Page 6 of Ice Me Baby

Twenty pairs of eyes swing in our direction. The music stops, and they all mosey over to form a staggered line. Aubree holds out a hand in my direction. “This is Elizabeth Monroe. She’s the new athletic therapist who will be taking over Doug’s group.”

She looks my way as she says, “I’ll make sure you have a list with the names of everyone on the team as well as one with those under your care. But I’ll quickly go down the line now, so you can start to match faces to names.”

I’m really good with names and faces, but a list will definitely help me remember. I nod as she begins on the left side of the room. “Alright. First up we have Dean Lewis, Ace Langlois, Ives Perri, Russ Coleman, Bobby Tucker, Corin Mercier, Jake Ford, Juste Travere, Max Gill, Philbert Rey, Marshal Lynch, and Raimond Victor.” She stops a third of the way through the guys to look at me, brow arched. “Good?”

I nod with a smile. “I’m good.” I point to my temple. “Got them all. Go ahead.”

She smiles and continues her introductions. “Guillaume Tremble, Mason Osborn, Aillard Tasse, Doug Fennimore, Quintin Sameul, Simon Palmer, Mac Oliver, and Kemp Mann. You’ll pick up their nicknames fast, and you will only oversee ten of these troublesome boys.”

“Now come on, boss lady. We’re not that bad,” a deep voice rumbles from the left side of the room. If I remember correctly, that’s Raimond Victor. He appears young, which may explain the mischievous look on his face.

Aubree smirks. “Vicy there is the most troublesome of all. He’ll be one of yours. The ones who don’t have families of their own live in a house close by. Nick owns two small houses near here that he used to rent out, but now he just uses them for these boys.”

I nod as she continues to explain. “Danni Phillips is the other athletic therapist. Her boys live in one of the houses, and your group live in the other. Nick thought it would be easier to have them all in one spot in case you two need to check on them for any reason. The guys with wives and kiddos don’t live far, either so, if need be, they can pop over to the house as well.”

She takes a breath before continuing. “Max Spencer is the head athletic therapist for the Wraiths.”

All the guys holler, “Pen-nay!”

Aubree laughs and gestures to them. “As you can see, Max is well loved around here.” She taps a finger to her chin and says, “I feel like I’m forgetting something.”

“The welcome party!” a man in the middle says. He also looks young. I think his name is Aillard Tasse.

She snaps her fingers. “Right! Thanks, Taz. The boys, though I told them to ask first, have planned a little welcome party for you. The office will throw a welcome party for you in a few days, but the guys you oversee wanted to throw you one at their house too. I hope that’s okay.”

I grin and nod. “Of course. It’s no bother. It will give me a chance to see them in their natural habitat.” I give them a wink as I say, “I’ll see just how much trouble they are.”

“No trouble at all, Ms. Monroe,” one of the guys who looks to be closer to my age says.

I arch a brow. It takes me a moment, but I remember his name. “Is that so, Corin?”

He smirks. “Scouts honor. And you can call me Merc.”

I laugh and shake my head; I doubt he was a boy scout. “Were you even in the scouts?”

His smirk widens, and he shakes his head. “Not at all.”

Aubree laughs as she bumps my shoulder. “I should probably show you over to your desk, so you can get settled in.”

I nod and turn back to the men. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Oh, and you can call me Elizabeth or Liz.”

“Nah. We’ll find you a proper nickname. You’re part of the team now,” Vicy says with a grin.

“I look forward to it.” I give them one last nod before following Aubree out of the gym.

“So, what do you think?” she asks with a smile.

I huff out a breath before returning her smile. “I’m excited to get started.”

“Just so you know, your number has been entered into the employee database. We try to make everyone’s number accessible in case of emergencies as well as easy communication.”

“Understandable.” Just then my phone goes off. Brows furrowed, I pull out my phone. Opening the screen, I see a text from an unknown number.

Aubree snickers. “That didn’t take long.” I look up at her in confusion as she points to my phone. “I’m sure that’s the boys adding you to their group chat.”

I open the message and click on the icon to see who all is in the chat. There is already a message waiting.

XXX-XXX-8525

---