Page 19

CHAPTER 19

Andry

By the time I get cleaned up and redressed, I’m running late to my study session with my little genius. I race across campus to get to the library as fast as I can. Don’t want him thinking I’m going to stand him up.

I even texted to let him know I was on my way, but I don’t know if he’s seen it yet. My focus is centered on getting there over anything else.

When I finally make my way around the last corner and the library comes into view, I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m here. All will be ok now.

The one good thing about running all this way is that the anger from before has melted away with the exertion. My legs aren’t happy though. I’ll need to do some extra stretches when I get back to my room after this.

Maybe my boy will want to help me loosen up. It could lead to some other types of fun for us if I play my cards right.

Thinking of him brings a smile to my face. It falls away when I don’t spot him outside the library. I glance down at my phone, noting the time.

I wonder if he went inside to get all set up. He knows I’m coming, so that must be it.

When I make it to the private area we’ve claimed as ours a few minutes later, there’s no sign of him. Worry trickles in as I soak in the reality.

My boy isn’t here.

He’s not here despite knowing we have a session planned.

Does that mean something has happened? Is he ok? Should I immediately call for help?

And tell them what? That my boyfriend is missing though he might not be. I’m sure this is all me overreacting. I’ll just call him.

I dial Rodney’s number. It immediately goes to voicemail.

Staring at the screen, I attempt it again. This time, I leave a message.

“Hey, little genius. You’re not at the library. Hoping everything is ok. Trying to track you down to make sure you aren’t hurt. Please call me back.”

Once I hang up the second time, I pull up my text thread. The message doesn’t show as delivered. I frown at that, then send another.

Andry: Little Genuis? You ok?

It also pops up with the undelivered message.

Something is terribly wrong. Without any clue as to what’s going on, I decide to reach out to the only other person I know Rodney might speak with — Yaz.

I find her in the same office as before, thank goodness. She’s digging through paperwork, mumbling to herself when I knock on the door frame.

“Andry?” she asks.

“Hey, Yaz. I’m trying to reach Rodney. Have you seen him? He’s not at the library for our session.”

She frowns, shaking her head in a way that makes the curls around her face bounce. Her hair may be different, but I still recognize her.

“I haven’t seen or heard from him. Sometimes he does this when he’s busy. I haven’t hit the stage of being worried yet. Maybe I should be?”

“I don’t really know. My phone is being weird. I called, and it just goes to voicemail. My texts aren’t even going through.”

Her eyes go wide.

“Um, well, that might be a different reason. Can I see your phone?” She extends her hand over the desk.

Stepping forward, I drop the device in her palm. “It’s unlocked. Look away. I don’t have anything to hide.”

“That’s surprising. From my experience, most college guys have photo albums full of dick pics.”

I shrug. “No need to take pictures of myself. If I want to show it to someone, I’ll meet them and ask.”

Yaz coughs in an attempt to cover her laugh. It does nothing to diminish her smile. She pulls out her phone too, as if she’s comparing them.

As she looks over the devices, I try not to lose my cool. She’s not in a panic yet, which means I shouldn’t be either. It’s only when she frowns and gives me a pitying look that I feel the edges of my calm stutter.

“So, unfortunately, it looks like he might have blocked you. My texts went through fine.”

She turns the screen of her phone my way, showing that they are indeed working. I blink at the device as I let her words settle.

“Blocked? Why would he block me?”

“I have no clue. Did something happen between you two? Did you maybe upset him somehow?”

Grabbing my phone back from her brings a cold chill over me. “Not that I know of. We were fine earlier this morning. I’m… I’m confused.”

Her eyes are soft as she tells me, “I’ve known Rodney for a long time. He’s a logical guy. Whatever is going on, he has a reason. Maybe give him time to come to you?”

I nod, though I don’t mean it. There’s no world in which I let my little genius think bad of me. Especially not when I haven’t done anything.

I’ve been at practice. That’s it. How could I have angered him to the point of him erasing me from his life?

