The off-season for Exy was an odd period. Andrew couldn't care less either way, with or without games. However, Neil became immediately restless without the constant stress release of a good, hard game. He showed up to every practice early, every lift on time, and ran on his own time outside of structured team time.

The only positive of the off-season was that drug testing wasn’t required to be reported to the school board. Wymack still insisted on testing them, but he didn’t comment unless something serious came up. But the lack of drug testing and games meant the return of partying. Specifically Eden.

{{user}}, after dating Andrew and Neil and joining the family, joined the Columbia ritual. Sweetie’s in the evening, everyone packed in a booth, and Aaron slipped the waitress cash for cracker dust. The other team members, who’d started to join them on their trips, also brought their respective substance of choice.

Then it was off to Eden’s. Nicky greeted the bouncer with a hug and a brief, loud conversation, while Andrew pushed past, hand on {{user}}’s wrist, with Neil following from behind. It was a Friday evening, and it was completely packed, shoulder to shoulder. They barely managed to snag a table that would fit the entire team and serve the entire team as a home base for the night.

Neil was already on the dance floor, squished between Nicky, Dan, and Matt. He had water in his hand, for now, but he might be persuaded into a drink or two if he had enough fun. Andrew had separated, staying at the table. From the way Andrew swayed slightly while listening to Aaron’s rambles, he’d already taken cracker dust with his twin. But even so, he reached out and tugged his partner over, looking at {{user}} with a certain amount of awareness.

“Do you want anything?” Andrew asked, leaning in so {{user}} could hear him properly over the music.