Page 2 of Teasing the Winger

“I’ve got a change of clothes that might fit you,” I tell her, dragging her to my room. “I’ll call Shelly to let her know that something is leaking.”

Lyla nods, trembling from being so cold.

“Do you need me to call an ambulance?” I check, worry creeping its way up and how badly my friend is trembling.

“I think I’ll be okay as soon as I get out of these wet clothes,” she assures me.

I stare at her for a moment, trying to decide if I believe her or not, but besides the shivers, she doesn’t look too bad. I’ll just make sure to keep an eye on her after she’s changed.

Once I’ve given her my clothes, I grab my phone and call our boss Shelly.

“Is everything okay?” Shelly answers, confusion evident in her voice since I never call her at this hour.

“I’m sorry, but it’s not. Do you know where the building's water shutoff is? The ceiling in the red room is pouring water, but we don’t know why. Lyla is changing right now; she got soaked when the ceiling opened above her.”

“Was she hurt?” Shelly asks with a concerned tone.

“I don’t think so, just shaken up by being drenched in freezing water.”

“Shit,” Shelly curses under her breath. “I don’t think you’ll be able to access the water shut off. I’m on my way. I’ll call Mack on the drive. If anything else happens, please let me know.”

“You’ve got it,” I assure her as Lyla reenters the room.

“I can’t believe that happened,” she grumbles, “you’d think there would have been more than a small puddle of water before the ceiling started pouring like that.”

“It was the corner of the room where the storage area is. Maybe the majority of water is under the shelves, and you couldn’t see it.”

Lyla hums her agreement. “Wait, isn’t there an old guy who lives above the dance studio? Do you think he’s okay?”

Shit I had completely forgotten about the man who lives upstairs. Picking my phone up again I re-dial Shelly’s number.

“What now?” she answers.

“Lyla reminded me of the old guy who lives above the studio. Should we call the cops to make sure he’s okay?”

“Mack told me Abel is out of town this week so he should be fine,” she assures me. “But Mack’s on his way as well and has keys to the apartment, so he’ll check it out.”

I relay the information to Lyla, who instantly relaxes as we wait for our boss and the owner of the building to arrive.

Mack and Shelly show up within minutes of each other, and Mack shuts the water off before heading upstairs to check on the apartment.

Shelly gasps when we enter the red room and even I’m caught off guard at the sight. There is so much more water than the last time Lyla and I were in here. “Holy shit,” she whispers before walking out of the room with me and Lyla on her heels. “It’s late. There’s nothing more you can do, so head home, and I’ll call you both in the morning.”

“Are you sure you don’t want help cleaning up?’ Lyla asks.

Shelly shakes her head. “We’ll figure out everything tomorrow.”

“This fucking sucks,” I murmur as we walk out of the building.

“It’s going to be fine,” Lyla tells me, then nibbles on her lower lip. “Isn’t it?”

“You saw how much damage there was, Lyla. There’s a strong possibility the studio will be forced to shut down for a while.”

She pouts. “Fuck.”

“You can say that twice.”

“I guess it’s time to start job hunting again,” she says with a sigh.

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