Page 226 of Loving Ladybug: Part One
True. They were besties. Ihadgotten a text from an old teammate of mine who now played defense for Mexico City, and she’d seen me on TV tonight.
Not that I understood why pink gear made me more attractive to them as a player. But I’d take it.
I pretended to pet Lucky. “That means a lot, Lucky.”
Mercy turned and waved at someone. “Oh, there’s Kaiko.” She left the table, Carlos going with her, pretending to take Lucky with him.
“Nice to meet you.” Verity got her pink crutch and her fruity drink. “I’m going to find Grif.”
“Lenny, this sandwich is so good.” I took another bite. Yep, just what I needed.
“Um, who or what is Lucky?” Lenny’s eyebrows rose.
“Grif Graf’s imaginary cat.” I shrugged and ate a fry.
Dimitri eyed Lenny from across the room where he was with Carlos, Valya, and a bunch of other people. Kaiko and Mercy joined them.
“Why can’t I have my painting?” I popped another fry in my mouth.
Lenny took another fry and gave me a look. “Why do you think?”
My heart sank. Not everything Lenny did was legal.
“It’sreal,” Lenny replied softly. “But not stolen. Okay, maybe it was. The owners were shitty, and you deserved it more. However, your dads had a fit, since everything has to be above board with you. So they bought it.”
“Above board?” I finished my pickle.
“Don’t be coy, Buttons. I know you know what’s what. However, if you want to continue to Gwen to the Gweniest, I’d be careful what questions you ask,” he told me.
My belly twisted. I knew what people said about the dads. I’d seen things over the years. But no, I didn’t want to know.
Wow, Lenny hadstolena painting for me. How sweet. And the dads had bought it to make it legitimate. Forme.
Huh.
Wait. The painting on my wall wasreal?Wow.
“I… I like my life.” I ate my other pickle, pondering this. “While I miss them, I text Matty a few times and suddenly I’m getting birthday presents at work when it’s not my birthday from people I hadn’t heard from in years.”
“They miss you. Theyarecapable of respecting your boundaries, but you have to make them want to.” Lenny took a fry.
I grimaced. “I don’t have that kind of patience.”
“Who areyou?” Clark came over to the table.
“Lenny.” He eyed him. “Take good fucking care of her. I held her the day she was fucking born.”
“Oh. Lenny, your brother’s friend who bought your cards.” Clark nodded.
“Yep. The one and only. He’s in town for work. Saw me play, brought me a sandwich.” I pushed the box toward him and he took a pickle.
“Finish up and call Matty. He’s waiting,” Lenny added.
I crammed food in my face, while Clark pumped Lenny for embarrassing stories about me. Then I held up my phone. “It’s too loud right here. I’m going to go back by the bathrooms.”
Which was where I’d sneak calls when I worked here.
Clark frowned. “Should I come with you?”
