Chapter 12
KIERA
Two hours later.
“Frank said, ‘Yes!’” Jen exclaimed, closing out of her texts. “We can have your birthday party at Heidi’s.”
“Heidi’s?” I asked. I hadn’t realized that was something we were considering. Heidi’s Hideaway was the gentlemen’s club where Jen waitressed.
“We can use the party room for free if we do your birthday on a Monday or a Tuesday. Those days are usually pretty dead. We’ll have access to the full bar, which won’t be free, but we can make fancy drinks for ourselves.”
“I don’t know…” I hedged. “Do we really need a party room for just the five of us?”
Down on the ice, the third period was winding down, and I swallowed what was left of my second margarita.
“Five?” Jen’s eyes widened, and she glanced confusedly at Amy and Parvati before looking back at me. “Uh…this is going to be a real party, so put your invitation list together. The room holds fifty people.”
I felt my chin drop. I didn’t know how to tell her I had no one else to add.
“And food!” Amy exclaimed. “I’ll bring my famous cheesy taco dip.”
“I love that!” Jen exclaimed.
“I’ll make chhanar jilipi,” Parvati offered. “Trust me. You’ll love that, too.”
“I don’t think there’s a food I don’t love,” Jen said, laughing.
So, the party was actually on. I barely knew how to react. Surprise was at the top of the list. Gratitude, too. But I tried to keep my expectations low. They could always change their mind.
The horn blasted, and the crowd roared. While we’d been discussing party rooms and taco cheese dip, the Spriggans had won four to two.
“We win!” Jen exclaimed as if she’d caught any of the last twenty minutes.
Elli entered the suite with her arms raised in triumph. “Wasn’t that spectacular?!”
“Mmm-hmmm,” Jen agreed. “Get some good pics?”
Elli rolled her eyes in an oh-my-god sort of way. “Talk about photogenic. Even wearing a helmet.”
“Who?” Amy asked. “This is for your next feature, right?”
“Sean Murphy,” Elli said, her eyes coming to me. “Every single frame… He looks amazing in action.”
I bet he did.
“And you should see the slo-mo video I captured,” Elli added excitedly. “That nymph is smooooth. Poetry in motion. Look.”
Oof.
The others gathered around.
I had to hold myself back from sneaking a peek, and that particular impulse took several seconds to control.
Once I knew I wasn’t going to make a lunge for Elli’s camera, I refocused and realized everyone’s eyes had slid to me.
I glanced back and forth between all of their faces. “What?”
“Nothing,” Parvati said, but she did it fighting a smirk.
Wonderful.
Jen set her empty martini glass on the bar and slid a ten-dollar bill into the tip jar. “I say we go out to celebrate our win.”
Parvati and Amy followed suit, shoving money into the jar. I felt like crap for not having thought about tipping the staff, and while the girls kept talking, I rummaged in the bottom of my purse for some change.
The problem with my fashion-influencer gig was that I was still at the stage where half of my sponsors paid me with products rather than actual cash. For those that did pay, payday was three days away.
“I’m in,” Parvati said, “though can we really call it our win? We didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“I don’t know,” Jen said. “It’s not like their season got off to a stellar start. I’d say we were the team’s good luck charms. We should get some credit. We should also have the suite every game.”
Elli laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“If we’re going out,” Parvati said, “do you think Lukas or your brother will want to join us? Or anyone else for that matter?”
My head shot up and before Elli could invite anyone else—namely a certain photogenic nymph—I got in there first. “Last night, Elli said she’s been dying for more girl time. And since she had to work during the game…”
“Girls night sounds good to me,” Jen said with a shrug. “Who needs men anyway? Other than to give us an excuse to party?”
“I’ll drive,” Elli said, which was good. I was already tipsy, and I suspected the same was true for everyone else.
In the end, I had to hit the cash machine to tip the bartenders. My bank balance read seventy-six dollars and twelve cents. Crap. Well, at least I could prove to Bleu de Chanel Bodega Man that it wasn’t me who’d stolen the money.
