Worth the Risk

By Lydia Westing

Leather and Lace is a collection of romantic short stories from Bryant Street Shorts. We recommend starting with "The New Girl," the first story in this series, and then reading the rest in order. To find more stories in this series, simply scroll to “Titles In This Series,” located just below this description.

About Leather and Lace

The Ruby City Roller Girls are a small Midwestern roller derby team previously ranked 250 in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, but a new coach and a fresh batch of players gives the team the opportunity to go all the way to playoffs. Will the small team achieve big things this season? Or will they get too distracted by all of the fun, flings, and real romances they experience along the way?

Bubbles, the team's resident party girl, runs into her ex-husband Adam, who wants an official divorce after two years of separation. Bubbles appears thrilled to divorce him, but she's rarely ever not thrilled about anything. When Adam reveals he doesn't know how to have fun without Bubbles, she refuses to sign the divorce papers until he agrees to spend one fun evening with her, under her rules. The ordinarily buttoned-up Adam agrees, and they embark on a thrilling night of adventure that just might also be a second chance at romance.

About Bryant Street Shorts

Bryant Street Shorts is a new publisher specializing in exciting short-form fiction from talented and emerging writers. We’re passionate about creating immersive works that represent our readers and celebrate what matters to them, which is why our catalog of stories reflects a wide range of experiences and voices.

Many Bryant Street Shorts are collections of stories that follow ensembles of characters across multiple storylines. We suggest reading these stories in order to get the most out of your experience. Simply scroll down to “Titles In This Series,” located just below the description of every Bryant Street Short, to find the stories in their correct order.

To find more short stories and novellas on Scribd, simply search for “Bryant Street Shorts."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Shorts
• Release date: Apr 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781094409009

Lydia Westing

Lydia Westing is usually a comedy and pop-culture writer for websites like Reductress, Bunny Ears, Cracked, and The Modern Rogue. She has a small dog and a large husband, and they all live together in Nashville, Tennessee. She played roller derby for several different teams on and off for over five years. She’s much better at writing than she ever was at roller derby.

Book preview

[e-mail].

Worth the Risk

Bubbles stared up at the night sky. The roar of the crowd was muted by the doors of the community center where they were playing. She had taken a hard hit and had to call off the jam to be escorted off the court. She was fine, but it had worried her for a second. She hadn’t fallen right, and her bell had gotten rung pretty hard. Cheese Whiz had benched her for the rest of the game out of fear of a concussion, so she’d gone outside to vape.

The resulting headache was a bummer. She hated being reminded that she had a body. She pulled the cute little flask she had snuck into her derby bag out of her bra and began pre-gaming bourbon in anticipation of the after-party. Tess La Coil popped out of the door, exhaling her own cloud of smoke.

You don’t waste any time, do you, Bubbles? she asked, indicating the flask with her head.

Bubbles shrugged. I’m living my best life.

There’s a fine line between living your best life and having a problem, and I think you’re right on it, Tess replied. She kept her tone light, but there was a real note of caution. Everyone was always concerned about Bubbles.

She tucked the flask away and muttered, Relax, Tess. We’re winning. It’s a party.