Page 97 of Drop the Gloves
“Walksie.Walker.He’s young.He can be a loudmouth and rub people the wrong way.”Vassiliev paused.“Like you, a little, but less focused.”
“Less focused?”Riley asked, and Evan was relieved to hear he didn’tsoundterrible.Not as energetic as usual, but not upset.
“He’s more like atomic bomb.”Vassiliev made a noise like an explosion.“You’re a precision strike.”
“Or he’s like a sledgehammer,” Kates added as they all settled into their seats.“And you’re a scalpel.”
“Oh, lemme try!”Winchester said.“He’s like a pack of hyenas, and you’re like a honey badger.”
“The fuck does that mean?”Kates looked appalled by the comparison.“You’re terrible at analogies.”
“I thought these were metaphors,” Winchester said.
“Simile?”Dalton offered.
And as a third of the team argued literary devices like weirdos, Evan waited for Riley to get drawn into their bullshit.But he didn’t.Instead, he stared sullenly out the window as they drove through the bright lights of Las Vegas to their hotel, a couple of miles from the arena, tucked away from the main strip.
When they filed into the hotel lobby, another late night before another early morning, Evan had to push through the crowd to get close enough to Riley.
“Barzy!”he called, shouldering past Moreau and Antonov.He had to reach out and grab Riley’s shoulder before he dipped into the elevator.Which was dumb, because he had no plan here.What was he supposed to say that he could say with most of the team in earshot?
But when Riley turned to look at him, Evan didn’t really care about the audience.
“You all right?”Evan blurted out.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”he asked.His smile was the lopsided, carefree one he flashed in interviews, but his eyes scanned the lobby.
I don’t know,Evan thought desperately.That’s why I asked.
We can’t both be freaking out...
But Evan just shrugged and stuffed his hands in his suit pockets.“Dunno,” he said and swallowed.“Just checking.”
Riley rubbed a hand over the stubble on his face.“Just tired.That mid-season travel slump, y’know?”
He did look tired.Was that why he was so muted?Evan hoped it was that simple, but he doubted it.“Sure.Sorry, I’ll uh...I’ll let you sleep.”
They parted, and Evan hoped for a text inviting him over to Riley’s room, but it never came.He was too much of a coward to invite Riley over; he wasn’t sure he could handle Riley saying no.
* * *
They flew home to Pittsburgh for a blessed two and a half weeks in town.Evan wanted to kiss the ground in relief when they landed, because he wanted the comfort of his own condo and bed.He didn’t kiss the ground, mostly because it was below freezing, and he wasn’t going to spend an extra second outside if he could help it.
Unfortunately, returning to Pittsburgh made it harder to come up with excuses to see Riley.
Riley, who’d avoided Evan on the flight.Riley, who had dark circles under his eyes.Riley, who looked about one minor inconvenience away from shouting expletives in the airport.
Evan thought maybe they needed some space, but Evan had just gotten into his Uber when his phone pinged.
Barczyk
You wanna do some fighting practice?
Not really.Not because he didn’t need the practice, but he had a bad feeling about squaring off against Riley right now.He wasn’t sure if it was Riley or himself he didn’t trust; something was wrong, and it was like a powder keg ready to blow.But he could hardly say that, and he wasn’t in a position to be picky about when and how they hung out.
Abernathy
Sure I’m getting a little rusty.When?