“Thanks, Yaz. I’m going to head out.” I wave and leave in a rush.

I know what I have to do next. Pulling up my contacts, I call the one person who I know can help me. If only because she’ll know the best way to reach out to him.

It rings once before I’m greeted with angry Spanish.

“Ma? It’s me, Andry.”

“Si! I know who it is. And I know what you’ve done. How could you? I thought you would be good for him!”

Pausing my steps, I brace myself for this conversation. Seems like Yaz is right. I’ve unknowingly done something to upset Rodney. Even his ma knows, which isn’t boding well for me.

“What did I do, Ma? Tell me so I can fix it.”

She’s quiet on the other end of the line. It’s frustrating to wait, but I refuse to interrupt whatever she’s plotting. I trust her even if she hates me now.

“Come to the house. Aries is here. We all need to talk.”

The line disconnects before I can ask more questions. Since I don’t have any other plans for the afternoon, I call a rideshare to come pick me up. I’d walk the whole way if it wouldn’t leave me too winded to talk after.

At Rodney’s house, Ma opens the door before I make it up the porch. Her eyes eat up every inch of my form, from my bags to the lost look in my eyes. She nods once, waving me in past her.

It’s there I see the other problem I have to face.

Aries.

The angry big brother.

I immediately raise my hands in the air. “I’m not even sure what’s happening. Please don’t hit me anywhere that will cause permanent damage. I would like to have a career after today.”

“We’re going to talk first. I’ll decide after if I want to hit you. Sit.” He points to the couch.

I ease around him, still a bit unsure if this is a trap. I'd go through all of it a million times if it got me to my boy again. He’s worth everything.

“Can someone tell me what’s going on? Where’s Rodney? Why did he block me?”

Ma and Aries share a look, then they both take seats in empty spots around me. Aries is beside me on the couch, while Ma rests on a chair to the side.

“You have no clue why he’s upset?” she asks with a blank stare.

“No, ma’am. I was in practice today, then Coach called me into his office after I got into it with one of the guys. He and I spoke, then when I came out, I realized how late it was. I rushed through getting changed to get to him. When I got to the library, he was gone. Yaz helped me figure out he’d blocked me on the phone. I called you and that’s it. Now I’m here.”

She nods, then turns to Aries. “I think we should explain it. Something isn’t right here.”

He tilts his head to the side. “Something definitely isn’t right.”

“I agree. If we’re all on the same page, can you tell me what you know that I don’t, please?

Aries leans forward, his forearms on his knees as he holds my gaze with a firm look. “Rodney is upstairs sleeping. He had a rough afternoon crying.”

My heart damn near breaks at that. Shoulders slumping, I press his hand against my chest to temper the pain radiating through me.

“He was crying?”

“He was,” Aries answers. “Because of the text you sent him.”

“WHAT!?!”

They both tell me to be quiet by waving their arms at me. I almost do as they ask, however, I can’t let this go.

“I didn’t text him until I got to the library. The last ones before that were this morning as I left for practice. What did the text he got say?”

An idea of what happened forms in my mind. I don’t want to start passing judgement too soon if I’m wrong.

Aries pulls out his phone, then spins it to face me. Rather than taking it from him, I lean forward until I can see what’s on the screen.

It’s a photo of Rodney’s texts with me. I recognize the top one as the one I’d last sent him. It’s the next one that sends ice shooting through my veins.

I read it twice before sitting back up. My spine straightens as my fists clench on my thighs.

“You cannot believe I’d send something like that. Rodney is… he’s everything to me. I wouldn’t break up with him when I just got him, much less do it in a fucking text message.” I turn to the woman beside me. “Sorry, Ma.”

“No, honey, you’re fine. I get it. I’d be angry, too, if this happened to me.”

“If you didn’t send it, who did?” Aries asks, tucking his phone away.

I flex my fingers open and closed as I go through the suspects. “My phone is always on me except for when it’s in the locker room during practice and when I’m in the shower. My guess is someone took the opportunity to send that while I was talking to Coach, if the time on it is right.”

