Moving over to the ice, I time it so I’m beside Caelia when I push off onto it.
“Hey, slow poke,” she teases, turning around in a circle.
“I see you’re not rusty at all,” I laugh.
“You should see my slap shot,” she shrugs. “It used to be amazing, but I haven’t played in longer than I’m willing to admit.”
“Do you want to skip the charity game?” I ask, sobering. “I just wish I could wrangle playing with puppies with Levon at the shelter instead.”
“I haven’t decided yet,” she says honestly, taking my hand.
Levon catches up to us and grabs her other hand, allowing us to buffer Caelia from people.
“Decided what?” he asks.
“Skating at the game,” she replies.
“I want to know the rules and set up before we decide,” he says. “I don’t want any surprises.”
“I was just talking about this with Santo,” I admit. “So we’ll table this until I can get answers from Marilyn.”
“On a positive note, Human Resources took the news well that my pack has grown,” Levon snorts. “I swear, I think Marilyn told Elsie before I did yesterday.”
“As long as it’s not going to cause any issues,” Caelia says nervously.
“They have more to worry about than us. People who are actual troublemakers on the team,” I say. “While I ride my players hard, they still do stupid shit.”
Levon’s cheeks go red as he shrugs. “Sometimes, we forget about consequences in the heat of the moment.”
“Mmhmm,” I grunt, smirking. “You’re getting better about it.”
“I think I’m going to focus on my ‘how to’ instruction classes for now,” Caelia says. “It’s hard to think about looking for another job when I don’t know what I want to do.”
“Take all the time you need,” Levon says easily. I know he doesn’t think she needs to work, but Caelia doesn’t like to be idle. “What do you like to do outside of video editing?”
“I occasionally read tarot cards and I used to love to draw,” she says. “I don’t think either can be monetised though.”
“It doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy it,” Levon shrugs. “Lean into what you love to do, and the rest will happen. I know you keep saying that you want to bring in money, but you’ve been on the go for weeks. Take a breath, Baby Girl.”
“That’s the equivalent of telling someone to touch grass,” Caelia giggles.
Eyes widening, he shakes his head. “Well, that’s not what I meant. How can you quiet the noise in your head if you’re continually feeding it?”
“That’s very wise,” I say. “I have a feeling there are things in Caelia’s mind that she’s drowning out on purpose. Am I wrong?”
“You’re not,” she replies. “There’s a lot that I worry about when I’m not staying busy, and then I begin to overthink everything. Other times, I’ll get pissed off over imaginary things that only happen in my head. My brain is weird.”
“I’m perfectly happy to keep you out of trouble with orgasms,” Levon suggests.
“How could I pass that up?” she giggles.
“That wasn’t very enthusiastic,” he says, tickling her side.
“Help!” she squeals as I shake my head.
“You’re going to fall on your cute little ass,” I admonish, grinning.
“Blasphemy,” she says, letting Levon kiss her lips.
