"Ja," Nicky said. "You heard us earlier with the mumbo-jumbo, right? That was German. The little punks studied it at high school because they knew I could help them pass. If you take German as your elective here, just let me know and I'll tutor you. I'm good with my tongue."

"Enough. Let's play," Aaron said, putting the bucket of balls down.

Nicky gave an exaggerated sigh. "Anyway, remind me to show you his picture later. Our babies are going to be gorgeous."

Neil frowned, confused. "He doesn't live here?"

"Oh, no. He's in Stuttgart. Got a job he loves with great career potential, so he couldn't leave to follow me here. I was only supposed to stay long enough to get these kids through high school, but when Coach offered me a scholarship Erik said I should go for it. It sucks being apart for so long, but he came here last Christmas and I'll go there this year. If things ever die down around here I'll even get to spend next summer in Germany." Nicky sent a meaningful look toward the wall where Kevin was watching them.

They spent the next hour and a half teaching Neil drills. A lot of them Neil had done before, but there were a few he didn't recognize, and it gave him a thrill to learn something new. They ended with a short scrimmage, one striker against two backliners and an open goal. Aaron and Nicky weren't the best defense players in the NCAA by far, but they were far better than any of the high schoolers Neil was used to playing.

Aaron called them to a stop at last and Neil caught the ball on a rebound. When he dropped it into the bucket the others started unstrapping their helmets. Neil squished a flare of disappointment that they were done so soon, but he wouldn't push them to play any longer; Nicky had already said that they were giving up their summer break to play with him.

Nicky smeared his cheek against his shoulder, trying to wipe sweat off onto his jersey. He smiled at Neil. "How's that?"

"It was fun," Neil said. "You two are really, really good."

Nicky beamed, but Aaron snorted. "Kevin would kill himself if he heard that."

"Kevin thinks we're a waste of oxygen," Nicky said with a shrug.

"At least you're not going to completely drag us down," Aaron said. "It'll take most the season to get you where we need you to be, but I can see why Kevin picked you."

"Speaking of…" Nicky tipped his head toward the wall. "Someone's ready to get his hands on you."

Neil followed the gesture and looked through the wall toward the Foxes' benches. Andrew had reappeared and was lying flat on his back on the home bench, playing catch with a spare ball. Kevin had gotten his racquet at some point and was spinning it as he watched them. With half the court and a half-inch-thick wall between them, Neil could still feel Kevin's stare like a physical weight.