Seeing what he read, it’s no wonder my boy ran from me. He’s got to think the worst of me after a message like that.

“I don’t want to break up with him. It’s been amazing having him by my side. I don’t want to lose him over this,” I admit to the room.

Ma pats my hand gently, her mood much warmer than when I arrived. “Then you won’t.”

“How are you just going to believe him?!” Aries whisper shouts. “He could be lying!”

“I’m not. I swear it. You can even call my coach to ask what we were talking about if you want. That might help change your mind.”

Aries and Ma share another look, then he holds out his hand for my cell. I unlock it and give it to him with the contact for Coach open.

With the phone on speaker, I listen as Aries introduces himself a minute later. “Sorry to bother you, sir. I’m trying to get to the bottom of something for my brother, Rodney.”

“Rodney, as in Andry’s boyfriend? That’s who we were talking about earlier. I’m sorry to hear some of the other members of the team have been downright horrible to him. We’re working to rectify the situation, which is what I told Andry earlier in our meeting. What can I help you with today?”

Aries’s jaw drops as reality crashes into him. He shakes his head once, then replies, “You’ve already done what I needed, sir. I was trying to figure out what you and Andry discussed earlier. There seems to be some confusion.”

“Confusion, huh? Is this another thing we should talk about, Andry?”

“Honestly, yes, Coach. Someone got into my phone and texted Rodney to break up with him for me. They belittled him as well. It’s upset him to the point of his family getting involved. We’re together now, trying to make sense of it.”

Coach curses, then takes a deep breath. “We’ll definitely get to the bottom of it. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with this, Andry. Let me know how it goes. I’ll get with the other coaches and plan a team meeting for later this week.”

“Thanks, Coach. We appreciate it.”

He hangs up with a grunt, leaving me alone with two people who’ve gone from hating me to hopefully liking me in an instant.

“So, your teammates, huh?” Aries asks with a curious tone.

“Yes. They’ve been a problem since before I arrived. Rodney didn’t want to admit anything, but I convinced him to share some parts. I didn’t think they’d do anything like this.”

“How could you have known?” Ma adds in. “You’re not a malicious person. You wouldn’t think to be this hateful.”

If only she knew.

There is loads of hate running through my system right now. All of it directed to the few individuals I suspect are behind all this.

“Easy, Killer.” Aries drops a firm hand on my shoulder. “I can see the bloodlust in your eyes. It’s the same look BB gets before we go on the field sometimes. No need to go on a rampage just yet.”

“But they hurt him,” I grind out.

“They did. Now that we know it wasn’t you, we need to fix your relationship with my brother. Mend your own hearts, then we focus on the revenge.”

Ma stands quickly. “I’m not going to listen to this, or my blood pressure will shoot through the room. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

As she leaves, Aries gives me a look I know means trouble. I’m more than willing to jump in it with him if it means getting my little genius back.

“Before we do anything else, we need to get you in the Daddy chat.”

“The Daddy chat?” I ask.

“Yeah. It’s the chat of all the Daddies so we can plan playdates and things. I should probably be weirded out about this since Rodney is my brother, but I think some of his emotional maturity rubbed off on me. Plus, Bell and Jake deal with it fine. I’ll be damned if I’m the one left out because I get my boxers in a twist.”

I shake my head at him, then watch as he adds me to a group chat featuring himself, Bellamy Bellport, Brutal Bishop, Leon, Maddox, and Luke. Considering four of the six are all part of the Bears hockey team, I feel the need to pinch myself.

This can’t be real life.

“We should name ourselves too. We’ll workshop it for now, but how do you feel about being in The Alliance of Daddies? It’s got a nice ring to it, right?”

“Call us whatever you want,” I tell him. “My focus right now is on convincing your brother I’m not the asshole he thinks I am. Can you help with that?”

Aries grins. “Oh, yeah. We’ll get the two of you sorted in no time.”