The Golden Raven (All for the Game, #5)

by Nora Sakavic

In the end he went with the least familiar, reaching for her like she’d reached for him time and time again this summer. It was easier than he’d thought it would be to fold his arms around her, and Cat came without resistance. She clung to him, fingers digging in like she could drag some strength out of him. Jean propped his chin on her head and waited for her grip to finally go slack.

A few frames still hung, but the pictures inside were gone, and the corkboard where they’d exclusively hung pictures of the two of them on dates was gone entirely.

Oh my god

Jean stared down at the caller ID for three rings before finally answering. “Yes, Coach.” ​There was a pause, as if Wymack hadn’t expected him to answer. “I just saw the news. Are you all right?” ​“I am not one of your Foxes,” Jean reminded him as he started down the hall. “You do not need to feign concern.” ​“You sound all right,” was the dry response.

LMAO

This spring Jean had asked Wymack how much it would hurt to be burned alive; now he imagined the fire catching up to his friends and it almost took him to his knees.

He was almost asleep when his phone beeped on a message from Renee: “Coach just told us about the fire. Are you okay?” ​“Yes. Are you?” ​She returned the same easy lie: “Yes.”

Our office wants to offer you a spot in Witness Protection. You’d have to leave Los Angeles and start over somewhere else, but in exchange I promise we’ll get you to the other side of the trial in two or fewer pieces.” ​“Leave,” Jean echoed. “We are only two games into the season.” ​“I hate this sport,” Browning said to his partner. “Explain to me why they’re all like this.”

“Supposedly,” Laila said. “I can’t read any of this.” ​“We would have brought an English copy if we’d known him incapable of making his own decisions,” Owens said. ​“Rude,” Cat muttered. ​Jeremy pointed at a word on the page and translated, “Bedroom.”

JEREMY LMAOOOOOO

He was turning the last page over when Laila said, “Dog.” ​Jeremy looked over his shoulder immediately, but Laila was staring at her paperwork still. She put a finger on the relevant paragraph and said, “It’s a pet-friendly building. One animal per lease.” ​“Is it?” Cat asked, flipping to see. “Oh, wow.” ​“What if—” Laila faltered. ​Cat was as gentle as she could be: “Let’s revisit the idea after everything’s calmed down.”

“And then you two will go on a celebratory ride with us to help cheer us up, right? I’ve always wanted a biker bitch.” ​“I’ve always wanted to live to seventy,” was Laila’s dry response. She glanced toward Jeremy and asked, “Are we going to regret this?” ​“Only if we survive,” Jeremy said. ​“You’ve got a little time to steel yourselves,” Cat said, waving off their lack of enthusiasm. “Jean and I need to figure out what kind of ride he’s looking for, and then I’ll want him to practice with my weight first.

Jean riding a motorcycle we all say in unison

There was only one person he’d be texting this early in the day, but he didn’t look tense from bad news. Gossip and general updates, then; Jeremy could live with that.

The decision was made for him when Jean offered a hand, and Jeremy braced himself before catching hold. Jean hauled him up before folding the blankets into tidy squares.

“She’s not going to let you come back.” ​It wasn’t a question, and they both knew the answer anyway. Jeremy drained his coffee in one go and set to work washing the mug. Cat leaned against his back, winding her arms around him in a slow, fierce hug. Her plaintive protest was muffled where she buried it against his back: “It’s not fair. Tell her we’d feel safer if you were here with us.” Jeremy didn’t have to say anything; Cat’s fingers went bruising as she added, “I know she doesn’t care, but…”

This made me want to DYE

Jeremy was the only one left, in part due to his mother’s stubborn interference and mostly because he’d found a workaround that suited them both. Spader still billed his mother for weekly sessions, but she refunded one to Jeremy in cash each month. It was easy side income for her while she cared for her youngest, and it gave Jeremy spending money his parents couldn’t track. This was earlier than Jeremy usually collected it, but she had agreed to have it ready for him.

BRO DOES ACTUALLY GO TO THERAPY LMAO?

A Maserati had pulled up to the curb nearby. Jeremy understood Kevin’s anger when he saw Andrew in the driver’s seat, except the man who climbed out on the passenger side was also Andrew. The second had one arm in a sling, which at least cleared up the who’s-who of the Minyard twins. One of the back doors opened moments later to reveal Neil. He tested the doorframe as he weighed the best way to get out, then grimaced in pain as he went for it.

