"Stop it."

He didn't mean to say it. He didn't even realize he'd spoken until his teammates' conversations petered off. Dan and Matt sent him curious looks. Renee glanced between Neil and Andrew, whereas Aaron didn't look up at all. Kevin put it together faster than anyone, since he felt the same nauseous anger toward Andrew's apathy. The look he flicked Andrew was accusatory.

Andrew slid a bored look Neil's way. "I'm not doing anything."

"Exactly," Neil wanted to say, but he knew it was a senseless argument. He didn't have the right words for that gnawing feeling in his stomach and it was his fault for being so naïve. He gave a frustrated shake of his head and let it drop.

Nicky opened his mouth, hesitated as he reconsidered his words, and then clapped a hand on Neil's shoulder in either comfort or encouragement. He left his hand there but directed his too-cheerful words at the rest of the team.

"Hey, so we're actually doing much better than I thought we would."

Wymack chose that moment to walk in and he scowled at Nicky's words. "This is horrible. This kind of game isn't going to work for us, and today is the last time I'll tolerate it. You have got to start creating point gaps in the first half. You need that cushion when it's your second wind against their fresh line-up."

"He's right," Dan said. "We need to push harder earlier. We hold back because we're trying to pace ourselves for a long night, but playing catch-up is a killer. We need to play smarter and balance this out somehow."

Wymack nodded and looked across the room. "Andrew?"

"Present," Andrew said.

Wymack interpreted that unhelpful response however he wanted to and snapped his fingers at his team. "Come on, stretch it out." He walked a couple steps away and called down the hall, "Abby?"

"Coming," Abby said from out of sight, and showed up carrying two jugs. One had water, the other a sports drink. She poured some of each for the Foxes and made rounds to pass them out. She came to Neil last and stayed with him, feeling the line of his shoulder armor through his jersey. "How are you doing?"

Neil drained both cups before answering. "I'm fine."

Nicky fist-pumped in triumph. "Thank you for being so predictable, Neil. You just scored me ten bucks with two words."

Matt looked up. "Are you serious? Who the hell bet against you?"
Nicky jerked a thumb at Kevin. "There's a sucker born every minute."

Kevin looked furious, but that anger was directed at Neil. "You are an idiot. Do you see this?" He brandished his left hand at Neil. Neil couldn't see his scars from across the room but he knew what Kevin was referring to. "Injuries are not a joke. They are not something to gloss over. If you get hurt out there, you do something about it. You take it easy, you have Coach pull you, you ask Abby for help—I don't care. If you ever say 'I'm fine' about your health again I will make you rue the day you were born. Are we clear?"