“Even if I do, why should I tell you?” he asks in a completely indifferent tone like I’m wasting his time.
“You’re the one who came to inform me that I shouldn’t be saying those words. You’re supposed to tell me why I shouldn’t be saying them.”
“Not really. All you have to do is refrain from saying anything about mental stability.” He pauses. “Oh, and stop provoking him. The more you push, the harder he pushes back. The more you run, the faster he chases.”
He turns to leave and I clutch the sleeve of his T-shirt stopping him in his tracks. “Wait.”
His bored look greets me as he waits for me to speak.
Swallowing, I let go of his T-shirt. “Tell me something. Anything.”
“What would I gain from that?”
I suppress an inward groan. He’s Levi’s cousin all right. After a second of thinking, I say, “You came for a reason. You know I can help or that I’m already helping. You think I’m of value or you wouldn’t have come to find me.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “One question. I’ll answer one question.”
“Does he… have a mental disorder?”
“Not him, but if he keeps going down this lane, he’ll end up in the same path.”
“Whose path?”
“One question.” He strides to the driver’s door. “Bring me something else of value and I might answer a second question.”
I stare at his car as it gallops in the distance. Is he even a seventeen-year-old kid?
On the flip side, I found my source of information on Levi.
29
Levi
Madness doesn’t ask for permission and neither will I.
* * *
I hit the bag in the gym over and over until my knuckles bruise and ache. I don’t stop.
If I do, I might turn into that other dark version again. I might tear through the streets and go find her. I might do things I’ll regret.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
I continue hitting the bag until I have nothing left in my lungs. Until my body nearly collapses.
With one last shove at the bag, I let my body flop against the mat as harsh breaths tear out of my lungs.
The world spins around me like a fucking fog.
After what seems like half an hour of staring into the distance, I stagger to my feet and take a quick shower in my room. I throw my jersey and team clothes in a bag and stuff a cigarette in my mouth.
I won’t stay at Uncle’s house before a game. The first thing I’ll do as soon as I get my inheritan
ce is to buy a house as far away from him as possible.
Maybe in Scotland.
“Leaving again?” Aiden calls from the corner of the lounge area.