Page 76 of Loving Ladybug: Part One
I scratched my nose with my middle finger.
Dimitri came in and went straight for Grif. “Here’s your cat. Carlos left him at my party last night. He’s still hungover.”
“Of course he is. Fuck, Lucky. You need to go easy on the beer,” Grif scolded as he took a handful of nothing.
“I think he was doing body shots with the models.” I laughed.
“Is it time for work?” Clark asked. “I should be home by the time you get off. We’re going to crash the barbeque, then head to Tito’s or play video games at Dimitri’s. Let me know if you want me to pick you up?”
“I’ll be fine, but thanks.” It was a sweet offer–and I did like riding on the back of his motorcycle.
Clark sat up and wiped his forehead with a towel. “If you change your mind, let me know.”
The alarm beeped on my phone and I sighed. “See you tonight.”
I’d rather go to the barbeque and hang out with them, but I’d taken last night off. While I might have clothes and other cute things, those wouldn’t pay my tuition.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gwen
“Move, move, move,” Coach Hirata yelled, as we pushed weights across some turf in the area the NYIT hockey team used for off-ice conditioning. “Come on, you’d think you worked all day,” she guffawed.
My university team had started formal pre-season conditioning and skills training, which was optional, since classes didn’t start for a month and not everyone was local. Those of us who were in town were all working our asses off with day jobs and internships.
Hence her joke–and why practices were in the early evening, so we could work during the day, and those who also had evening jobs could still hit the night shift.
There’s been informal conditioning and weight training sessions all summer, and while I’d made some, I hadn’t gotten to that many, since they were often when I was working. Still, I was confident that Coach could see that I hadn’t been slacking.
Today was the first day of Squire camp. It was the highlight of the Squire Foundation’s youth program and why so many Knights were around. It was a hockey summer camp where theKnightswere the counselors and coaches, and I’d been hired to help.
In the morning, we had younger kids. In the afternoon, the big kids came. These were advanced high schoolers–some were part of the Squire program, some were local junior hockey kids, and others were talented young players that had been invited.
We ran it like a mini version of developmental camp and worked their asses off.
Coach Hirata continued to run us through drills. Finally, she waved us off. “Hit the showers, then there’s dinner for you. Make sure you take home leftovers and stuff your pockets.”
Yes, please.I ate quickly, relishing the time with my teammates, but aware that I needed to get to the rink to work the evening shift.
“Di Rossi, can you stop by my office before you leave?” Coach asked.
“Yes, Coach.” I stuffed a garlic knot in my face. The Knights always had things like salmon and grilled chicken, mushroom risotto, roasted vegetables, and spinach salad. Healthy, tasty food optimized for nutrition. But nothing beats a pasta dinner with garlic knots after a day of hard work.
“Oooh, you’re in trouble.” Maze laughed, dark eyes dancing. She was team captain and had just come back to town. She was one of my teammates who lived in the townhouse I’d looked into moving into.
“Naw. Coach is nice and found me new goalie pads to replace the ones Austin shredded when we broke up,” I replied.
“What? Those were nice and that shit’s expensive. We missed you at camp today,” Bonnie told me. “Also, I don’t like this rink as well as the training center.”
They’d had to move that camp since the rink was busy with squire camp and developmental camp–and I wasn’t working with them this week.
I finished up, threw a bunch of hydrogels and protein bars in my backpack, then ducked into Coach’s office.
“Here’s your laptop.” Coach handed me a thin box.
“Thank you. I’m so relieved to have this.” Now I could give Clark back his computer. I signed the receipt and lovingly tucked it into my backpack. Then I signed for everything else. Our sponsor had been generous, and I had a giant pile of things, which would take a bit of organizing to get back on the subway.
“You looked good out there. You’ve been working hard,” Coach told me.
