The Foxhole Court

A fugitive with twenty-two names is recruited alongside Kevin Day

Neil Josten has spent eight years running—burning through twenty-two identities since his mother's death—when Coach Wymack of Palmetto State arrives in tiny Millport, Arizona with a five-year contract.

A fugitive with twenty-two names is recruited alongside Kevin Day

Neil Josten has spent eight years running—burning through twenty-two identities since his mother's death—when Coach Wymack of Palmetto State arrives in tiny Millport, Arizona with a five-year contract. Neil's high school coach sent his game tape without permission. Neil wants to refuse: signing means spotlights, and spotlights mean his imprisoned father's people will find him. Worse, Wymack's team includes Kevin Day, the former Exy champion Neil knew as a child—back when Neil's father was the Butcher of Baltimore and Kevin was practically owned by the Moriyama crime family. When Neil tries to flee, Andrew Minyard, the Foxes' medicated goalkeeper, drops him with a racquet to the stomach. Kevin watches from the shadows, unimpressed. He doesn't recognize Neil. That ignorance becomes the only reason Neil considers saying yes.

Neil presses his hands to the court wall and falls in love

Neil moves into Coach Wymack's apartment for the summer and rides to campus with Andrew's group—Andrew's twin Aaron, their cousin Nicky Hemmick, and Kevin. Andrew had pretended to be Aaron when picking Neil up from the airport; Neil catches the deception through small details: a vanishing cigarette pack, knowledge of a conversation that never happened. When Nicky punches in the stadium code and the court lights cascade upward row by row, Neil presses his palms to the plexiglass and something fractures open inside him. Orange lines mark the glossy wood. Sixty-five thousand seats climb toward the rafters. He imagines the roar of a crowd, the crack of a serve, the buzzer lighting the goal red. Nicky watches his face and says he finally understands why Kevin chose him. Neil knows the risks no longer matter.

Riko broke Kevin's hand; their family is yakuza Neil returns to Wymack's apartment to find Kevin in full panic—screaming that Riko will come for him, begging to run. Wymack pins him with words and pushes vodka into his hands. Neil eavesdrops as Kevin calls a Raven teammate named Jean in desperate French, confirming the news: Edgar Allen University has transferred to the Foxes' athletic district. Later, Wymack pulls Neil into the hallway and dismantles the public story. Kevin didn't break his hand skiing—Riko shattered it deliberately after an evaluation embarrassed him. The Moriyamas aren't just an Exy dynasty; they're immigrated yakuza, using Raven games as cover for organized crime meetings. Kevin grew up as Riko's property, branded with a number-two tattoo on his cheekbone. Neil's blood goes cold.…