IM FUCKING CRYING. TWO ANDREWS. THE IDIOTS SHOULD BE IN THE HOSPITAL. LJAKSMSND

Kevin turned on Andrew next, who ignored him in favor of raising a pack of cigarettes to his mouth. It was easy work to tip a stick between his lips, but Andrew didn’t light it. He bobbed it this way and that for a few moments, then broke it into pieces and cast it aside. Irritation tugged hard at the corner of his mouth, and the deadly look he turned on Kevin was enough to kill the argument. Kevin was obviously still angry with them, but he stepped back so Neil could finally close the car door behind him.

Omg he quit because of what jean said im gonna cry

Jeremy only managed a, “Did you watch—” before Neil hobbled past Kevin and said too-loudly, “Oh, Thea. Welcome back.”

“Not her first visit to the Foxhole Court,” the reporter guessed. ​“The court? Unknown.” Neil gave a careless shrug he immediately and obviously regretted. He pressed a hand to his injured side and sucked in a slow breath through clenched teeth. “She stopped by last spring. When was that?” Neil asked Andrew, but didn’t wait before adding, “April? Jean came down in March, so it had to be after that. I know she visited them both while she was here.”

SOMEONE NEEDS TO CUT HIS TONGUE OUT ENOUGHHH

“Supremacy on the court above all else. That is our calling and our purpose, but you have irrevocably destroyed it. You’ve ruined everything he gave you and stained his legacy beyond repair. He will never forgive you for embarrassing him like this.” ​Our calling, as if she hadn’t graduated years ago. Jeremy took a step back from the TV.

I rlly dont like her literally no "he" in that place deserves this unless its kevin or jean

The bed he dropped onto was heaven after a night on the floor at Laila’s new place, but comfort came hand in hand with grief. He didn’t want to be here, and he didn’t want to be there, either. He wanted the cozy home he’d built with Cat and Laila and Jean.

CRYING

“This is my mother’s house,” Jeremy said. “You can’t tell me to leave.” ​“Call my bluff,” Warren invited him. Jeremy opened his mouth, closed it again, and held onto his mug for dear life. Warren gave him another minute to come up with something before saying, “If I get one call or text from anyone that you are acting out, you will regret it. Now get out of my office. I don’t want to see you again until dinnertime.”

FIGHT BACK????????

Cat sprang to her feet to strike a dramatic pose, and Jeremy followed her outstretched arms to the pair of motorcycles parked a few feet away. They appeared to be a matching set, metallic black with silver highlights.

CAT AND JEAN OMG

“What do you think?” Cat asked in lieu of hello. “Fancy, right? I’m going to have to get mine painted, though, so I can tell ‘em apart better. Jean, show it off!” ​“He can see it,” Jean said, but he was already drifting to the nearer bike.

I LOVE HIM SO BAD

What little Jeremy heard went way over his head; he knew nothing about motorcycles, and Jean was more interesting by far. The Frenchman was tracing a slow line from the handlebars to the seat cushion with one gloved hand. The light in his eyes was unfamiliar but enough to kick Jeremy’s heart up a beat. Satisfaction, Jeremy thought, or perhaps quiet pride. Something a little too hungry to be pleased, like Jean couldn’t believe this was truly his.

On Monday afternoon, Jasmine Lane took her life.

thank god

Laila?” ​“I rode a motorcycle to get here,” she said, chucking a sleeping bag and backpack into the nearest corner of his room. Jeremy watched them land, then turned a bewildered stare on his best friend. William moved so Jeremy could get up, but Jeremy stayed put. He wasn’t convinced he wasn’t dreaming. “I thought I was going to die at least ten times. You are the only person I would do that for, I hope you know that.”

They were here; that was all that mattered. They stayed up far too late, laughing and flinging fistfuls of popcorn at each other, and only called it a night when Jeremy couldn’t stop yawning.

My heart ust grew three sizes

“I am not sorry. Perhaps I should be. But I will choose you every time. You, and Cat, and Laila, every time. I will lose them all if I must.”

my heart just grew three more sizes someone SEDATE MEEE

Jean turned an expectant look on Jeremy, who mimed zipping his mouth closed, and sat down on his blanket to wait on the girls.

Jeremy was obviously unaccustomed to hosting people at his place, and the best entertainment he had to offer was a tangled-up yo-yo and a hacky sack.

“Thank you for letting us stay this week,” Laila added. “We’ll be gone tomorrow.” ​William smiled. “Thank you for visiting. It is a rare treat to see Jeremy happy.”

Jeremy parked at the Lofts but didn’t kill his engine. “I wish I could stay and help.” ​“Then stay,” Jean said, knowing he couldn’t.

