He nods when I set it back down on the desk. “Let’s get this over with so we can get back to doing what we’re all here to do. Play some rugby.”
Both he and Matthews follow me into the bathroom at the end of the hallway, where they watch me piss in a cup, then administer the test.
I lean back against the stall, arms crossed over my chest while we wait. No one bothers with small talk to fill the painfully tense silence that seems to drag on slower than I ever thought possible.
There’s nothing to say. He’s sorry he’s having to do this, and I’m… feeling a lot of shit.
Most of that I don’t need to say out loud to him.
When the timer on Matthews’s phone goes off, he picks the test up and peers down at it, comparing it to the legend.
Wordlessly, he passes it to Coach St. James, who just fucking stares for so long that I’m beginning to worry.
Finally, he lifts his gaze to mine.
“It’s positive for amphetamines, Cillian.”
CHAPTER 31
Rory
My eyes are burning after staring at my anatomy notes and textbook for the last… however long I’ve been studying.
It feels like hours, but truthfully, I’ve lost track of time.
Glancing out of the large arched window above my desk, I see the sun has started to go down over the horizon. I set my pen on my textbook and lift my arms above me in an attempt to stretch my stiff, aching muscles after being stationary for so long.
I probably should’ve taken a break before now, but I tend to lose myself in my homework easily and after severely neglecting it the last few days, I had a mountain to work on.
I make my way to the kitchen to search for something to eat, but I’m pretty sure the last time I went grocery shopping was… weeks ago?
I’ve been a tad preoccupied, so it’s not at all surprising when the only thing I come up with after rifling through my cabinets is a protein bar and a pack of ramen noodles.
The quintessential college student’s survival diet. As cliché as it sounds.
I’m putting a pot of water on the stove when I hear a soft knock at my front door.
It’s probably Cillian. I haven’t heard from him since the meeting, and even though I told him I was going to be studying this evening, I’m hoping he decided to come anyway. It hasn’t even been a whole day, and I already miss him.
I walk through the entryway and open the front door with a grin. “I kne—”
Only it’snotCillian.
“Dad?” I say, my tone full of surprise.
He smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He looks tired tonight. His normally bright eyes seem dull and heavy with bags beneath them. His salt-and-pepper hair is slightly disheveled, as if he’s been running his fingers through it. “Hi, sweetheart. Can I come in?”
I swing the door open wide and step to the side. “Of course. What’s… what’s going on?”
Usually, he doesn’t show up unannounced so I’m starting to get worried. When he walks into the living room and sits on the couch, dropping his head into his hands and not meeting my eyes, that worry morphs into something bigger.
Something’s not right.
“Dad, what’s happening?” I ask, sinking down beside him. I bring my thumb to my mouth to chew on the end. I need something to do with my hands with the anxiousness coursing through me.
He lifts his head, his expression fitted with apprehension thatdoes nothing for the knot tightening in the base of my throat. “I… I wanted you to hear this from me, and not anyone else. I’m sure the entire campus will find out by morning. Cillian’s been kicked off the team, permanently.”
The floor seems to sway beneath my feet, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m already sitting, I might actually fall.
