Page 114 of My Family

"Shut up," Tyler tells him, still pissed, and bumps shoulders with him as he walks away.

Ethan could stop him. He doesn't. That would only make things worse. Instead, he looks at me, rolls his eyes, and shakes his head. I put my hand on his shoulder.

Later, after MMA, Griff wants to see both Tyler and Ethan in his office.

Fuck.

I sit outside the door and wait.

I'm not sure if Griff will be mad at me for being there, or if Ethan and Tyler will, but it's too late. I'm already here. When they finally come out, Tyler looks furious. Ethan's face is harder to read, but his jaw is set. He doesn't say anything until we're back in our dorm with the door closed.

"He said if there's one more incident, Tyler's getting three days in the hole," Ethan says, voice low. "For now, he's got a week's detention. No free time and hard labor."

"Fuck that," I say. "It wasn't even a fight."

Ethan sits on his bed, elbows on his knees.

"Doesn't matter. Griff said it's not about the fight. It's about the pattern. And since I'm his leader, it's on me too."

I stare at him.

"Did you get punished?"

He nods. "Three hundred lines."

"Ew. That's ridiculous."

He scoffs, but there's no humor in it. "Yeah."

"What's the line?"

"'I will fulfill my duties as a leader with diligence.'"

"God, that is ridiculous. Griff just wants to spite you."

"It's a pointless task. That's the point."

I'm angry that Griff would do that. We sit there in silence.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Ethan says, reading my expression. He grabs me by the arm and pulls me closer.

"I should be the one telling you that," I say, but I go to him easily. "It's not fair that you're punished because of other people."

"Now you see why I was so hard on you when you first got here," he says with a quiet chuckle. "But you're a good boy, and Tyler is… Tyler."

I snort. He kisses my forehead.

"Come on."

I look at him, confused.

"We haven't showered yet, and we're pretty smelly."

"We are."

"Let's go. Together."

So we do.