25. ice time

Leo showed up with dinner a little while after Kitt got back to her room.

He paced on the porch, and then he sat in her desk chair and bounced his leg. She noticed that he was twiddling his fingers, and his energy was making her nervous.

"Hey babe." She said and sat on his lap, effectively stopping his ability to fidget. He picked up a piece of her ponytail and wrapped it around his finger.

"Hey." He said. He kissed her bare shoulder.

"Did you have a good afternoon?" She asked, twirling her fingers in his hair in return.

"I guess." He shrugged.

"What's wrong?" She asked. She couldn't put her finger on it, but he seemed different.

"Nothing. I'm here with you. Everything is perfect." He said, hugging her against him.

"You sure? You seem sad." She said, turning to hug him back.

"I just had a rough afternoon." He said, holding her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked. She wasn't sure what to expect.

"Nah, I got into a fight with my dad and then with Axel. I'm just happy to be here with you now." He said, turning them in the chair to face the desk.

"You sure? I'm a good listener." She offered.

"It's fine, I promise. I did go into town and get Chinese food." He grinned, patting the bags he had brought in with him.

"Oh yum!" She said with a huge smile just for him.

***

"You are just swimming in responses!" Keisha said, looking at the printed replies to the questionnaire Kitt and Josie had posted only a few days before.

"I was hoping to get like a hundred, maybe." Kitt nodded in disbelief.

"How many is there?" Alex asked, looking at the stack.

"There has to be over a thousand!" Tracy said, patting the largest stack.

The whole Puck Princesses team sat in the Athletics Department conference room looking over the field of paperwork.

"Thank you all for being here. As most of you know, our very own Kitt McCoy has been instrumental in creating a safe and welcoming environment for the female athletes at this school. With that, she has also been thrust into the role of student advocate." Coach Ten addressed the group.

"And with that responsibility comes paperwork." Josie said, making everyone laugh.

"But we need help. We were not expecting this volume of information. We need our team to help sift through these. Sort out the ones that tell the same stories, organize them into teams, look for specific traceable events, and just as important pull any blatantly false garbage." Kitt said, walking around the room.

"We need to make a cohesive presentation, and we can only do that if we can sort through all of this." AC Jarvis added.

The team all hooted and hollered before setting to work.

Lanora started writing the different teams and sports on the large whiteboard and keeping track of the number of responses for each.

Tracy charted the 'yes' and 'no' responses on her tablet. She made sure to mark the completed ones as she went to make sure the data wasn't entered more than once.

The others each took a team and inputted their responses to the page dedicated to that group, looking for similar topics and answers.

Kitt ran from group to group from stack to stack.

"There is probably an easier way to do this, like something virtually or with AI or something, but honestly, having all the girls come together to help out is way better." Kitt said to Josie.

The group worked so well together that the work went quickly, and it was actually kind of fun. They got the chance to catch up and gossip and reconnect.

Kitt sat at a small table in the back corner to check the progress online. Even as they sorted and compiled the data from the pages in front of them, new forms were being submitted. Kitt felt a little sick. Every single form had stories of inequalities that the female athletes had had to endure since Director Thomas had taken over the department.

They had more information than they had expected. For a while, Kitt had worried that she wouldn't have enough to share. Now she was worried that she had too much.

"Look at all these stories being told, thanks to you. These women get to share their experiences only because you stood up." AC Jarvis said, leaning against the window beside Kitt.

"Because I opened my big fat mouth, you mean?" Kitt said sarcastically.

"It's a good thing! Someone had to do it." AC Jarvis patted her shoulder.

"I am so happy that things are changing, but I have to admit, it was all an accident. I never intended to go out and 'change the world' like this, but once It was in my hands, I couldn't exactly ignore what was happening." Kitt said. She rubbed her head. She had a headache and was ready to be done with this for the day.

"Some of us are born great. Some of us have greatness thrust upon us." AC Jarvis said, nodding.

"Why couldn't it have been thrusted a little to the left?" Kitt joked.

"Because it found the right person." The coach said with a smile.

"Great." Kitt just nodded.

A few hours later, most of the data had been compiled, and the team was ready to get out of the conference room.

"We are going dancing!" Alex yelled and pointed around the room.

"I think I am just going to go ho -" Kitt started before Keisha shot her a dirty look and grabbed her hand, yanking her from her chair.

"I guess we are going dancing." Kitt said, making the room erupt in cheers.

***

The music was so loud in the pub that Kitt thought her brain might explode like a pizza pocket in a microwave. She watched her teammates acclimate immediately to the change in the environment. She decided to go around the corner to where she had sat with Leo that time, where the music didn't feel like it was trying to invade your cells.

Kitt stopped in her tracks when she spotted Leo sitting at the same table they had occupied before the dinner. Her heart leaped. She was about to text him to meet her, but she didn't need to. He was already there.

Then, just as quickly, her heart turned cold. A manicured finger slid down his muscular arm. Kitt looked over Leo's shoulder to see Axel, Amber, and Eva sitting together. From the outside, it looked like a double date.

