"Attempt to tell the truth at least once," Wymack said. "It's what I was raised to be," Neil said. "He says you're a pathological liar," Wymack said. "Andrew and I are working on our trust issues. I mostly tuned him out then, but I probably should have listened." At first I figured he was mad at Kevin for lying to him, but he was more worked up about you. "First day of practice I told everyone Edgar Allan had transferred districts, you remember? Andrew spent that night here with me. When Neil frowned at him, Wymack shrugged and knocked back some of his coffee. "That's because they're his words," Wymack said. I know I'm not completely wrong, but you're still not adding up right." "I'm starting to think I misjudged you," Wymack said. Instead of returning to the table he turned and leaned against the counter as he considered Neil. Wymack dumped it in the dishwasher and poured himself a second cup of coffee. He started to get up to clear away his plate, but Wymack took it from him. Neil got tired of the staredown first and finished off his breakfast. Neil just looked at him, and Wymack stared back. Wymack emptied his coffee with one big gulp. "How can you stand having a team like ours, Coach? Isn't it exhausting dealing with us and our problems day after day?" He tried to chew slower, but he was fast running out of burrito to hide behind. Don't lie to me about the important shit." "Your lip-service 'yes Coach' isn't going to be enough anymore. "You said that last night when I told you to behave," Wymack said. Were you listening when I told you what kind of person he is, what kind of family he's from?" "That doesn't mean you have to sink to his level. "He started it," Neil muttered into his tortilla. "You want to tell me why you have a hard-on for antagonizing Riko?" Wymack asked. Neil didn't look up from his plate to return Wymack's stare. He was almost through with his breakfast before Wymack finished reading the paper and set it aside. Neil put together a breakfast burrito and sat across from Wymack. A lid was keeping a skillet of potatoes and eggs warm. Wymack didn't look up from his newspaper but pointed at the stove. He dropped the sheet off in the hamper right inside Wymack's bedroom door, detoured to the bathroom to freshen up, and joined Wymack in the kitchen. With a sigh he gave in to the inevitable and turned away from the front door. Neil hesitated in the hallway with the sheet hugged to his chest, tempted to sneak out and avoid this conversation altogether. The soft click of dishes said Wymack was up and likely mainlining coffee. He slid off the couch and yawned as he crumpled the sheet into a messy ball. Neil knew denial was childish, but he wanted to avoid Kevin as long as possible. He wasn't surprised he'd slept so late, considering what time they'd gotten back to campus, but he still wasn't ready to face the day. The clock on the mantel was buried behind crumpled cigarette packs, but the light seeping into the room through the blinds was bright enough to be late morning. Neil untangled the borrowed sheet from his legs and sat up. He hadn't said anything last night, maybe too tired to demand an explanation for last night's fiasco, but had relegated Neil to the living room and gone to sleep himself. Wymack had dropped everyone else off at the stadium but snagged Neil before he could catch a ride with his teammates back to the dorm. It took him a moment to remember where he was, but the view was as familiar to him as the one from his bed at the dormitory. The others fell asleep within a few miles, but Neil spent the entire ride thinking about Riko and his father. Wymack rounded up his team, waited while they changed out into more comfortable clothes, and got them on the road. Neil was happy to let it die and gladder when his teammates didn't bring up Riko again. Neil assumed that meant the subject was touchier than a drugged Andrew could let on, so he answered with a vague, "He summarized it for us."Īndrew grinned and shrugged the conversation off. Nicky only would have confessed his indiscretion to Andrew if he felt guilty for giving so much away. Yes? Nicky said he told you all about it." "I didn't enter the foster system with a last name, so I was tagged as a Doe.
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