Page 43 of Trick Play

She checked that I was following before taking the stairs up to the main level. I didn’t hear anyone else up, and as we walked through the kitchen, it was empty, thankfully. There was a whiteboard on the fridge, and she went to it, picked up the attached pen, and wrote a message in an open corner before stepping away and heading to the front door.

I read it as we passed and smiled. She thanked Shawn for his hospitality and promised to repay him.

When we got in her car, I expected some sort of lecture, but she didn’t speak as we drove the short distance to my dorm. She parked in front, not in a spot, and I got her message. This was it. She wasn’t coming in or talking.

“Kenny.”

She flinched and closed her eyes. After a moment, she sighed and met my eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

Because that was what I thought I was supposed to say? “I didn’t mean for you to sleep on a couch.”

She cocked her head. “That’s it?”

Obviously not. I rubbed the back of my neck, fighting to think through this headache. “I’m sorry about yesterday. For shutting down and leaving. For not answering my phone.” I’d noticed the dozen missed calls and texts from her, Haley, Reid, and Benjamin on the drive home. “I didn’t mean to worry you, any of you.”

“I appreciate that, Ethan, but that’s not the problem.”

It wasn’t? I was at a loss at this point. It was too hard to concentrate. I wanted to sleep.

She stared down at the console between us. “Maybe I have no right thinking this, especially after everything I dumped on you, but what hurt was you disappearing. Closing yourself off. You didn’t need to talk to me, but at least Reid or one of the guys on the team. I was really worried about you, and finding you passed out only made it all that much worse. Something’s wrong, and you need to talk about it.”

I opened my mouth, ready to argue that I was fine, but she wasn’t done.

“You don’t need to talk to me, but I will be there to listen if you want me to. I really hope you know how much your friends and your sister care about you. You carry so much even though you have an entire team standing by waiting to help.”

Was that true? It was impossible for me to accept that anyone would have room in their crazy, busy lives to deal with my garbage.

But if Reid were the one in need, if I saw him closing down and reaching his breaking point, I’d be pissed if he didn’t come to me.

I finally caved. “I’ll try.”

“Good, now go sleep this off.”

“Thanks,” I whispered before climbing out of her car and heading up to my room. I could practically hear my bed calling my name, but as soon as I opened the door, I was face to face with Reid and Haley.

I closed my eyes. If I was dreaming before, this was definitely a nightmare.

“What’s going on, Ethan?” Haley asked.

“Can I sleep for a few hours before we have this conversation?” I pleaded as I slipped past her toward my bed.

“No, man. Not after we found you passed out drunk. That’s not something we can ignore, even for a few more hours.” Reid crossed his arms and leaned against his bed.

I sat on my bed and rested my face in my hands. “I had a really bad day. I went over to Shawn’s because I knew he and the guys would let me be. They don’t ask questions when I don’t want them to. I was watching them play a video game when a couple of guys showed up and started drinking.”

“And why didn’t you tell them no?” he pressed.

I shrugged. “Because at that point, I didn’t care anymore.”

“About the rules? About the team?”

“About anything. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to have to think, so I took the cup. I was so out of it, I don’t remember it ever getting refilled. I thought I had one, then fell asleep.”

Haley stepped closer to Reid and jumped up on my bed to sit across from me. “What happened yesterday?”