Page 99 of Pucking Revenge

Lennox nods. “You can call me Madame Lennox.”

That sends us all into a fit of laughter.

When we’ve settled again, I go back to my coffee. “I just want Seb gone. More for Brooks than for me. This is Brooks’s team. If you knew just how dedicated he is to the team—” I leave it at that and avert my gaze. Shit. If I’m not careful, Lennox will fixate on that comment and glean way too much information from it. I doubt she can see in my eyes that Brooks has a Bolts-blue Jacob’s ladder, but I’d rather not test the theory.

Thankfully she’s subdued, thoughtful. “He always was the most dedicated.”

“I’m tired of Seb’s comments, his stares, his attitude.” A pit of dread forms in my stomach when I really think about how often he’s hovering nearby. “I hate that he could be standing in the hall right now. That he lives next door. It’s gross.”

Ava’s lips twist, and she hums. “You really think there’s a chance you could get him to quit? Wouldn’t it be better if Brooks went to his brothers and told them the truth?”

Lennox taps her finger against her lips. “Or maybe we just take things up a notch. The two of you need to be more in his face.”

“Brooks won’t use me as a prop.” I fold my arms over my chest and let out a humph. I liked the games we played to piss Seb off. At first I thought it was ridiculous, but then it became fun.

Even so, I get why Brooks doesn’t want to do it. He’s focused on the two of us, and he wants our sex life to be for us, not for someone else.

But that doesn’t mean I’m done fucking with Seb. I just need to go about it in a different way.

“So you do the dirty work,” she counters, breaking out in a smile fit for a villain.

“No.” Ava shakes her head. “Look at the two of you scheming. How did you survive college together? Did you have any voices of reason around? You must have had someone.”

I raise a hand and grin. “That’d be me.”

“Oh God,” she mutters.

“What are you thinking, Len?”

She picks up her phone so she’s centered on the screen. “You’ve already got the hat and the jersey. The whole sitting on his back while he does push-ups thing.” She looks off to one side, then goes on. “You’ve fooled around in front of Seb. You’ve made sexy noises so loudly he’s bound to have heard. But nothing seems to be pushing him.”

I nod. “Right. That’s my point. Nothing works.”

“So you need to be more extreme. More over-the-top.”

“I don’t think so,” Ava says, a worried frown marring her face.

“What if you dyed your face blue?” Lennox beams, like this is genius.

Rearing back, I scoff. “Um, what?”

“Okay, paint, then. Paint your face blue. Oh my God. Paint your whole body and streak across the ice!”

“Do you hear yourself?” Ava asks, her voice pitched high. “How in God’s name would that help?”

I laugh, just imagining Seb’s face if I did that. “I’d probably get fired if I ran across the ice naked. I’d probably slip and fall and end up with a concussion too. So I’m gonna go with a no on that one. Even though pissing off Seb does make me happy.”

Lennox groans. “Ave, stop being so reasonable. You’re ruining all my fun!”

Ava’s grinning as she pulls her phone from her pocket. “I actually have to go. But seriously, do not dye your face. That is a really bad idea.”

I nod, already entertaining another idea. Something equally loud, equally annoying, but a little less permanent or Smurf-like.

When the door shuts, I bring my phone closer and smirk. “Okay, Len. We’re going to the store.”

She bounces on her bed. “Yes. Okay, call me when you get there. I want to see your evil scheming in action.”

Once we’ve disconnected, I pull on my favorite new beanie—the one declaring me Brooks’s bunny—wrap a blue Bolts scarf around my neck, and slip into my leather jacket. Then I head for the door.

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