and ships them off. Flash Beaver must’ve been a lot of fun.
“ Where’s your friend?” I ask Dick Yeller.
She looks up from her phone and gives me a funny look. “She went to answer the door.”
“ No. The other one.” I motion to my forehead. “The dick remover.”
“ Oh! Poppy? She wasn’t feeling well. She took a cab home.” She goes back to staring at her phone.
This chick seems like a seriously shitty friend.
Natasha’s already out of the pool, packing up her stuff. I’m sure we weren’t finished, but it’s clear she’s given up. Flash Beaver comes back with a couple of guys from my team and some girls I’ve never seen before, which is a good thing. I lift a hand in greeting, then grab the weights and bands we didn’t get to use. Lance gets off his ass, not to help, but to greet his company.
“ Sorry about today.” I fold everything up the way Natasha likes it and pass it over so she can pack it in her duffle bag.
“ You were fine; the other two were the problem. I don’t think these home sessions work very well.”
“ It woulda been fine if Lance had gotten rid of the bunnies.”
Lance lives outside of the city on a massive piece of property in a gigantic house. He has a complete weight room and a track in his backyard. His pool kicks ass. And the hot tub is great after a serious workout. I won’t be using it today, since I don’t know what happened in it last night. We started scheduling training sessions here when the weather got warm. That way I wouldn’t have to deal with all the bunnies at the gym. Unfortunately, Lance started bringing them here instead.
“ Yeah, well, he didn’t, so I’m done.” Natasha grabs her bag.
“ Sorry about him. You know how he gets.”
She shakes her head. For some odd reason, I get the feeling there’s more going on between her and Lance than I realized. She’s been his trainer for two years, so she knows what a dick he can be. Hitting on girls is a compulsion for him, and I know Natasha isn’t exempt. It’s understandable. She’s super fit—even I can admit it’s hot that she could kick my ass. There’s gotta be a line of guys wanting to tap that, Lance included. I don’t think she’s the kind of chick who would fall for his crap. You never know, though. People do a lot of stupid things when sex is involved.
“ You’re gone for a couple of weeks after this, right?” she asks me.
“ Yeah. I fly to Toronto tonight. I think my flight’s at nine or something.” I should check that when my phone works again.
Her eyes light up. “You excited to see Sunny?”
“ Why are you so interested in my sex life?”
Natasha laughs. “It’s your lack of sex life I’m interested in. Is she still holding out?”
Natasha knows a lot more about my personal life than most people. She’s watched me blow through bunnies since I moved here and then struggle to deal without any outlet for the past three months while I wait for Sunny to come around.
When I don’t answer, she gives me a knowing smile. “So after you visit Sunny, you do that camp thing, right?”
“ Yeah. Randy’s meeting me in Toronto, and we’re road tripping together.”
“ You’ll have fun. It’s not the usual hockey camp deal, is it?”
“ I wanted to change it up this year, and it’s close to Sunny.” That I managed to get Randy to agree to come was a serious feat. I sold the whole “camping experience” like we used to have back when we were kids. He’s also got a few friends up that way, having played for Toronto during his first year.
“ Smart. You coming back after that? Or do you have more stuff planned?”
“ I have ideas for another project, but it’s local, and I’mma need Vi’s help.”
“ How is Violet, anyway?”
“ Annoying.” Being the team trainer, Natasha’s met her a few times.
“ It’s amazing she deals with you at all.”
“ I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m awesome.” I give her a cheeky grin.