“What’s wrong?” I ask him.
“Doesn’t that bother you?” He gestures vaguely toward the back of the bus. “That they’re laughing at you?”
“No,” I reply honestly, shrugging. “They’re not laughingatme, Mick. We’re all friends, and I did something stupid. They’re just giving me a hard time. I was laughing, too.”
“I wish I was more like you.”
I frown. “Cut that out. I hate it when you do that. I like your big, awkward ass just the way it is.”
He laughs, straightening up a little as he apparently deems the bus a safe enough space once more. When he glances over at where Max Kuemper is seated with Vas, though, his face once more devolves into worry.
“I don’t know Kuemper well,” he says. “You’re my only friend on the team.”
“We’re ateam, Micky, all of us are friends. And Max isgreat. You’ll probably be happier rooming with him, honestly. He’s going to be quieter, and I’ll bet he’s cleaner, as well. You’re not going to miss me at all.”
“Maybe.” He doesn’t sound convinced. “I wish I could just stay with you, though. I’m so bad at making friends.”
“Max seems a little shy, too. You guys can just sit on your beds silently, and go to sleep early,” I joke, which earns me a shove hard enough to have me sprawling half into the aisle between the seats. Grinning, I sit back up and bump his shoulder with mine.
“At least I’m not the one who had to be assigned a babysitter,” he jokes.
“Poor Vas.” I sigh, leaning my head back against the seat and closing my eyes.
“Poor Vas” seems to have been an accurate prediction on my part. When we get to the room, I shed my clothes and drop them into a pile on the floor near my bed, before heading into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. When I come back out, my dress clothes are tidily folded and lying on top of the dresser next to the TV. My shoes are neatly lined up against the wall, and there is a bottle of water placed on the nightstand between our beds. Vas is sitting on the end of his mattress, still fully dressed, and hands resting on his thighs.
“Vas, my man, when Coach said you were my babysitter, he didn’t mean that you had to clean up after me. He meant that you were supposed to stop me from ingesting anything that might make me sick.”
Throwing myself down on the bed, dressed only in my underwear, I reach for my phone.
“I do not mind,” he responds. “Are you finished at the sink?”
“Bathroom is all yours, buddy.”
I watch as he carefully extracts pajamas from his bag, and heads into the bathroom to change. Checking my phone, I try not to feel too disappointed at the three texts waiting for me from some girls I’ve been chatting with. It’s not their fault they aren’t Marcos. Sighing, I roll on to my back and hold my phone over my head to reply. It feels like a chore more than anything else, and when I get two immediate responses, hinting at wanting to get together this weekend, I feel not an ounce of temptation.
Vas comes back into the main room, and carefully repacks his bathroom bag into his duffel. He’s wearing a pair of sweatpants, and a light blue SCU hockey shirt that shows off the breadth of his shoulders and arms. I bite my lip as I look at him, realizing that my buddy is kind of hot.
“Vas, you’re kind of a babe,” I tell him, rolling onto my side and propping myself up on an elbow to look at him. He shoots me an exasperated look as he climbs onto his bed and scoots back to the headboard.
“You are quite ridiculous, my friend. Would you like to watch television?”
He holds the remote out to me, but I shake my head. “I have a deck of cards in my bag. Do you want to do that, instead? My hyperactive ass can’t sit and watch TV. I might do something crazy like try and eat a sleeve of saltines in thirty seconds.”
Vas chuckles, setting down the remote and nodding. “Sure, yes, let us play cards instead. You will have to explain the rules. I am not a card person.”
Deciding to go easy on him, I give him the quick and dirty on how to play Go Fish. We sit cross-legged on my bed, cards held up between us, and are well into our third game when aknock comes at the door. Vas lays his cards down, and slides off the bed to answer it.
“Oh, hello, Coach Mackenzie,” he says, opening the door. “Would you like to come in?”
“No need, I’m just here for bed check. Is the inmate there?”
Snorting, I lean back far enough for Coach to see me and smile at him. “I’m here, Coach. Kicking ass at Go Fish, but mostly because I’ve been cheating.”
“Nate!” The look of shock on Vas’ face is funny enough to have even Coach Mackenzie smiling.
“I’m kidding!” I assure him, waving a hand.
“All right,” Coach intervenes, shaking his head at us. “I’m down the hall if you need anything. Have a good night, and don’t make it too late.”
