Smiling, I tuck my phone away and duck into the locker room, changing into my practice uniform and joining the rest of the team in the domed practice area. I find Ian, who’s waiting with Hunter and Oscar, and I say hi to the two freshmen.
I’ve really slacked off on socializing with the team lately. We all did individual conditioning as usual, and while Steve arranged a bunch of outings with everyone, I was distracted by a certain someone.
And right now, I’m also distracted, just in a different way. I scan the sparse audience for any sign of the promised scouts, and my gaze lands on a group of four: three guys wearing crimson sweaters, and Brad in his gray suit.
All four of them are staring straight at me.
Swallowing my unease, I return my focus to Hunter, which serves a dual purpose of cheering up the nervous freshman and showing off sportsmanlike behavior.
Although the priority now is to make sure Hunter’s nerves, which shouldn’t be rivaling mine right now, settle down in time.
“You good, Kaminski?” I ask Hunter—Jeremy didn’t answer to anything but “Jensen” for the longest time, so I’m assuming their high school team went by last names. “You’re a little quiet, not that there’s anything wrong with being quiet.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay,” he says, clutching his left arm with his right hand. If he’s trying to make himself smaller, one, he shouldn’t be feeling like he has to, and two, I don’t know how he thinks he’ll be successful—the guy’s a catcher, and he has the solid build to show for it. “I’m just nervous about joining a new team. Jitters and whatnot.”
“Trust me, we don’t bite,” I joke. “Have you talked to Jeremy yet? I saw you guys played for the same team back in high school.”
Shoot. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone there, judging from the way Hunter manages to clam upeven more.He’s got his chin held up, and his determined brown eyes stay fixed on me, but his expression doesn’t lie. He’s nervous. Still.
“No. I don’t think he wants anything to do with me, to be honest.”
I guessed as much from Jeremy’s weird antics earlier.
“Look, I’m gonna be straight up with you. Whatever happened in high school doesn’t matter here.” I clap Hunter on the shoulder. “This team’s different, and we get along with each other. If he gives you shit, that’s on him, and the rest of us are gonna deal with him real quick.”
The words leaving my mouth are almost unrecognizable—Jeremy’s not the kind of guy to hold a grudge on a younger teammate for two and a half years, or ice someone out the way he is now.
In fact, I haven’t even seen him since he bolted in front of us tocome inside, but if his absence helps Hunter bond with the rest of us, Jeremy can stay gone.
“Hey, let’s join the team,” I say, ruffling Hunter’s hair and nodding over at the huddled mass of guys to our right. “You met them at Steve’s totally legal initiation outing, right?”
He manages to get a chuckle out. “Oh, yeah. That was a fun night.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
DEAN
I’m not gonna miss New England weather, my god. I kick my boots off into the drip tray and shrug my coat off, making sure not to let too much snow slide off onto the floor.
Another two months of this, and then I’m off. Which, again, is bittersweet itself.
Nick going all quiet and sulky when I opened my laptop to look at flights wasn’t lost on me. On one hand, I get it. He’s trying to live his life, and that’s here, but I’m trying to do the exact same, and for me, the path forward lies back home, or at least in any country except this one. Staying in the US and doing anything other than studying even more is a long fucking shot, and my pending grad school application is an even longer shot.
On the other hand, I don’t know if I’m any more excited about going home than Nick is. In fact, I don’t know how accurate it is to say I’m going home—I’ve been to Shenzhen exactly twice in my life, and I know exactly zero people there. I mean, I know a guy from high school who lives across the border in Hong Kong, but we haven’t spoken in years.
Without thinking, I pull out my phone, and find an email waiting for me.
From: National Commercial Bank
My heart shudders, and I press on the notification.
Esteemed Applicant:
I roll my eyes. This company knows my damn name.
As you are aware, the domestic financial, accounting, and economic environments are highly sensitive, and it is necessary to apply strict controls and regulations, especially in the areas of personnel management.
I sit up straighter, squinting at the screen as I concentrate on reading the rest of the message.
