Page 105 of Jaded

“She will, too, Av,” I say, entirely serious. “I wouldn’t fuck with her.”

“Not if she’s your kid, shit.” Avery’s eyes go suddenly round. “Oh, my God. This explains so much—”

“It does not!” Syd protests, but her mouth curls into a grin too. “Wait, so . . . you know who Twenty-Three is then, don’t you? You have to tell us.”

“It’s Olli, isn’t it?” Avery asks, but once again, it’s almost not a question—like he knows. “Olli James.”

Syd shakes her head. “Charlie! It’s obviously Charlie.”

“I ain’t saying anything.” I lift my own hat off so I can lean back into the couch cushions. Exhaustion drags at my bones, making each of them feel a hundred pounds heavier, in the wake of the waning adrenaline.

“Oh, come on!” Avery protests. “Everybody wants to know. How awesome would it be if Syd and I had the inside scoop?”

“Nope.” I shake my head back and forth against the couch cushion. “I don’t care about your popularity, Bennett.”

“Man, this whole time I’ve been surrounded by people who could get me into the Ice Out—”

“No way.” My chest clenches painfully at the return to the beginning of the night—why we’re here. “The Ice Out is fucked, Av. You’re young, you’re talented. The Ice Out has nothing to offer but injuries and bad habits. Not to mention possible arrest—”

“But—”

“But what?” I sit up and look Avery dead in the eye. “But you think that’s how you get onto the Dingoes? Because you think Jesse Taylor might be there? No way.”

Avery’s teeth grit together, jaw flexing. “But—”

“Look.” I drag a hand across my face, lean forward elbows on knees. “You wanna know why I play for the Ice Out and not the Dingoes?”

I sense rather than see their attention, lasered in on me. But neither speaks.

“I was just like you back in high school, Av. Skipping class, skipping practice. Showing up high. I can’t tell you how many times Coachpretended to look the other way or gave me one more second chance. Way more than I deserved.”

“That’s why,” Syd breathes, “you’re always hounding Avery about it.”

“Yeah. Because honestly, sometimes second chances do more harm than good.” My eyes rove across the dark creases in the floorboards beneath my feet. “My last game, I showed up drunk and high. Got in a fight. Put a kid in the hospital. Nearly—”

My voice breaks on the memory. All things considered, I got so lucky. Still haunts me, the thought of how much damage my broken fists could’ve inflicted.

How much worse my life could’ve turned out. “The kid was okay. But Coach kicked me off the team right then and there.”

“Damn.” Syd’s staring at my hands again.

“Right. Shit like that stays with you. A long-ass time.” I slouch against the couch cushions. “I belong at the Ice Out. But you, Avery Bennett, are way too talented and young to risk it all on hack fighting shit like the Ice Out.”

Avery stares at me, and I can’t tell if he doesn’t believe me, or he’s just too fucked up—or stubborn—to properly understand.

“Work hard,” I murmur, my eyes drifting sideways. “Skate hard. Stay clean. Youwillgo places, kid.”

Avery stares at the floor, silent. I get it, though. Putting yourself in the spotlight for all the world to judge when you yourself don’t believe—that’s a special kind of hell.

So I continue. “Butyouhave to believe that. You have to believe in yourself and your talents. Nobody else can do that for you. No amount of cut corners can make up for that.”

Avery meets my gaze, his eyes like blue fire. And then, the corner of his mouth curls in a grin. “This is proof I don’t need school! I believe . . . without algebra!”

“You tire me out, kid.” I flop my head back on the cushion. It’s true. I am tired—exhausted. My eyes are begging me to let themclose. “Can we finish this tomorrow? I’m beat, and I’m gonna have to get up early to finish work, since I had to leave two repos behind to deal with your batshit plans, Avery.”

I side-eye him pointedly, and he looks away, his mouth losing its cheery grin. I almost feel bad, except that he most definitely deserves it.

“You’re in my bedroom,” I tell him. “Syd’s in her room. I’m on the couch—after I duct tape the door.”

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