“You know,” Kellan answers. “From the guy.”
“Guess I forgot. Can you remind me?”
“Theguy. The one whoworks. You know.William.” He pulls a name out of his ass.
I’m imagining Max looking between them, completely lost.
Then Sebastian goes, “Oooooh.Thatguy.”
“Yes, that guy.” Relieved.
“Dr. William, right? Did you get your test results back?”
“Test results?” says Max.
“Yeah,” says Sebastian. “For crabs. Were you positive?”
I hear a choking sound. My mouth twitches. That was pretty funny, actually.
“You have crabs?” Max is horrified.
“No!” cries Kellan. “No, I do not have crabs.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Brother.” I can imagine Sebastian pulling Kellan into a one-armed hug, making a show of trying to comfort. Sebastian can be a total asshole, but it’s funny when he messes with people who deserve it.
“I don’t have fucking crabs.”
“Sureyou don’t.”
Max says, “Well, whether you have crabs or not, you both need to get your asses to practice. Now.” The door bangs shut.
After ten seconds pass, I come out from behind the lockers, laughing my ass off. I can’t help it. Chances are this Max guy will tell the team Kellan has crabs, and he’ll be a walking disease for the rest of the year. That would be the cherry on top of a delicious chocolate cake. I couldn’t have done it better myself.
Sebastian, in all his cocky glory, nods his chin at me. “Good one, right?”
Kellan snarls like an animal, lunging for Sebastian, but I step between them, my hands pressed against both of their chests. Kellan and I have an inch on Sebastian, but he’s thicker in the torso. He probably weighs ten pounds more than Kellan, twenty pounds more than me. “All right, stop. Beating each other up, as much as I’d love to watch, isn’t going to solve anything. Like it or not, Kellan is leaving. We can’t change that.”
Low swearing whips from Kellan’s mouth. He tears away from us, scrubbing his face. I have no sympathy for him. It’s his own fault he’s gotten himself into this mess.
“No,” says Sebastian, “but I can tell Coach and he can bench you for a few games. Maybe even the season. Who knows?” He shoots Kellan a dirty look. “And if we start losing games because of Noah? I really am going to kick your ass.”
I try not to take offense at how little my brother thinks of me. It doesn’t work. It’s always been like this. They’ll always be better, know better. I stopped fighting it a long time ago.
“Please, Seb.” Now Kellan’s whining. He’s on the verge of a tantrum and I hate it. “Just do this one thing for me and I’ll give you whatever you want.”
As soon as the words leave his mouth, I know they’re the wrong ones. Sebastian smiles like all his wishes are coming true.
Immediately, Kellan tries to backpedal. “Well, anythingwithin reason. I’m not sending you on a luxury vacation or anything.”
“That’s fair.” He taps a finger against his bicep, making a show of deep pondering. He isn’t the best actor. I have a feeling I know what he’s going to ask.
“I want to drive your car, too.”
Kellan’s face visibly pales. But, to his credit, he doesn’t say no. My guess is that he realizes he needs both of our cooperation if he wants this to work. “My car isn’t part of the deal—”
Sebastian saunters forward a few steps. He’s got that gleam in his eye, the same one our father gets when he’s closing in on a deal. That’s a Dumont for you. “You’re letting Noah drive the Lamborghini, and he doesn’t even like cars. That’s my offer. You let me drive your car, and I won’t say a damn thing about this switcheroo.” He crosses his arms over his chest, smug. “Final offer. Take it or leave it.”
I’m almost positive Kellan could commit murder right now. His eyes bulge. A fat vein throbs at his hairline. But he grits his teeth and manages to say, “One drive.”