Kitt decided that she had two choices, she could run and leave them to their own devices and deception, OR she could March over there and claim what was hers.

She had spent the day fighting, and she must have had some leftover because she walked up, stepped on the footrest on the side of the tall barstool chair. She swung her other lego over his knees and slid into Leo's lap, straddling his legs. She captured his face in her hands, waiting the split second for him to recognize her before claiming his lips. She heard the girls at the table gasp, but she felt Leo respond to her kiss with raw desire.

"Gross!" Eva said flopped back in her seat.

"Axel!" Amaber said like he had the power to stop what was happening across the table.

Kitt didn't let up. She ran her fingers through his hair as she kissed him like they were alone. Leo reached around and grabbed her ass with both hands as he met her energy.

"Kitt McCoy!" Josie yelled, walking around the table. She laughed loudly as Kitt pulled away and looked at her friend.

"What?" Kitt asked loudly, not moving to remove herself from her boyfriends lap.

"Um, so, how's it going?" Josie with a laugh, she had a half impressed half shocked expression.

"Great. I didn't have to call Leo. He's already here." Kitt said, looking down at Leo, who was grinning. She kissed him again.

"That's fantastic. Maybe wait to mount him until you are alone?" Josie shrugged, shaking her head with a grin and a wink.

"Hmm, I mean, I guess I could drag him home and ravish his super hot body." Kitt said, hopping off his lap. He looked lost.

"Oh?" Josie's eyebrows shot up. Kitt knew her friend had never seen her act like this in all the time they had known each other. She couldn't hide the shock plastered all over her face.

"But I'm in the mood to dance. So I'm going to go take this super sexy guy over there and grind my tits and ass all over him." Kitt said with a sassy grin.

The look on Leo's face made Kitt's whole body feel hot. He looked like he wanted to eat her alive. She grinned to herself.

"Here, you can finish this. If he gets thirsty, I will take care of it." Kitt said, picking up Leo's untouched beer and putting it down in front of Eva. She dropped it hard enough that it splashed it out of the glass and onto the table, and a few little drops landed on her lap.

Eva squealed like it was acid. She jumped up, wiping her legs dramatically. She looked from Axel to Amber and back with her hands out in shock.

Amber jumped to help her as if her friend had been injured by the sudsy liquid splashing on her cheap leggings. Axel rolled his eyes at the specticle and turned to look across the room ignoring the drama being completely invented from nothing by the two girls.

Kitt didn't bother to acknowledge the dramatic display of nonsense. She grabbed Leo's hand and turned to walk away, assuming he would follow. She was right. He was right behind her.

Leo wrapped his arms around her from behind. It was awkward to walk through the pub, but she loved having his undivided attention so publicly. She was going to remind him what he had.

Kitt led him onto the dance floor, where she took full advantage of the crowded space. She pressed her chest against his and started moving to the nondescript dance music.

He took her boldness as an invitation to be bold himself. He slid his hand up her back under her loose-fitting t-shirt. His warm hand on her bare skin sent shivers down her spine. He pressed her against himmoving with her to the beat.

Kitt bit her lower lip as she danced.

The music changed and with it the people around them shifted. She kept Leo's attention and they stayed on the dance floor.

The world around them disappeared, the scent of his body wash filled her nose, and it made her head spin. The feeling of his muscles beneath his shirt made her skin tingle. The movement of their bodies together was sending bolts of lightning through her veins.

"I don't know what happened in your meeting today, but whatever it was, I really like it." He whispered in her ear. His breath on his ear made her thoughts turn to fog.

"A heck of a lot of paperwork." She said back, kissing his collarbone.

"Then what has you being all... hot?" He asked, nipping at her ear lobe with his teeth gently.

"Are you saying I'm not normally hot?" She asked, rubbing against him. She returned his love bite on his neck, making him moan.

"Oh, my, God." He said, grabbing her tightly against him, crashing his lips on hers.

Leo grabbed her hand and pulled her arm behind his back. He pulled her through the crowd as he looked around. As soon as he found his opportunity, he pulled her through the server's station into a dark alcove with black doors marked 'employees only'.

"So I'm not normally hot?" She challenged with a smile as soon as he turned to face her. He pushed her against the wall gently and held her there with his body.

"You are so hot." He said, breathing heavy.

"Back at 'cha." She grinned, running her fingers down his face.

"What has gotten into you tonight?" He asked, kissing her neck.

"What do you mean?" She asked, pulling his shirt up so she could run her hands up his bare back.

"Hmm." He moaned again.

"What makes you think something has gotten into me?" She asked, dipping her finger into his waistband and gently traced the material around his hips.

"Oh my God. Maybe we should get out of here." He said, breathing heavily against her neck.

"Why? What are you thinking?" She asked, biting his neck gently.

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to have a problem." He mumbled.

"Good." She said, rubbing against him.

"Good?" He said, lifting his head to look her in the face.

"Yeah, good. Maybe next time some dirty bitch has her fucking hands on you, you will remember this and stop her." Kitt pushed him back gently. She turned to leave and turned to wink at him over her shoulder.