Page 190 of Loving Ladybug: Part One
“Bucket, there you are.” Carlos waved me down, and I joined him, Dimitri, Vickers, and Anders. It looked like Gwen was sitting with Mercy. I didn’t see Clark.
“Hey.” I felt like I was settling in with my new team. Our season started in a couple of days.
“I think when we hit Glitter City I should rent out the champagne room at the Luscious again,” Carlos looked at me and Vickers. “You’re not a real Knight until you have a lap dance.”
Vickers grinned. “Count me in. We just have to send my wife a video.”
He’d been a great resource, given he had an infant. I felt bad confiding in someone I barely knew, when I hadn’t told Clark and Gwen. But I needed someone other than Cooter to talk to about this. The only babies he knew about were horse babies.
I shook my head. “I’ll pass.”
Not interested in strip clubs, lap dances, or Carlos’ hazing. Especially if it ended up with getting my dick pierced. While Clark’s cock looked lovely with hardware, I had zero interest, unless Gwen explicitly asked me.
“Oh, so you take me to the piercing place and they get a lap dance?” Clark came over to us, frowning.
“You got a lap dance, too. Please, take them to get pierced or tattooed. We’ll go with you,” Carlos replied.
Clark shook his head. “I don’t feel the need to haze someone just because I was. What do you like to do in Glitter City, Tens? I’ve always wanted to go to the Defender League Experience.”
Glitter City was an oasis in the high desert of decadence, gambling, and shows–and not my choice for vacation spots. There was supposed to be some lovely hiking though.
I pondered this for a moment. “I’d love to see the Gugette, but it’s always closed by the time we get to the hotel after the game and never open before we leave.”
The Gugette was a satellite museum of the Guges Art Museum in France. It was in the L’Elegancia Hotel. I’d been to the main one in Paris, and it was wonderful.
“Museum?” Carlos snorted.
“Museums are nice,” Dimitri replied with a shrug.
“I’m going to get a beer,” I told them, leaving the table to go to the bar.
Clark followed me. “Hey, Gwen’s having a tough night. Make sure she knows you’re here?”
“Of course. What happened? Didn’t they win?” I frowned as I ordered a beer from the bartender.
“Windy pushed her.” Clark told me what had happened.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.” Guilt flickered through me. At the same time, if I hadn’t made time to meet up with him, I wouldn’t have had the chance for months.
I had an alpha need to be able to take care of her as much as I needed to be able to properly take care of my son. Whoops, I was supposed to pick up those baby-care books I had on hold at the library.
“Tens.” Gwen’s face brightened, like the sun coming out from behind the clouds, as she walked over to us. “You came.”
“Apologies for having to leave the game early. You looked great out there,” I praised. She smelled of beer and sadness, and I wanted to hug her. Something about her seemed like she didn’t want to be hugged right now.
“I… I think I have an agent. Thank you so much for all your help.” She told me about Stu Thomas coming to her game. Venture was a top-tier agency.
“I’m so proud of you. Congratulations.” I was so happy for her. He had a great reputation.
The three of us sat down at a table and Gwen told me about everything that was going on.
“What about you? Is everything okay?” The pleading notes in her voice tugged at my very soul.
“I’m fine. There’s so much going on with the season starting and a bunch of other things,” I assured, disliking her worrying about me. “Cooter sayshi. So does my sister.”
Who still didn’t know I was going to be a dad.
“Okay. Want to talk about it?” She bit her lower lip as she absently rubbed the scar on her forehead.
