by Elicia Hyder
*
Sunday morning I awoke to something hot, wet, and rough sliding across my face. My eyes fluttered open just as Cash licked my face again. I scrambled back in the bed, slamming ass-first into West. He groaned and rolled over toward me.
Cash jumped onto the bed.
“Down, boy!” West yelled, snapping his fingers at the dog.
Cash plopped down next to me, panting in my face.
I laughed as he rolled over for me to scratch his belly. I did.
West sighed. “He’s impossible. I need to put him in obedience training.”
Cash’s back leg jerked rhythmically when my nails found a sensitive spot beneath his ribs. “What happened to your other dog? Puck, wasn’t it?”
West curled into my back. “Puck’s not mine. She belongs to my ex.”
I was sorry I’d asked.
West pushed up onto his elbow and reached over me, gently pushing the dog sideways. “Get down, Cash,” he ordered firmly.
Cash just looked at him, frozen with his paws still in the air.
West laughed and dropped his forehead against my shoulder in defeat. “I give up.”
I ran my fingers through his hair. “What do you want to do today?”
He kissed my collarbone. “This,” he said, sliding over on top of me. “Are you going to run off like you did yesterday?”
I raked my fingers down his strong back. “Nope. I don’t have to be anywhere till work tomorrow.”
Using his knee, he moved my legs apart and then settled between them. “Does that mean you’re sleeping over again?”
“I have to go home and change and get my stuff for work at some point.” He was trailing kisses up the side of my neck. “And I guess I need to see about getting my phone replaced.”
“Do you have insurance on it?” he asked between nibbles.
“Yeah, thankfully.”
“They’ll send you a new one. You just fill out the paperwork online,” he said.
“You’ve done this before?”
He nodded. “Went through thirteen phones last year.”
“Thirteen?”
He pulled back and looked at me. “You trash cars. I trash phones. Don’t judge me.”
Laughing, I drew his head back into the bend of my neck and squirmed beneath him. “No judgment here. I need to get on it though. I have a feeling this is going to be a crazy week at work.”
“Because of last night?” he asked in my ear.
“Yes,” I said. “Last night was either a PR sensation or a disaster. Good or bad, it’s viral now and that means a lot of work for me. I hope I don’t wind up fired over it.”
“Why would you be fired?” His fingers tangled with mine under the pillow behind my head.
“Because my boss is crazy,” I said. “She’ll be looking for a head to roll if this goes south.”
His teeth scraped against my neck. “What about her sister? She seems pretty cool. Definitely seems to like you.”
“Yeah, but she may be on the shit list, too, after last night.” I remembered Jake’s song. “Did you get the impression that something might be going on with her and Jake?”
“Isn’t there?”
I shook my head. “There’s not supposed to be. We’ve got pretty strict rules spelled out in our employee handbook thanks to Ava’s last interoffice romance.”
“Oh yeah?”
“That song ‘Bitch, Please’ by Lawson Young was written about her,” I said.
He cringed. “Oh, that’s bad.” He looked up again, this time with disappointment etched across his face. “That’s a bummer. I liked that song, but she’s really nice.”
“I know. So you see, there will be drama at work this week.”
“I don’t envy you.”
“You don’t ever have drama at your job sites?”
He pressed his elbow into the mattress and rested his head in his hand. “I work with a bunch of dudes, mostly, so we don’t deal with a whole lot of romantic affairs gone south.”
“Must be nice.”
He returned to nuzzling my neck. “No. You know what’s nice? This. This is very nice.”
I hooked my leg around his under the covers and pressed my hips against him. “Yes, and all the drama can wait till tomorrow because I have no phone to hear about it.”
Seventeen
The drama came on Monday, starting with me being fifteen minutes late to work. I’d slept over at West’s again, against my better judgment, and had slept through the alarm he set on his phone. I’d been forced to sneak into my apartment to not wake Olivia, then rushed back out the door only to get nailed by rush hour traffic.