I looked to Elli, and she quickly glanced away, giving me the impression she might have seen my balance.
“Let’s go,” she said, and the other girls and I followed her out of the arena, down a restricted elevator, and into the employee parking. Elli’s shiny new Lexus had its own reserved spot.
We all piled in with me wedged between Amy and Jen in the backseat. New-car smell perfumed the air.
“What are we thinking?” Jen asked. “We could go to Juan Julio’s for Mexican or that new wine bar on Seventh Ave.”
Amy pulled out her phone and started an internet search. Seeing that, I pulled out my own phone to check my messages. Perhaps there’d be something from Bleu de Chanel Bodega Man or from one of his cohorts? Something like, Sorry about all the trouble. We found the bag. All’s well that ends well.
“I’d be down for either,” Parvati said, “but I also read an article about a new Italian place near here. It’s not too spendy, and it’s supposed to be awesome. Now, what was it called…?”
“Crap,” I muttered. I’d received a delivery notification several hours ago. How had I missed that? I hated to leave anything on my front step for too long. My landlord always got pissy about clutter.
“What’s wrong?” Elli asked.
I looked up, and she was watching me closely in the rearview mirror.
“Nothing,” I said.
“You don’t like Italian?” Parvati asked. “That’s okay. I can never decide. Someone just pick something, please.”
“Uh… no,” I said. “I wasn’t commenting on dinner. It’s just that… I got a delivery I wasn’t expecting. That’s all.”
“How many boxes?” Elli asked.
“Two small ones.”
Elli exited the highway, and I realized immediately what she was doing. Still, I asked, slightly panicked, “What are you doing?”
“There’s room in my trunk,” she said. “We’ll get the boxes off your front step so they’re not in the plumber’s way tomorrow.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” I said. “He’s probably moved them somewhere safe by now.”
“What plumber?” Amy asked.
“Don’t be silly,” Elli said, and she turned the corner to go down my street. “We’ll pick up your packages. You’ll need them to do your next posts, right? And who knows how long it’ll be before you can get back into your apartment?”
“What’s going on with your apartment?” Jen asked.
“Water damage,” Elli explained for me, which was good because panic was scratching my throat. “Then we can go to my place and continue our party there. Our liquor cabinet is stocked, and so is the pantry. We’ve all spent enough money tonight.”
That answered my earlier question. Elli had definitely seen my bank balance. My chest tightened. I was now equal parts terrified about being caught in a lie and moved by Elli’s kindness.
“The suite was free,” Parvati reminded her. “So was the bar.”
“You know what I mean,” Elli said.
Parvati glanced over her shoulder at Jen, who shrugged.
I closed my eyes. In about two minutes, Elli would know the water damage was a lie, and I’d be forced to tell them all what was going on.
I bowed my head and tried to think of a way out of this.
Elli pulled up to the curb and put her car in park. I kept my head down but felt everyone else turn toward my apartment. Besides that, nobody moved.
“Uh…Kiera,” Amy said slowly.
“I know. I know,” I said.
“You know your front door is hanging open?” Jen asked with no small amount of skepticism.
“What?” I asked. I couldn’t see around Amy very well. Had Bleu de Chanel Man come back for me?
“The plumber wouldn’t leave it like that, would he?” Parvati asked.
Elli unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door.
“Stop!” I said. “Just…I’ll call someone. You don’t have to—”
But by then, everyone was unbuckled and getting out of the car.
They strode up the walkway to my front door.
I slung my purse over my head, cross-body style, and ran after them—terrified about who they might encounter inside, especially when I got up to the house and saw my packages lying ripped open and tossed in the bushes.
Elli, who was in the lead, stepped through my front door and switched on the lights.
She didn’t go any further than two steps into the foyer, and the others piled in behind her, choking the doorway.
“Oh my god,” Elli whispered. “Your apartment.”
I sighed with relief. She was reacting to my apartment being dry.
That was bad, of course. She knew I’d lied about the water pipes. But at least there were no armed assailant inside.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I can explain.”
“Explain?” Jen asked. “Kiera, your pad has been trashed!”