KILL MEEE

“Starting to think blue is your favorite color,” Cat said, inspecting his finds with obvious approval. ​“It is not,” Jean said. ​“It’s Jeremy’s,” Laila said as she draped an armload of hangers over one side. ​Jean had figured that out, but he only offered a noncommittal, “Hm.”

Clocked

Jean frowned as he thought it over, gaze drifting over the assortment of clothes piled in their shopping cart. At last he settled on the only one that made sense: “Brown.” It was not the answer Cat was expecting, judging by her reaction, but Jean didn’t waste his time explaining. Brown like the soil in Rhemann’s garden, or the sand where the tide washed ashore, or the dirt roads Cat had led him down time and again. Brown like the gaze that sought Jean out in every room, but that last thought wasn’t one he could linger on.

HES TALKING ABOUT JEREMYS EYES PLEASE SOMEOME SHOOT ME OH YM GODDDD

Cat wanted to be the voice of reason, but she would pry the stars from the sky if Laila asked for them.

Cat came over to kiss her, and Jean watched Laila’s shoulders slowly relax as she leaned into it. They stood forehead to forehead for a minute after as Laila tended her thoughts, and finally Laila said, “Okay. Let’s go back for those shelves.”

THEM.

her. Aware that he might be crossing one too many lines, he slipped his fingers into her dark curls and took over where she’d left off. How often he’d seen Cat and Laila brush each other’s hair as a sign of affection; how readily she’d tried to extend that same comfort to him while Andrew’s trial was underway.

“No siblings by blood, but Jeremy’s my brother in every way that matters,” she said, quiet and warm. “I love him more than life itself. I would do anything for him.”

He thought of Derrick and Derek’s shameless affection and of Tanner following him around like a little duckling of his own. He thought of Kevin calling him brother on Hannah’s show, and the sour sting it’d evoked then was a dull and lingering ache now. He thought of Noah and Elodie, and he had to close his eyes against his grief.

“A brother is a complicated thing,” he said. ​Laila turned her head to say, “You were a brother.” ​It wasn’t a question, but Jean said, “Yes.” ​He slowly separated her hair into sections. It’d been years since he’d done this for Elodie; he could barely remember how it was supposed to go.

Oh mygod i cantpls

Laila reached up and felt the plait with careful fingers. “Will you tell me about her?” ​I can’t, he thought. It’s too big; it’s too much. He’d buried her so deep he’d surely fall in if he looked a little too long. But the braid in his hand was a rope back to sunlight and solid ground, so Jean said, “She liked blackberries and sandcastles and ladybugs, but faerie tales most of all.” He’d read them so many times he didn’t even need the books anymore, but Elodie loved staring wide-eyed at the pictures as he spoke. “She prayed for a dragon to save her.”

Jean considered that. He had a feeling he knew the answer, but it worth a try anyway: “Peaches are trees?”

Oh jean my heart

“It wouldn’t be that big,” he said. Laila turned a look of polite confusion on him, and he clarified, “Your would-be dog. It wouldn’t be that big.” ​It wasn’t approval or agreement, but it put an unholy light in Laila’s eyes. “No.” ​He was going to regret this, but Jean looked away and said, “Then do as you like.”

That he could lie so easily for a dog and not his day-to-day happiness was more than a little annoying, but Jean was staying out of this.

everything else was their problem to sort out. Or so he hoped, but it was impossible to distance himself from this decision once Jeremy was involved.

She gave him a meaningful look and gestured between herself and Laila. “Read the room.” ​“You don’t even have a bed yet,” Jean complained. ​“I have a face she can—”

LMAOOO

“Thank you,” Jeremy said, already distracted by the kennels. She’d barely left the room before he was poking his fingers through the grating of the nearest one. “Hi,” he said, in a soft tone Jean didn’t recognize. “Hi, how are you? Yeah, I love you too, you’re so cute. I’d take you home with me but you’re a little big for us, baby girl. Yeah.”

And id fold immediately and thats my demon to tackle

Jean glanced from him to the worker, who didn’t seem at all unnerved by this silliness from a grown man.

LMAOOSSDBFB

“I don’t see the appeal,” he told it. Its tail thumped harder, and Jean reluctantly crossed the room to study it better. In French he said, “He has so many distractions already, and not enough time to sleep as it is. You are an unnecessary complication. He ought to wait until graduation.”

MY HEARTTTT

Jean pressed his fingernail hard against the paper. “Your parents threw you away, too.”

Hes truama bonding with a dog

Jean wasn’t sure what dog he was staring at now, but he looked so blissed out Jean couldn’t watch him for long.