Wild Tendy (IceCats Book 2) Read online

  My mouth goes dry, and I don’t know what to say.

  “I won’t be in town. I have games, so I can’t drive you guys. But I got you both tickets for this thing, a hotel, and a car to take you since it’s a forty-minute drive and I don’t want you to put the miles on your new car. I know you have to work, but her talk is Sunday, which works out perfectly. You guys leave Saturday night and come home Sunday night.”

  Tears rush down my face as I close my eyes. “Nico.”

  “Shit. You’re mad?”

  “Not at all,” I say as I inhale shakily. “I can’t believe you did this.”

  “I think you need this. I go to conferences and therapy, and it helps me. I want to help you,” he says simply. “And I think you and Callie need it.”

  I can’t agree because I’m holding in a sob. “Okay.”

  “So, you’ll go?”

  “Yes, I’ll go.”

  “Awesome. You’re going to love Lacey King. Check out her site. I’ll send you the link.”

  “Okay,” I say, wiping my face. “I’m going to suck you raw when you get home.”

  He pauses for a moment and then starts laughing uncontrollably. I can’t help it; I’m laughing just as hard. He makes me extremely happy. “I’ll take you up on that for sure.”

  We continue to laugh as the door flies open, and Callie comes running toward me. “Aviva!”

  I stand up, alarmed. “What?”

  “You’re never gonna guess it, but someone called the gym and paid off my bills. Like, for the next two years. We owe nothing! Can you believe it?”

  I blink. “What?”

  “Yeah! Look!” She hands me a paper that says we’re paid in full, and then it shows a credit for what I assume covers for the next two years of her career at the gym. “Amelia was stunned. They didn’t even know the person. They just called and paid it!”

  My heart is pounding in my chest as I read the paper over and over again.

  “What’s going on?” Nico asks, and I clear my throat free of emotion.

  “Someone called and paid Callie’s gymnastics bill.”

  “Oh, that’s cool.”

  “I don’t know who would do that,” I say, staring at the paper. “Was it you?”

  “Nope,” he says matter-of-factly. “I’m not stupid.”

  I want to laugh, but I’m stunned. It couldn’t have been Jaylin; she knows better. But then, who? Who would do this for us? “Do you think it was Dad?”

  Callie shakes her head. “No, he wouldn’t spend the money he stole from us on me.”

  She isn’t wrong. But who?

  And there’s that shoe. I think it’s about to fall.

  On my face.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Aviva

  “I don’t know why you’re making such a huge deal of this.”

  I flash Callie a dark look as we cross the parking lot. “I don’t know why you’re not. Two years of tuition and back pay? That’s a down payment on a Lexus. That’s insane. I need to know.”

  “Why? So you can yell at them?”

  Yes. “No. So I can tell them to take their damn money back!”

  “Ugh! This is great for us, Vee. Let it be!” Callie yells at me, trying to keep up. She’s a shorter gymnast, so it’s hard for her to match my steps. “Why can’t you just accept this?”

  I reach for the door handle of GymMasters. “Because good things don’t happen for me.”

  Callie slams her palm into the door to stop me. She holds up her other hand and, counting off on her fingers, says, “Not getting cancer. Me. Jaylin. And Nico. All good things that have happened to you.”

  Why is she such a pain in my ass? “Other than that,” I say, pulling hard on the door and going inside. The place is packed with their rec classes, so I pass people and move around them to get to the offices. I can see Dominica is in her office, and I go straight for her. I knock, and she looks up.

  “Oh hey, Aviva.” She looks worried but not surprised. She probably knew I’d come in. I was going to come last night, but by the time I had closed, the team coaches were gone.

  “Hey, Dominica. Listen, I need to know who paid off Callie’s account.”

  She shrugs. Fucking shrugs. “I don’t know. They called, I ran the card, and they hung up. They didn’t give me a name.”

  “You didn’t need it to run the card?”

  She shook her head. “No. I just needed the numbers.”

  I make a face. “So, you just take random money from strangers over the phone?”

  She smiles. “If it results in me getting paid, yes.”

  I can’t blame her there. “Will you please send it back? Refund it?”

  “You want me to refund that amount of money so you can maybe pay it?”

  I press my lips together. When she puts it that way, I feel this conversation won’t end the way I want. “Yes.”

  “No,” she says simply. “I asked three times if they were sure, and they were demanding to pay this money.”

  “I don’t want it. I can pay her bills.”

  “Aviva, I know. But this is wonderful for Callie. No stress on you, and she can train. There will still be a balance toward the end of her career with us, but right now, you guys are solid.”

  Oh, my blood is boiling. “Male or female?”

  “Huh?”

  “On the phone. Was it a male or a female?”

  She doesn’t want to answer me. She hesitates but says, “A female.”

  I bite my lip, confused. I don’t know any other females who would do this except Jaylin. “Okay, thank you.”

  I turn on my heel and head out.

  Callie is waiting by the beam. “Did she send it back?”

  “She wouldn’t.”

  “Good. Bye.”

  “Bye,” I throw back at her as I head out of the gym.

  I slam the door for good measure as I pull my phone out of my back pocket. I dial Jaylin’s office number, and she answers right away. “Hey you.”

  “Hey. Did you pay Callie’s gym bill?”

  “No way. Do I look dumb?”

  I groan loudly. “Someone paid her tuition for the next two years, and I want to know who.”

  “Was it Nico?”

  “He said no.”

  “Could he be lying?”

  “I don’t think he is capable of lying, for one. And for two, Dominica said it was a woman who called in.”

  “Huh,” she says. “I mean, who cares? This is a blessing.”

  “That I’m sure will come at a cost.”

  She makes a sound of frustration. “Why do you do that? Just be happy.”

  “I can’t. I know how this will go. Everything is going so well. I’m happy, I’m having orgasms, and I’m getting somewhat ahead. Which means, bam! Something will go wrong.”

  Jaylin sighs, annoyed. “Okay, whatever. I wish you wouldn’t do that to yourself. Just be happy.”

  “I don’t want anyone paying my bills.”

  “I get that. But sometimes it’s nice to know someone cared enough to do it and move on.”

  I pause mid-step. “Who the hell cares about me? There is you, Callie, and Nico. That’s it.”

  “Aw, Nico made the list.”

  I roll my eyes. “You annoy me.”

  She snickers. “Kirby told me last night that Nico is always talking about you. I thought it was cute.”

  “Man, you’re still talking to him? It’s been over a week. I’d thought you’d move on by now.”

  She sighs. “Well, we aren’t talking, talking.”

  I pause. “Huh?”

  “Well, funny story that I guess I’ve forgotten to tell you,” she says, but by the tone of her voice, I don’t think it’s going to be very funny. “I was wondering why we hadn’t hooked up yet. Like, that night, we made out, but then I was trying to play hard to get, so I didn’t go home with him—”

  “You? Hard to get?”

  “Hey, he’s super sexy with the mouth of a god. I