Chapter 5

* * * *

Practice for the afternoon was over, as all the players were filing into the showers. Brian had hung around and stayed near the bathroom’s entrance.

Jacob walked up to him, shaking his head sadly. “That’s some bullshit right there, man. Some new kid walking in here acting like he owns the field.”

“It’s not right, man,” Noah agreed. He slapped Brian on the back and flung a sweaty arm around his shoulders.

Other teammates echoed his friends’ outrage in an attempt to make him feel better.

“Don’t sweat it,” Brian told his friends as though nothing in the world could faze him. He shucked off the arm around him and walked to the doors of the showers, casually leaning against it. “Don’t hang around, okay?” He eyed his friends to gauge if they got what he was really saying.

His friends nodded with understanding and headed into the showers. Brian hovered at the entrance and bided his time. Soon the only ones left in the showers were Brian and the new guy—alone and vulnerable.