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Astrid waited just inside the women’s bathroom, the door cracked the slightest bit so she could peek out. Once Cal went upstairs and her dad went back into his office, she let out a sigh of relief and walked out into the hall.
You’re such a chicken, Astrid.
Bwauck.
Bwauck.
Bwauck.
That loose feeling in her shoulders lasted until she got to her cubicle in the coaches’ shared office and spotted it. There. In the middle of her desk, right in front of her keyboard, sat a single can of Diet Coke on a coaster shaped like a bingo card.
It could be any can of Diet Coke.
Anyone could have left it.
The marketing team could have put a bingo coaster on everyone’s desk to preview an upcoming promotional night giveaway.
And unicorns on ice skates could be practicing in the rink right now. You know exactly who put it there.
She pressed a hand to her stomach, waiting for the elevator-drop sensation or the gurgles of dread or the always unpleasant sideways swishy feeling like her insides were an angry sea.
And she waited.
And waited.
Then she waited some more.
It never happened. Not the drop. Not the gurgle. Not the swish.
She was digesting that little bit of absolute horror when Parvo and Bear strolled into the office. Bear went straight to the coffee machine while Parvo headed her way. The assistant coach stopped a few steps away from her desk and heaved out a sigh of disappointment so dramatic it sent Astrid straight into he-knows-fuck-everyone-knows panic.
“Oh man, Pipsqueak,” Parvo said, using her nickname from when she was a kid. “I’m gonna have to report this.”
Pulse pushing the limits of overdrive, she moved so she was shielding the can from view.
“Can you believe it, Bear? We caught the Diet Coke Bandit.” Parvo gave her a gap-toothed grin. “You’re going straight to jail, Pipsqueak. Bear, call the cops and let ’em know we broke the case.”
Astrid let out a sorta-hysterical giggle and sat down in her chair, landing with a hard thump because her dad didn’t believe in chairs with padding and not even her generous ass was enough to soften her relieved landing.
The Diet Coke Bandit.
She’d never been so glad to be called a thief in her life.
Parvo winked at her and turned back to Bear, who was staring at the coffee station like a man about to get a game-ending major penalty. “You think we should call down media and have them put her mugshot up on the team’s socials?”
Bear glared at him. “What did you do with my World’s Greatest Grandpa coffee cup?”
“Nothing.” He nodded his chin toward Astrid. “Maybe you should see if the Diet Coke Bandit took it.”
“When I find out who took my cup, there is going to be hell to pay,” Bear said before grabbing an Ice Knights mug, sticking it under the coffeemaker, and hitting the start button hard.
Parvo leaned in close to Astrid. “Now that’s a penalty.”
She held up her hands in surrender. “I swear I didn’t take it.”
“That’s exactly what I’d expect the Diet Coke Bandit to say.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
