Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“Of course, we’re locked in. Like we’re too dumb to know how to open a door?” he mutters, but he’s visibly more relaxed as he leans against the opposite wall.
“Are you sorry you came to pee on a stick with me?”
“No, way.” He wraps his arms around me, pulling me close. “I wouldn’t trade any of these memories for a lifetime of never being locked in a tiny cinderblock room again.”
I rest my head against his chest. “Me, either. I’m glad we looked into the future together.”
“Our future,” he echoes, sounding happy again. “With our baby.”
“Our baby who will never be allowed to use a bathroom on this side of the complex,” I add, making him chuckle.
We’re still grinning when a knock sounds at the door a minute later.
“Hey, you two,” Stone calls, his voice muffled through the wood. “Your rescue party has arrived. You guys decent in there?”
“Totally decent,” Tank calls back. “We were just using the family bathroom in a family sort of way, and somehow got locked in.”
“Family sort of way?” Stone mocks. “Is that what they’re calling it these days? Are you sure you didn’t do something to jam the lock?”
“It’s fine. It’s not their fault,” an unfamiliar second person replies—presumably the maintenance guy, though the voice sounds awfully feminine. “This entire wing is cursed. You couldn’t pay me enough to stay here after dark.”
“Agreed,” Tank calls through the door. “And thank you. We’re pretty desperate to get home.”
“No worries, we’ll have you out in a second,” the (woman?) says.
We hear the sound of a key sliding in a lock, followed by some jiggling and a solid thump. Then, the door swings open to reveal Stone standing in the hall with an amused smirk, beside a redhead I instantly recognize as Remy Lauder, Coach Lauder’s daughter and office manager for the Badger admin team.
“Well, well, well,” Stone drawls. “What do we have here? Locked in again, LiBassi? Maybe you should start carrying a Swiss Army knife or something.”
“Very funny,” Tank grumbles as he darts out into the hall with his gear bag, but I can tell he’s not really annoyed. “Thanks for the rescue.”
“Yeah, thanks Stone.” I collect my duffle and breeze out behind him. “Thank you too, Remy,” I add. “You’re a lifesaver.”
“No problem,” Stone says, his eyes darting to Remy beside him. “So, you um…know Remy already, Steph?”
“Yeah,” I say, frowning at him as Tank settles an arm around my shoulders. “Of course, I do.”
“She’s been teaching here going on four years, Stone,” Remy says briskly. “She knows everyone on staff. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to run back to the office and take care of a few things before end of day. Have a great weekend everyone.”
She turns, moving swiftly toward the staircase leading to the second floor, her heeled boots clicking on the tile.
“I’ll come with you, help return the master key,” Stone calls after her, lifting a hand to us as he backs down the hall. “Later lovebirds. Hit me up if you want to come hang at the pool this weekend. Might be the last hot one we have for a while.”
Before we can respond, he turns to jog after Remy. When he catches up, she shoots him a hard look, muttering something beneath her breath that makes him grin before they both disappear into the stairwell.
“Well, fuck,” Tank mutters.
I whip my gaze his way. “What?”
“Remy’s his red flag girl,” Tank whispers as we start toward the exit. “The one I told you about at the end of the season last year.”
My eyes go wide. “No way, that’s insane,” I hiss. “Couch Lauder will kill him if he finds out.”
Tank nods. “Yep. He’ll kill him, hire somebody to bring him back from the dead, then kill him again. Or maybe just lock him up in his basement, so he can torture him for a year or two.”
I shiver. “Yikes. I mean, we joke, but Lauder is so protective of Remy. I heard he hired a private investigator to get dirt on that investment banker she was dating last year. Now, the guy’s in jail awaiting trial for some kind of white-collar crime. But I mean…I guess the heart wants what it wants. And Stone isn’t stupid. Neither is Remy. Hopefully they’re being careful not to get caught.”
Tank pushes open the door leading to the parking lot, holding it for me before falling in beside me again. “Hopefully. But I still feel like I should talk to him, remind him what’s at stake. I mean, this is his last season, his last chance at the cup. He needs to be copacetic with Coach, not daughter-defiling enemy number one.”
“Poor Remy,” I say with a shake of my head. “It’s got to be so hard for her. She’s in her late twenties, for goodness sakes. It’s not normal for a dad to be so controlling at his point.”