"Coach said you hitchhiked your way back here," Dan said. "I'd yell at you for being stupid, but Coach said he handled that already."

"Lesson learned," Neil said. "Next time I'll call for a ride."

"There won't be a next time." Dan gave a heavy sigh and scrubbed her face. "Come on."

They went back to Neil's suite. Six piles of cards lay face down in the living from an interrupted game and were surrounded by a graveyard of crumpled beer cans. Allison and Seth were rummaging through the fridge when Neil passed. Renee continued to the living room to get her cards, but Dan and Matt followed Neil to the bedroom. They stopped in the doorway and watched as Neil went to his safe. Neil traced the lines of it with his fingers and tugged on the combination lock. It didn't look tampered with, but he couldn't check the contents with an audience.

"You were right," Matt said. "Andrew tried to get in."

"We didn't let him," Dan said. "He didn't make it further than the front door."

"Thank you," Neil said.

"Thank Renee," Dan said. "She doesn't take sides all that often."

"It's so much easier when she does, though," Matt said.

"Andrew seems to like her," Neil said.

"They've got an understanding," Matt said, but didn't explain. "We're between rounds in our game. You should join in. It'll help clear your head, I think. Spending too much time with Andrew's lot will rattle anyone."

"I'm probably going to crash early," Neil said. "It was a long day."

"We'll take our stuff to my room," Dan said, and they closed the door on their way out.

Neil waited until their voices faded before unlocking his safe. He found everything where it was supposed to be. As he slipped the lock into place again he realized his hand was trembling. He held up his shaky fingers where he could see them better and wondered at the equally weak flutter in his chest.

Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing, but he thought perhaps he liked it.

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE

Neil didn't see Andrew's group again until practices on Monday. He was happy to keep his distance, and they seemed to finally have lost interest in him. When they had to interact on the court they kept it short and civil. Even Kevin seemed to have forgotten his lines. His barbed remarks were gone, replaced by a heavy, unwavering stare that somehow made Neil feel even more insignificant than he had before. Neil refused to miss his condescension, but being the bug in Kevin's microscope made him jumpy.