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We didn’t have long until the end of the season, but Wolf was out for the remainder of it. His parents would have let him play, but he’d had no interest. He’d never been as passionate about the sport as the rest of us.
Everything going on now in his life obviously took priority, but I, unfortunately, had to be here. I was still the captain and people relied on me. It also gave my brain something to do so there was that.
Thatcher studied me on the way to my locker, and after he finished his abs, he tossed the rest in his inky hair. That shit was basically black it was so dark brown. His lips pulled together. “We all at Wolf’s tonight?”
We always were. I opened my locker. “Yeah.”
“Cool.” He lingered for a beat before recapping that bottle in his hands. “I was hoping to talk to him tonight. Try to convince him out of that shit about leaving. You know that’s not good, and I’d like you to help me. I already talked to Wells, and he’s down for it.”
Normally, I would be too, but after that talk with my dad didn’t go so well, I didn’t know how I was feeling.
“I’d like your support on this, D. I know how you feel and how this is for you, but…” He tapped a locker. “Wolf doing shit like that isn’t good for anyone, and we got to think about him.”
I swung a glance his way. “If he went anywhere, I’d go with him.” I’d already decided this basically.
Thatcher angled a look down before scrubbing into his slick hair. He raised a hand. “You both need to stay. The parents are already going through shit, and who knows how close they are to finding Sloane. Just help me keep him here for a little while. Please?” He shook his head. “We got to be supporting him right now, don’t you think? Keeping him calm and not going rogue.”
I honestly didn’t think I was the best one to do the job right now considering my place in all this, my personal stake. I was in my head just as much as Wolf.
I had no words for my friend, so I just got dressed.
“Just think about it, okay?” Thatcher pushed before throwing that bottle in his locker. He tugged on a shirt, then closed it. “You know, out of all of us, he listens to you the most. We all do.”
I knew they all did, which was what scared me the most. I shouldn’t be the voice of reason right now.
And I was sure they knew that just as well as I did.
It was something that none of us would talk about, and that mostly had to do with me because I didn’t want to talk about it. I had a job to do, and it was being the voice of reason.
I finished getting dressed after my buddy left the locker room, and when I eventually left it, I was surprised to find someone else in the place of Ronald. Our family butler parked in generally the same place to get me after school or practice, but he wasn’t there today.
My father’s Tesla sat idle in Ronald’s spot, and when I walked toward it, Dad got out. He was dressed for the office without the tie and jacket and was probably downtown with everyone else today at the capitol building.
Noa’s search was still operating out of there, and that was where all our parents spent the most time. Dad rested an arm on the top of his ride as I sidled up to it. His head tilted. “Practice go okay?”
About as good as it could. I nodded, and he angled a nod for me to come with him. He never surprised me at practice and definitely didn’t these days. He didn’t have time for it.
It made me worry about what this impromptu visit was about, but I did get in the car with my dad.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to take you somewhere today,” he said, strapping in. “Gave Ronald a break so we could go.”
“Where?” I strapped in too, but I noticed we didn’t move after I did. My dad just kind of sat in his seat.
He tapped the stirring wheel. “I’ve been thinking a lot about how you came to the office.” He hooked an arm on the wheel. “And I’m sure that was very hard for you. Coming to me? I know I don’t make it easy sometimes.”
My dad could be stubborn, but I got it. I mean, I had lied to him.
I’d dug my own grave with him.
My parents didn’t trust me, and they had good reason. I was literally just talking about going on my own again, so yeah, I got it.
Dad’s head shook. “You and I are a lot alike, Dorian. We both have reactive personalities. We react first, then think about the consequences later, and in my case, I had to think about why I said no so quickly to you. No about your grandfather, and why I’ve been saying no instead of really thinking about what good could come out of working with him to find Noa.”
I angled in his direction. “I know why you said no.” My grandfather was a bastard, point blank. All of the things he’d done recently only stressed it. “I get it.”
“I don’t think you do,” he said, his head tilted. “My issues with your grandfather… well, they’re deep, but they’re also in the past and something I did take the time to deal with. It took a long time, and it wasn’t always pretty, but I did deal with it and not wanting his help didn’t have anything to do with that. Our history?”
I didn’t understand.