Thankfully, Ava caught me by the arms and dragged me into her office as soon as I walked into the hallway at work. “You did it, Lucy. You did it!”
My eyes widened. “I did what? I haven’t been online because I don’t have a phone.”
That wasn’t exactly true. West had checked the video while we ate dinner the night before because Jake tagged him in it and some of the pictures on social media. The video had been seen over two million times then.
“Sorry about that.” Jake’s voice startled me. I hadn’t noticed him sprawled across the sofa in Ava’s office. “I’ll write you a check to get a new one.”
“It was a hundred-dollar deductible to replace it. The insurance company is delivering a new one today,” I said.
“Ava, give her a hundred bucks,” Jake said.
Ava’s face was dancing. “I’ll give her anything she wants! The video has gone majorly viral. Like worldwide on all social media channels.”
“How many views?” I asked.
Jake held his phone up over his head. “A little over seven million.”
My mouth gaped. “In two days?”
“In two days!” Ava said with a squeal. “Jake tagged a bunch of people in it and they started sharing it with their followers. Then Trip Wiley tweeted it out and posted it on Facebook, and it’s gone crazy ever since. The Tonight Show is calling, James Corden, Good Morning America. You name it! Jake’s flying to New York this afternoon!”
She was talking so fast I could hardly keep up.
Jake swung his legs off the armrest and sat up. “Best of all, my new album is sitting at the top of the charts.” He pointed at me. “All thanks to you, little lady.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks.
“All thanks to me, you mean.” Audrey’s voice splintered the joy in the room. We all turned toward her as she swept into the office. “This was my idea, after all. Or did we forget that?”
I swallowed, tears prickling the corners of my eyes.
Ava took a step toward her sister. “Audrey, let’s not forget who was the one to—”
Audrey’s hand shot up to silence her. “I’m not discounting Lily’s contribution to our endeavor here. I’m just asking for a bit of a reality check before we all get a little too carried away with the accolades.”
Something snapped inside my head, and two versions of my own voice spoke to me like warring angels sitting on my shoulders. “Hold your tongue, Lucy. It isn’t fair, but you don’t want to say or do anything that might jeopardize your career. It’s not worth it.”
My other voice sounded a whole lot like Stone Cold Kelly teaching me to execute my first hit in roller derby. “Dig up some anger, channel its energy, and destroy.”
“Carried away with the accolades?” I asked. “Audrey, Jana Carter gave you the idea. You couldn’t be outdone by her, so you pushed the idea on me, and I busted my ass to make it happen. For a month, I’ve sweated over this project, lost sleep over it. Then you came in and tried to screw it up—twice! And let’s face it, that video wouldn’t have gotten half the attention had Jake not set himself on fire. So excuse me while I appropriate the accolades in this room.”
They were all staring at me. Speechless.
But not for long. Audrey’s face twisted up as quickly as it had gone slack. “Lily, I don’t think you—”
“My name is not Lily. My name is Lucy!”
The blood drained from Audrey’s face. She licked her lips and straightened her suit jacket before turning on her heel and stalking out of the office. I didn’t exhale until she was gone. Then I heaved in a painfully deep breath.
Ava’s jaw was still dropped. “Oh my gosh.”
I covered my mouth with both hands. “What have I done?”
Jake was snickering. “I’m so turned on right now.”
I turned to Ava. “What do I do?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea. This is uncharted territory.” Her movements were rigid as she crossed the room. “Let me talk to her.”
Frozen, I watched her leave.
Jake slowly peeled himself off the couch. He came over, put his arm around my shoulders, and gave them a reassuring jostle. “Chin up, buttercup. We all lose our shit from time to time.”
I gripped my temples. “But she’s my boss. And I don’t lose my shit on anybody.”
He laughed. “Well, maybe it was time.” He bent at the knees to bring his mouth level with my ear. “And between you and me, she’s had that one coming for a few years now.”
“Whether she’s had it coming or not won’t matter when I’m unemployed and can’t pay my rent.”
