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brYAN

LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK

“ D o your know why Lian wanted to see us?” Nina asks nervously, raking her pink-painted fingernails through her braid as we walk through the lobby of the center towards the management offices.

I shrug. “The new head manager’s starting this week, isn’t she? Probably Lee wants to vent.”

“It’s…Tuesday?”

“So? It only took three hours for her to get the last one fired.”

Yet another casualty of the wrath of Lian Chen. Sad, but inevitable.

Luckily enough, I’ve been able to escape it as of late. Maybe it’s just her feeling sorry for me after my freakout at her place last week, or maybe it’s something else, but, hey, I’ll take it. I’ve had enough on my plate with trying to figure out how to get Alex back on the bus route so I don’t have to keep cutting into practice time dropping her off at school, not to mention still dancing around said freakout with Ollie and Nina, who seem unsure as to whether it would be better to leave the elephant in the room alone or crash-tackle it.

It's fine. Honestly. I’m totally fine.

“What in God’s name could this woman have done to get on Lian’s bad side already?” Ollie is whispering, and Nina snorts.

“What was it Johnny did to get himself in the little black book? Spill her coffee on her?”

I shudder. “Don’t remind me. I had to give her my shirt.”

“Oh my god, and you were running around shirtless trying to escape the girls before they pounced—”

“They did pounce, if I recall correctly,” Nina corrects, a wicked gleam in her eye.

“I said don’t remind me,” I groan, planting my face in my hands, and my best friends continue to jeer at my expense as we approach the door.

I barge in, already laughing my ass off. “So, Lee, what did the new lady do to piss you off this—"

I stop short.

A head of ashy red hair turns in my usual seat.

“Hi, guys,” Katya says.