68. Matthias

68

MATTHIAS

" E veryone," I said. "I'd like you to meet Zoey Anderson, Coach's daughter. She's here as a favor to me."

Zoey immediately turned and tried to flee. Filipe happened to be standing behind her, anticipating this move, and she couldn't get around him.

Her blue eyes darkened and I knew that if she could swing it, she would have punched me right in the nuts for putting her on the spot like this.

My heart was thumping in my chest and had been ever since I revealed Coach's blackmailing scheme. My gaze routinely flicked over to Ciaran. He was my "reset button," so to speak. Every time I looked at him, I felt a reassuring presence wash over me.

At the back of the patio, Joan glared at everyone like they were murder suspects while Franky kept her arms crossed, ready to either bake a pie, offer slices of pizza, or supply cups of coffee. Joan showed her love by being ready to get into a fight. Food was how Franky showed her devotion.

Filipe, while the strong silent type, cut an imposing figure.

I wasn't worried about Zoey escaping. Filipe wouldn't manhandle her, but he'd make sure she didn't slip past him.

As I revealed my secret, which was only a secret in that Coach filmed it and was blackmailing me for it, I'd noticed that a few of my teammates blanched once I mentioned the existence of additional videos.

I was right to bring this to their attention.

I didn't know the right answer or how to solve it, but it wasn't just my problem to deal with. The team deserved to know what I knew.

Filipe managed to get a stiff-legged Zoey to walk out onto the patio and stand next to me.

"You're a fucking asshole," she whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I know." I never pretended to be otherwise. "I'm sure you've guessed, but I've told the team about your dad's blackmailing scheme. They know about our deal and why I've agreed to date you."

Zoey's mouth flattened. None of this looked good for her.

"Yikes," Brian said. "Not exactly flattering when your daddy has to buy dates for you. What's wrong with you, girl?"

"Nothing!" she spat.

"Wait a minute, are you saying she knew about it, Matty?" Jason asked. "That she's known all along that Coach was blackmailing you into dating her?"

"Yes. And," I said, looking at Zoey, "she knows there are other videos, too. Don't you, Zoey?"

Her dazzling blue eyes tried to murder me.

"I thought we agreed to meet to come up with our own deal," she hissed.

"And we will," I said. "The entire team will be my witness."

"What's the deal?" Joan's voice rose above everyone else's.

It was time to put my cards on the table and hope to God that Zoey went along with it.

"Zoey, if you agree to get ahold of Coach's phone and laptop and delete the videos, I will take you to all the premieres you want for the rest of the year. We'll go out for dinner twice a month at a place where paparazzi will take notice. And," I paused for effect because I knew that Zoey wanted more than that, "I will speak to my father about you and look for opportunities to get you in front of casting directors. I cannot promise that you'll land parts. That will depend on your auditions, but I can get you in the room. This will be our agreement through the rest of this year."

Zoey's eyes went wide at the prospect.

"Yo, Zoey," Marcus said in his boisterous voice. "How many videos we talking about? Is your dad like a weirdo or something?"

At that, Zoey deflated. "Coach isn't a pedo, if that's what you're thinking. He…." She took a deep breath. "He looks for opportunities to enrich himself. From some of the things Coach has said over the last three years, I think he has close to half a dozen videos. And…" She paused to swallow. "I think he's blackmailing two or three other people on the team."

"Jesus Christ!" Conner barked.

"Okay, that fucker needs to go down," Eric Carter yelled. Eric was alternate captain.

I watched as Zoey took in the team's reaction. She could no longer pretend to be a passive bystander and she knew it.

Zoey sighed and patted her purse. "I brought his phone and his laptop with me. He's playing poker with his buddies tonight." She glanced at me. "I only have an hour, maybe two, before I need to get them both back or he'll realize they're missing."

Emotion welled within me.

I hugged Zoey. "Thank you," I whispered into her shiny blond hair. "You won't regret this." Just as quickly, I released her. "You're doing the right thing."

"I hope you're right, Matthias."

"Joan," I called. "Your time to shine."

