My eyes flickered to Dakota who lingered behind the conversating David and Kevin. His eyes were trained on the ground as he followed them in silence. I ducked under Weston’s arm to go to him. I grabbed Dakota’s elbow and tugged him to the other side of the truck for as much privacy as possible.
“Are you okay?” I questioned in a whisper.
Dakota frowned and studied my expression. I can feel the other guys watching us. David and Kevin stopped talking all together. Weston called my name, but I waited quietly for Dakota to give me some sign of his mindset.
He sported bruises along his collarbone. They all had battle scars across their skin, almost like tattoos highlighting their struggles. But Dakota also wore something that stood out from the rest. He had a decent mark forming on his cheekbone. His tan skin turned blue. I suspected the spot would swell up tomorrow, giving him an even more beaten look.
“I’m good,” he said in a low voice without meeting my gaze. He threw his stuff into Weston’s truck, too.
“Y’all having a threesome or something?” David teased in a loud voice as he clapped Weston on the shoulder, adding his bag to the others.
“Piss off.” Weston instantly shrugged David’s hand off. “Do you guys want a ride or not?”
Kevin shook his head while unraveling his cornrows with one hand. “Hey, don’t punish me because he can’t keep his mouth shut. Is it open? ‘Cause I’m not about to be left here to walk tonight.”
Weston held up his key fob and unlocked the door. The truck beeped. “Get in.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Kevin said as he claimed his seat in the car, slamming the door behind him.
“I saw,” My voice is still a whisper. Dakota’s shoulders stiffened as he looked up at me again. His cheeks darken with red. I watched him stuff his hands into his letterman jacket. His chest rose and fell at a rapid rate.
“What?” he asked while he stared at me. He wanted it to be a mistake. A misunderstanding.
“It’s okay,” I promised and took a tentative step closer. “I know what he did -”
“What who did?” Weston joined us on the other side of the truck. There was annoyance on his face. He hated being out of the loop. He looked between Dakota and me, eager to learn what had gotten me riled up.
“Nothing,” Dakota told Weston with a shrug. “It’s nothing.”
“Dakota,” I said in a hopeful tone. “Please. This is me being on your team. I’m trying the only way I know how.”
“It’s nothing,” he insisted. “I can take care of it on my own. I’m good at this kind of stuff.”
I released a heavy breath, not sure if I should let it go or push him. For the past twenty years, I haven’t had an in-person friend. Maybe they needed time to ask for help? Confessing on a screen was ten times easier than face-to-face. But if I let things go, maybe he’d try to forget. To push it down and rationalized his experience until it felt like something that he deserved.
“It’s fucking Bill,” David spoke up. We all glanced across the truck bed in his direction. Unlike Kevin, he wasn’t worried about being left to walk home tonight. So, he had stayed outside with the rest of us.
“You saw too?” I asked, relieved another person here to encourage Dakota to share.
“Didn’t need to.” David pulled down his hoodie a little to expose his neck and tilted his head to the side. A healed cut glistened in the parking lot lights. “Just guessed.”
I could feel my jaw clench. “He did that to you?”
Weston looked even more upset. David just chuckled and repositioned his hoodie. Dakota shifted, not making eye contact with anyone.
“Let’s just drop it,” Dakota said in a voice barely audible.
“Like you did the ball?” David taunted.
“Hey!” I said. “Back off.”
“What? It’s true.” David shrugged and pointed at Dakota. “If he would have just ran the play, then everything would have been fine.”
“So, we’re victim blaming now?” I desperately wanted this guy to for once not be a complete asshole. “Brilliant.”
“Covee,” Dakota said with desperation in his tone. “I’m fine. It’s a bruise. They heal.”
“That’s not the point,” I told him and glanced at Weston to see how he felt about this. He’d been oddly quiet, and now I could see why. He was fuming and studying his teammates like they were strangers.