“You’ve got skills, Miss Lucy.” He squeezed my shoulder. “If you get canned, you can come work for me.”
*
I didn’t get canned, at least not yet. Audrey didn’t speak to me again. Ava came by twice to check on me, but apparently, Audrey wasn’t talking to her either. Then Ava left to fly to New York with Jake, and I sulked alone in my office the rest of the day. I couldn’t even call Olivia, Ethan, or West for support because all my contact’s phone numbers were probably still at the bottom of the pool at Jake’s house.
Thankfully, I was busy managing the cyber traffic swarming our office. Jake’s numbers climbed another million views just during the work day, and since Friday, he’d gained almost a million new followers on all his social-media accounts. I was glad for the work too. The success of the video might be the only thing to save my job.
My new phone arrived just in time for me to leave. I realized as I locked up my office, it was the first time I’d been out since I holed myself up that day. My neglected stomach churned out a painful growl. As I trudged down the hallway, I didn’t even care that everyone was staring from their offices or that I was leaving fifteen minutes early. Audrey’s door was closed. Thank God for small blessings.
I hooked my purse over my shoulder when I reached the receptionist’s desk. “A package came for me?” I asked Claire.
She handed me a brown cardboard box.
“Thank you,” I said.
Her gaze held mine for a moment, and crinkles appeared around her eyes as she grimaced. “Did you really tell off Audrey this morning?” she whispered.
I sighed and nodded my head.
The corners of her mouth tipped up in a slight smile and she tapped her palms together in a silent round of applause. I wished it made me feel better. It didn’t.
I held up the box as a wave. “See you tomorrow, if she doesn’t fire me before then.”
“Good luck, Lucy.”
On my way to the Sweatshop for Monday night practice, I stopped and forced a greasy cheeseburger down my throat. The last thing I needed to crown my spectacularly awful day would be blacking out on the derby track. The sandwich settled like a brick in my stomach.
I was late to practice thanks to traffic and the extra ten minutes I sat in the car feeling sorry for myself. When I lugged my bag inside, most everyone was already warming up on the track. Several heads whipped toward me when I dropped my bag onto the ground, and a few skaters began to point and whisper. “I know, I know. Late again. Sue me,” I muttered, ripping my bag open and yanking out my skates.
I’d pulled on my knee pads and was unlacing my right skate when Olivia skidded to a stop in front of me. She ripped out her mouthpiece. “Oh my god, Lucy! I was beginning to think you were dead!”
“Not that lucky.” I grunted as I shoved my foot into the boot.
“I’ve been calling you for two days!”
I rolled my eyes up to look at her. “My phone fell in Jake Barrett’s pool Saturday night. I got a replacement today, but I haven’t had time to set it up. I left you a note by the coffee pot.”
“I didn’t see it. I went to Bongo Java this morning.” She dropped onto her knee pads. “I’ve been so worried.”
“You should have called my office.”
“I did, but the receptionist said your phone was set to Do Not Disturb.”
That was true. It had been in case Audrey felt like yelling some more.
“Sorry. It’s been a really crappy day.” I tied my skate.
“Are you OK? Is it West?” she asked.
I stomped my right wheels on the ground to force my right foot into its boot. “No. West is about the only thing going right in my life right now.” I tied and double-knotted the laces.
She put her hands on both sides of her helmet. “Oh, Lucy. We’ve got to talk.”
My face snapped up. “Why? What else is wrong?”
A whistle blasted out on the track. Olivia looked back over her shoulder, then shot a pained glance at me.
“Prodigy, get your ass out here!” Medusa shouted.
Olivia winced. “We’ll talk when we get a break.” She stood up on her skates but hesitated before heading back to the track.
I flapped my elbow pads up in the air in frustration as she skated away. “What the hell’s going on?”
Nobody answered.
With a huff, I finally stood up on my skates and caught up with my teammates. “Get warmed up,” Styx said as I slowed with a T-stop near the group.