Joan's petite frame jumped up at the chance to demonstrate her hacking abilities. Granted, with Zoey here to log into Coach's phone and laptop, it was more about truly destroying all the evidence.

Joan and Zoey walked to one of the side tables to get to the business of deleting videos from both devices as well as the cloud.

Jason approached me. Based on his expression during my confession, I had every impression that he was one of Coach's victims. I wasn't going to call him out on it, not here, in front of our team.

"Who's to say Coach won't keep at it?" Jason asked, his voice tight.

The rest of the team chirped up to inquire about the same thing.

I offered a rueful smile. "This is where it's good to be a Vaulteneau. My dad has a lot of pull with the university. With a lot of universities. All it takes is the right word in the right ear, and Coach Anderson will be blacklisted."

Jason shook his head. "Never thought I'd be glad to associate with a rich bastard like you until now."

"No need to flirt, Jason. I'm, well…I'm taken."

Jason's face twisted like I was speaking a different language. "First off, I'm not flirtin'. I hate your fuckin' guts, Matty, but in this instance I'm willing to let that slide because what you're doing for the team is a decent thing. Second of all, if you tell me you've actually snagged yourself a proper boyfriend or girlfriend, I'll blow you in front of everyone."

I started laughing.

"The hell you will," Ciaran said with a snarl, and that's all it took for everyone to figure out that I was talking about Ciaran.

"No fuckin' way," Jason stuttered, his eyes swiveling back and forth between me and Ciaran. Ciaran appeared at my side and wrapped his arm around my waist. "I really hate you, Matty." Jason pinned Ciaran with a sad stare. "If you get tired of this asshole's antics, come see me."

Turning, Jason snatched his hoodie off a chair and left the patio. Over his shoulder, he yelled, "And I'm takin' a fuckin' brownie with me, Matty, but that don't mean we're friends."

"Looks like all is right with world, then," I said.

Jason flipped me off and, after rummaging through the box of phones, he left through the main door.

Marcus sidled up to us. He was so tall, I had to crane my neck. "So hold up, Matty and li'l dude," he said, because he didn't actually know Ciaran's name. "Ain't li'l dude like your stepbrother or something?"

This felt like one of those situations where if I made it out to be a big deal, or denied it, then everyone else on the team would look down on my relationship with Ciaran. I was not ashamed to be with Ciaran.

The team was listening in, so I had one shot to do this right.

"Technically, yeah," I said, "but our parents just got married and it's not like we grew up together. We're more like roommates who started hooking up, not stepsiblings who lived together for years."

Marcus thought about that for a second. Shrugging, he said, "Can't get any weirder than it's already been tonight. Maybe invest in concealer, though, li'l dude." Marcus gestured toward his own neck before offering us a joint fist bump.

"Uh, yeah." Ciaran's lips twitched. "Thanks."

Marcus winked. "Good luck."

One of the team's rookies was hanging out in the back. Nate Sven. His eyes darted to mine a few times. Leaning into Ciaran's personal space, I whispered, "I'll be right back. I need to talk to one of my teammates."

Ciaran nodded and we separated. Me to Nate and Ciaran to Joan and Zoey.

"Hey Nate," I said as I made my way to him. We were alone at the edge of the patio and out of earshot. "All good?"

"Ah, so, um," Nate stammered. He could barely look me in the eye. "Coach had something on me, too."

His Swedish accent came through strongly. Coach Anderson had recruited Nate, a strong relay swimmer, hard for USC's men's swim team last summer. His speed in the water alone could shave seconds from a team's overall time.

"It's not easy, is it?" I said gently. "Thinking you got to deal with it alone? I'm sorry he put you through that. You don't have to disclose anything to me, Nate, but I'm here for you if you need someone to talk to."

Nate was slow to nod in agreement. God, he was so young. Just a kid, really, far from home. It didn't even matter to me what Coach had on him. I just wanted Nate's haunted expression to disappear for good.

"And the videos are gone?" His tone was hopeful yet distrusting at the same time. "Forever?"

