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“Look, it was just a joke,” Wes said, clearly trying to defuse the tension.
“Yeah, bro. Chill,” Kruger put in.
My stomach was starting to cramp. The turmoil in the air coated my tongue with a sour flavor. The fun I had being tossed into the pool disappeared, leaving me cold from treading the surface. Shivering a bit, I pulled myself up over the side, scrambling to stand immediately because I didn’t want to be lower than anyone else.
Rush glanced around at all of us, eyes settling back on Ryan. “All I’m saying is a real leader would have a better initiation than a kindergarten prank.”
“A real leader knows to focus on the swimming instead of the bullshit.”
Rush scoffed. “Where I’m from, team building isn’t bullshit.”
“You mean that place you got kicked out of?” Jamie dropped the sentence like an anvil in the center of the pool.
Rush forgot all about Ryan and turned on Jamie, anger sparking in his eyes. “What the hell do you know about it?”
Ryan’s hand grabbed Rush’s shoulder and pulled him back from Jamie. “All right, Rush. You want an initiation? You’re on.”
Everyone looked at Ryan as if he’d grown an extra head.
Rush chuckled. “Finally, things are getting interesting around here.”
“We’ll let you know when it’s set,” Ryan told him. “If you’re swimming this afternoon, go change.” With that, he dismissed the dark-haired swimmer and turned his back.
It alarmed me that he would be so careless to just turn his back on someone who was practically bleeding with animosity.That’s a good way to get hurt.
I started shivering again. This time, it wasn’t because I was cold.
“Nah. I already took a dip,” Rush said, snatching up his bag and leaving a wet trail on his way to the door.
“Brooooo,” Jamie lamented when Rush was gone. He seemed a lot like that character Groot fromGuardians of the Galaxy. You know the tree that only ever said one word, but the way he said it always had a different meaning. Jamie was Elite’s Groot.
“What is his problem?” Wes muttered.
Ryan swiveled to look at him. “Stay away from him.”
Wes blanched. Then his eyes got hard. “I can handle Rush.”
“I know, but it’s me he doesn’t like. Just stay off his radar.”
Wes rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” Then as if he thought of something, he said, “Don’t call Max.”
Ryan grinned. “I won’t, but it’s Jamie who’s the tattletale.”
Jamie put a hand to his chest and looked at Ryan. “How could you do it to me, bro?”
“I should be the one asking that,” Wes pointed out.
I made an amused sound. Wes slid a glance at me, his eyes darting away almost as fast.
“Let’s just swim,” he told everyone, immediately diving into the water.
I frowned, wondering what that was about, but before I could ask, Kruger appeared at my side.
“Come on. Let’s race.”
7
Win
