Rae.”
She turns and walks off but I call out, “Wait!”
Maddoc’s eyes flick between mine.
“We’ll take you home.”
The corner of his eyes tighten, but before he looks away, I spot the slight grin he tries to hide.
I step in front of him, slipping my hand in his gym pocket as he looks down his nose at me. I slowly pull out the keys he just stuffed inside.
“We’ll be in the car.”
I catch up to Vienna, ignoring the laughter behind me.
A few minutes of us bullshitting in the back seat pass before the three slide in, Royce, of course in the back with us.
“I think I should sit in the middle.”
“Stay where you’re at.” Maddoc glares in his mirror at his brother, who sits beside Vienna.
Vienna, who says not a word the entire drive – not even sure she breathes – and only waves when she gets out at the house.
Maddoc continues down the dirt road, parking right in front of the porch as we pull up.
Together, the four of us head inside.
“One of you mind doing dinner tonight?” Captain asks, already headed for the stairs.
“I got it.” Maddoc nods, then looks to us. “Lemme shower then I’ll start.”
Royce and I shrug, and I follow him into the kitchen, watching him wash his hands and start pulling out shit for Maddoc to cook with.
“What’s up with Captain?”
“What makes you think anything is?”
“He seems off.”
Royce turns to me with a scowl that quickly grows into a grin. “You’re starting to see through our masks, RaeRae. Careful, you might actually be forced to admit you like it.”
“Whatever.” I push off the counter and start walking away.
“Raven.”
I look back to Royce.
“Go ask him.” It’s almost a plea, like he knows what it is and thinks I can fix it.
Unsure why, I head upstairs and knock on Captain’s door.
He doesn’t say anything, so I walk inside anyway finding him sitting at the edge of his bed, looking out the window.
“What’s up, Raven?”
“How’d you know it was me?”
“You’re the only one who’d knock in this house.”
We both laugh lightly, but my chest feels tight at how hollow his is.
I move around the room and climb on to the bed, sitting against the headboard. “What’s wrong?”
He hesitates a minute before speaking. “If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth without needing to know why I need to know?”
“Honestly?” I ask, my face scrunching. “Probably not but try me.”
He chuckles and looks my way. With a deep sigh, he shifts on the bed to face me.
“Why did Perkins call you into his office?”
“That’s what you wanna know?”
“Come on ...”
“Easy.” I shrug. “He wants me to leave Brayshaw.”
“He say that?”
“Painted a real pretty picture for me.”
Captain nods with a frown, but it’s not for me. “Yet here you are.”
“I’ve got my own crayons, packman.”
He studies me. “You don’t trust him.”
“You don’t trust him. Neither does Royce, Maddoc. How am I supposed to?”
His eyes soften the longer he stares and then he looks away. But something’s plaguing him.
“Pretty sure he thinks the longer I’m here, the tighter we’ll get and he doesn’t want that,” I tell him.
“He thinks you’ll make us stronger.” His eyes bounce between mine. “He’s right. You will. You are.”
I look away. “I’m just ... the girl living across the hall, Cap. And who knows how long that’ll last.”