I pointed at Joan, who was typing furiously on Coach's laptop. "She's getting a degree in cyber security. If anyone can destroy the videos to ensure they never see the light of day, you can trust Joan completely. I do."

"Thank you, Matty." Nate's shy smile brought out a protective older brother feeling within me.

As the rest of the team said their goodbyes, Brian slapped me on the back. "Thanks for looking out for the team, Matty. And rest that shoulder, man. It's not been looking good. Can't have you fucking up our relay times. If we're going to kick ass, need you in good shape for trials."

"Plan to, my friend. See you at practice."

He lifted an eyebrow. "What about Coach benching you?"

"I have a feeling there will be some changes over the next few days."

"The less we know, the better, I'm thinking," Brian said.

Inside the kitchen, Franky and Filipe were doling out brownie squares like the brownie police. I shook my head.

I crossed the patio to Joan, Zoey, and Ciaran. I stood behind my boyfriend and wrapped my arms around his waist. "How's it going?"

"Almost done," Joan said. She was so energetic that I swore sparkles of animation emanated from her.

"Joan," I started, and Joan paused her typing. "There's no good way for me to ask this, but did you find anything super illegal that should worry us?"

Joan grinned. "Like, the kind of highly illegal videos that have police swarming your house?"

Zoey sighed like she was a prisoner on death row. "Guys, this is my dad we're talking about."

"Who we've established is not above blackmailing college students for personal gain," I countered.

"Can you please be less of a dick right now?" Zoey pleaded.

"Fine. Sorry."

"Nothing super alarming, thank God," Joan said. "It's what we expected. We found your video of the Cockaine Party." She snickered.

I felt Ciaran laugh in my arms.

"It was certainly an interesting video," Ciaran said. I could hear the smile in his voice.

Still, I groaned. "Please tell me you didn't actually watch it?"

"Twice," Ciaran said. "It was a very nice cock, Matty. I'm not sure if I could have resisted, either."

"Oh my God. Delete it!" I said. "I really don't want to watch it again. Ever. I was a different person back then."

"It's gone," Joan confirmed. "Wiped from existence. Along with the other videos, which were videos of the guys on the swim team being stupid. Underage drinking and theft and the like. Stuff that would worry a college kid on scholarship."

"Thanks, Joan," I said. "The team owes you one."

"Are we done here?" Zoey huffed.

"Yes," Joan said.

Standing, Zoey collected the phone and the laptop. Her eyes pinned me down. "I'd like to leave now. Walk me out?"

We walked out alone. Zoey's posture was stiff. I alerted Davies through a text to drive Zoey back to her dorm at UCLA.

What I didn't expect from Zoey was an apology as we waited in the driveway outside the main house.

"I'm sorry for what Coach did to you and to your team," Zoey said in a low voice. It was dark out and her face was washed in shadows. "I didn't realize how many people he'd threatened with blackmail."

For a moment, I was stunned.

"It means a lot that you acknowledged it." I paused. "There's a Greta Gerwig premiere in two weeks. Be my professional date?"

Zoey smiled. "I figured you'd try to get out of our deal."

"You held up your end of the bargain, I'll hold up mine."

"What about Ciaran?"

I looked back at the guesthouse. He was inside with Joan, Filipe, and Franky. I imagined them fighting over the last few brownie squares. The kitchen would be warm, welcoming, like home.

For the first time in a long time, where I wanted to be and where I belonged were one and the same.

Zoey wasn't my friend, but that didn't mean she wouldn't eventually become a real friend instead of a professional acquaintance.

"He's good with the arrangement, Zoey."

"Your boyfriend is nothing like you, Matty."

My boyfriend. I'd never get over hearing that.

"True," I said. "He's infinitely better than me and I'll work hard every day to be good enough for him."

The glow of headlights beamed out of the ramp.

"You've changed, Matty. I wish things started out differently for us, but I see now that I had a different view of you. I now know you better." Davies opened the rear passenger door for Zoey. "I hope things work out for you two. I'll see you in two weeks. Text me the details, including what to wear."

"Will do."

I closed her door before jogging back to the guesthouse and back to people responsible for the growing smile on my face.