Page 23 of Boss with Benefits

"Well, you did say the worst thing you can say to a guy." Eva pressed her lips together and gave me a what-did-you-expect face.

"I didn't mean to. He was being a jerk and I exploded. You know I can't stand when a man treats me like leftover sashimi."

Eva looked up from the reformer, a confused look on her face.

"Like I'm stinking up the place and he wants to throw me out with the trash." I tossed the wipes away, turned off the lights, and walked to the reception desk, shutting down the computer.

"You said you were weirded out after your gyno appointment. Maybe he was too."

"That doesn't mean he gets to be a dick to me."

It had been two days since Derrick screamed me out of his office, and my skin still prickled when I remembered the fight. Which was all the time.

Eva looked pointedly at me. "You did call him a soft cock."

"A what?" I flicked my eyes up from the machine I was wiping down.

"I heard it on some Australian comedy. But you know what I mean. ED is a serious problem. And you shamed him."

The anger I had been gripping tightly vanished with her words. Eva was right. "Fuck. I'm the asshole."

"You are. But a lovable asshole." Eva put her arm around me and hugged me sideways.

"I was in such a state…I didn't know what was coming out of my mouth." We walked outside and tucked into the evening commuters.

"You need to apologize."

We walked to a row of Citi Bikes in tense silence. Eva was right. I had to say sorry. Not just because it was the right thing, but because I wanted to keep working at Dreamary. I’d only saved a fraction of the money I needed for the cruise, and when I called my mom this weekend, she sounded exhausted, burning the candle at both ends as always. I sent an email to her boss, who I’d known since I was a kid, and asked if my mom could get a couple of weeks off this summer. I asked her not to say anything. That the trip was a surprise.

I was more excited than ever to do this for my mom, but I might have ruined it by losing this job and my second stream of income.

I unlocked one of the bikes and climbed on, stuffing my backpack in the metal basket in front of the handlebars.

"Where are you going now?" Eva asked as I walked her to the subway entrance, rolling the bike beside me.

"I have a practice at Le Frak tonight." It was a public rink in Prospect Park that the Brooklyn Bashers sometimes used for drills. "And then some of us are going to that bar Skater Girl in Bed-Stuy. You can come too."

Eva stood aside as commuters hurried up the stairs from the last train.

"I'm going to have a night in with Ethan."

"And what sex cosplay are you two getting into tonight?" I asked.

Eva smiled, a twinkle in her eyes. "Soccer coach and team owner."

"That's a new one," I said.

"We've been watchingTed Lasso."

Eva waved with a wiggle of her fingers and descended the steps. I climbed on the bike, maneuvered into the bike lane, and rode downtown to the Brooklyn Bridge.

* * *

"I'msexy and I know it!" I skated around barstools while singing the LMFAO song at the top of my lungs.

After practice, several of my teammates and I went to Skater Girl, a bar that encouraged patrons to wear roller skates, dance, and drink.

I flopped against the bar and gulped my water.

---