Page 25 of Penalty Shots

"Well, Iwasgoing to use the sauna."

"Oh," he says, reaching for a towel.

"What areyoudoing? Everybody left already. I thought this place was empty."

"Do you always use the sauna after everyone leaves?" he asks me.

I sigh. "Sometimes. There's one in my condo building, but there's this one old dude that likes to go at the same time I do and… it's weird."

"Hmm," he says, grabbing his bag and slipping into his sandals. "Well, don't let me hold you up from your old dude respite."

"Keelan, wait."

He turns to me, towel still secured around his waist but threatening to come undone at any second.

"We have some things we need to discuss."

"Have anything to do with a certain email Mack sent?"

I scrunch my nose. "So you read it."

He hooks a thumb toward the door. "Thin walls."

"You heard that?"

He nods.

"Wouldn't want her to regret hiring you," he says with a smirk.

"This is serious."

He drops the grin. "I know it is. So what does the big bad boss want?"

"We need to come up with an image rehab campaign for you. She wants a full plan by the end of the weekend."

"Fun," he says playfully. "Sounds exactly like how I'd want to spend my weekend—image rehab."

"Well, we wouldn't have to be doing any of this at all if you could just keep your fists in check—something you Heatwave boys seem to have trouble doing." I push my hip out and place a hand on it.

It's crazy that my job revolves around cleaning up grown men's messes.

"Only if the moment calls for it." He grins.

I shake my head. "Well, considering our new deadline and the very busy schedule the next few days. We should knock out a plan tonight."

He looks at his watch. "It's nearly midnight."

I shrug. "Maybe don't go around making my life more difficult than it already is and we won't have to pull all-nighters the night before your sister's big day."

He groans like a kid who was just told he can't go play outside with his friends on a school night. "Fine." He drops his things on the bench.

"What are you doing?" I eye him.

"You wanna talk strategy. Let's strategize, Your Majesty." He reaches for the door to the sauna.

"Um, no. I'm not getting away from weird old dude to sit in a sauna with my biggest headache of the moment," I set my things down on the bench, too, and cross my arms over my chest.

My phone chimes. Another message from Redmond, no doubt. And a reminder that I have several headaches at the moment.

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