Page 9 of Ice Me Baby

Taz

You tell him, Roe Roe!

Roe Roe?

Fenni

It’s your nickname. Everyone on the team gets a nickname.

Oh! Cool! So I’m part of the team now?

Gilly

It’s official. You’re stuck with us.

An audio file comes through, so I open it and can’t help but laugh. It sounds like the whole team is together because there is a cacophony of male voices chanting, “One of us! One of us! One of us!”

I’ve only been with the team for five days, but I’ll admit, I’ve never loved a job more. Well, other than teaching kids how to ice skate. But that doesn’t count. That was more of a hobby than a job.

I send a quick text, then finish getting ready to head over.

Be there in ten.

Tuck

Just walk through the front door.

??

Staring down at my phone for a moment, I realize there’s one member in the chat who has been silent since I was added. The guys have been texting me all week while at work. Ironically needing to have their phones taken away because they were distracted. Their excuse? It was important they got to know their athletic therapist. Truthfully, the memes and gifs they constantly send have been making it harder to do my job.

Lewi is missing from the conversion now that I really look at it. The only time he said anything was when they all first messaged me their numbers. Odd. Is he not a talker, or does it have something to do with me?

Shaking my head, I pull on a pair of jeans and one of my favorite tees. It’s a shirt my dad got me for my graduation. The front of it says, “If at first you don’t succeed, try doing it the way your athletic therapist told you to do it the first time.” It should get a few laughs from the guys.

I pull my hair into a pony and put an extra tie on my wrist. Then I slip into a pair of sneakers and grab my keys and wallet purse. I hate carrying a purse around, and I usually leave it in my car unless I actually need it. Tonight, it will be tucked in my center console and my keys will be clipped to my belt loop.

When I step outside, there’s a note taped to my front door.What in the…?Peeling the folded note off my door, I open it.

I crumple the note and throw it on the ground. If this is someone's way of greeting their new neighbor, they are barking up the wrong tree.

Huffing out a sigh, I mumble, “Ha ha very funny, whoever you are. If you are going for creepy, you win. Leave me alone.” I march down the stairs and out to my car.

Ten minutes later, I’m pulling up in front of the guys’ house which, by the way, is not how I would define their house. Although, when I think of houses, my parents' small home is what I think of. This looks more like a mega house. I mean, it isn’t quite a mansion, but it certainly isn’t the type of house I had pictured, either.

It does have to house a lot of guys, though, so I suppose that needs to be taken into consideration. I park on the street, so I don’t congest the driveway, in case any of the guys need to leave.Making my way up to the door, I go to knock but remember they said to walk in. Wiping my sweaty hands on my pants and taking a deep breath, I turn the knob.

What the… hell?The moment I walk inside, I’m greeted with a wide-open living space, but that’s not what catches my attention. No, it’s the three hockey players standing on the table, dancing and singing the Cruise remix by Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly. Badly, may I add. Although, I’m not sure if they are actually trying to sing to the song or just playing around. I am going to go with playing. No one can dance or sing that badly.

No one seems to have noticed me yet, and considering how loud the music is, along with the general ruckus, I doubt they would be able to hear a bomb going off. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I yell, “Am I interrupting something?!”

They all turn to me and yell, “ROE ROE!”

I laugh, covering my ears until the music is turned down. “Seems like you boys are having fun. Hope I didn’t interrupt.”

Vicy grins from where he stands on top of the table and holds out a hand. “Want to join the fun?”

I shake my head, laughing. “No! Absolutely not. I am not a singer or a dancer. For good reason.”

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