“We met at the party,” Kevin explained to Weston in an apologetic tone. “He told me to call if something weird happened. I didn’t get it until… well, something weird happened.”
Weston gripped the back of a chair. His knuckles went white as he spoke to Lawrence “I needed time to think and make sure the plan was viable.”
“Well, is it, oh Captain, my Captain?” Lawrence asked with a dry chuckle. “‘Cause people are getting hurt while you’re playing house.”
I let out a heavy breath, unable to let this guy goad Weston while that rest of us stayed silent. “He deserved time.”
“We don’t always get what we deserve,” Lawrence peered at me. “I’m sure you know that much… It’s Covee? Right?”
“Hey,” Weston said in a stiff voice. “Focus.”
David let his chair fall to the ground. The legs made a loud thud. He smiled at his teammate’s frowns and said, “Look, as much as I adore preludes, let’s move on. Shall we?”
“David,” Kevin warned.
“What?” David held his hands up in defense. “Dakota’s not going to talk. He wouldn’t have said anything if I didn’t see. He hasn’t said anything since.”
Dakota tucked his shaky hands into his sweatshirt pocket.
“Fine,” Weston gave in while eyeing David. “Talk.”
“We were on the third floor of the gym. After hours. We wanted to get a few reps in and review the playbook,” David started. “After a couple of hours, I left. Dakota wanted to get a run in, so he stayed. I forgot something and had to go back. That’s when I heard Bill… asking Dakota for a favor.”
“That’s not the word you used with me,” Kevin roughly reminded him.
“I’m getting to it,” David explained and craned his neck to shoot a dirty look at Kevin. “Weston’s more visual. I was setting the scene.”
“Christ,” Weston cursed and pushed an empty chair into the table. “Can you two quit arguing for one second?”
“Sorry,” Kevin mumbled and walked to the window to look out.
“Bill asked for a favor.” David paused as he combed his hands through his hair. “A sexual favor.”
Dakota let out a heavy breath. His knee bounced underneath the table. I watched his eyes land on everything in the room except the four of us. He finally rested his gaze on an ocean painting across from us. His gaze locked as if any falter would end in his demise.
“Bill asked. And asked. And then, demanded,” David finished in disgust coating his tone.
We were all silent, drowning in David’s words. This was more than a maze. This was open water. Someone had a fresh wound, and we were all trying to hurry to shore before sharks caught on to the scent.
“He played it off,” David informed. “When I walked it, he stopped. But if I hadn’t… He tried something like that before. On me. Played it off then too because Axe walked in.”
David looked off in the distance. His voice sounded hollow at the end of his sentence.
“Ready now?” Lawrence gruffly asked Weston.
Weston nodded and looked at Kevin. “Next practice is Wednesday?”
“Yeah,” Kevin said with hesitation. “Why? What are we ready for?”
“Karma,” Lawrence explained. His eyes glinted with excitement. He ran his tongue across his lips, as if he could taste the vengeance. He was a shark too.
“How?” Kevin’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Violence,” I provided. I could even hide the disappointment in my tone. Weston didn’t meet my eyes as he started pacing at the head of the table.
Kevin chuckled, thinking I was joking. He stopped when Lawrence and Weston gave him a hard look.
“What are you going to do? Beat the fuck out of Bill? And then what?” Kevin asked.