Alone, I began skating laps around the track, trying to eavesdrop on the whispers that hissed around me. They were talking about me. I knew it.
Shamrocker’s chipper singsong voice came out loud and clear. “Fresh Meat, listen up! You’re rounding out your final days before your skills test. So the next few practices are going to revisit all the basics. We’re going to focus on the most challenging parts—”
“Except tonight!” Medusa’s voice drowned out Shamrocker. A hush fell over the group. Clearly surprised, Shamrocker rolled back a few inches. “Tonight, we’ve got some other lessons to learn on this track. I don’t feel like some of you are bringing your A-game to these practices. And I sure as hell don’t feel like some of you know the meaning of being part of a team.”
She was staring at me. “Geez, I was late twice. I get it. But I’m here,” I grumbled under my breath. I should’ve gone home and put the day to rest with a bottle of wine and a bubble bath.
“Tonight we’re going to work on pack drills together, and we’re going to be doing a lot of hits. Big, hard, lay-a-bitch-out kind of hits!” Medusa yelled.
I expected everyone to cheer like they usually did. They didn’t. This was not a good sign.
“Everybody find a group. Four blockers one jammer!” Medusa pointed at me. “Lucy Cooper, you’re with me!”
Shit.
Styx grabbed Medusa by the arm and said something, but I couldn’t hear what it was.
Medusa jerked her arm free. “I suggest if you want to protect her, you get your ass out there and teach her how to block.”
OK. Excellent. I won’t have to worry about getting fired or paying my bills. Medusa is going to kill me. Awesome.
Olivia skated quickly to catch up with me. “Lucy, maybe you should go home.”
“What the hell is going on?” I asked, tossing my arms up.
Medusa blew her whistle again, and the team scattered and regrouped in practice packs of five. Styx raced to my side and grabbed me by the front of my shirt. “Brace yourself, Lucy.”
I swore.
Shamrocker joined us.
So did Maven.
Medusa skated onto the track behind us.
“What did I do?” I asked
, panic rising in my voice.
Maven shoved my helmet. “The video. Now get in your stance and keep your head down!”
I stopped skating. “The video?”
Shamrocker pulled me forward into the center of the group. Medusa was coming right at us. Nope. Medusa was coming right at me. Styx sidestepped and hit Medusa square in the shoulder, pushing her to the outside.
Per the rules, Medusa reentered the track behind Styx and charged us again. This time, Maven hip checked her into the center of the ring, then pulled me to the middle of the pack again. It was then I realized the severity of my situation. Maven didn’t have a caring or protective bone in her body, at least not inside the track. And especially not against Medusa.
A few of the other packs had skated off the track to watch.
I was in trouble.
Serious trouble.
Medusa got a running start, her skates slamming against the concrete as she came at us full speed. Shamrocker cut sideways and rammed her shoulder into Medusa’s side. I stayed between Maven and Styx, but looked back and caught a glimpse of the team captain’s red-hot face. Her eyes were on fire and burning into me.
Medusa jerked back to her left, hopped on her left skate to spin backward behind Shamrocker. Styx moved to fill the hole, but not fast enough. Medusa exploded through the small space between me and Styx, sending me stumbling forward. She jumped as I fell, and one bizarre last thought flashed through my brain as her skate came right at my face.
Huh. Medusa’s wheels are Atomic Turquoise.
*
The concrete was cool against my skin when I opened my eyes, sort of. My right widened only a sliver. Haloed heads with shadowy faces hovered over me against the backdrop of the ceiling halogens. I briefly wondered if I was dead.
Terror ripped through me. And pain.
So much pain.
My arms flailed, and someone pinned me down.
Nope. Definitely not dead.
“It’s OK, Lucy!”
My breath was rapid. I could see my mouthpiece rising and falling on my chest.
“She’s awake!”
A light flashed in my eyes. “Lucy, can you hear me?”
I nodded. I think.
“Somebody get some ice!”