Page 95 of The Pucking Wrong Man

Me: Now, what were you saying about radii?

Ari: ...

Walker: That there’s no need to involve the wives and break your six-foot radius requirement.

I frowned.

Me: Texting you about them is breaking my requirement?

Linc: Absolutely.

Well then.

Ari: But don’t worry. No need for the wives. I took a ballet class in college.

Walker: What?

Ari: It helped with my footwork and...

There was a really long pause after that, and I was wondering if Blake had come in and distracted him. That happened a lot. He would just disappear.

While I was waiting, I checked her tracker to make sure she was still at dance. Before dropping her off this morning, I’d given her an iPhone in the car. She’d tried to refuse it—of course. But I’d told her it was an old one that someone had given me in a promo package. A lie...but it had gotten her to take it so she could text me when I was supposed to pick her up.

I may have also omitted the fact that I’d installed a tracking app on there, so I didn’t have to worry about her finding the original tracking device I’d put in her bag yesterday.

My phone buzzed.

Linc: What Ari was trying to say was that it helped him with his footwork and..

Ari: Don’t finish that train of thought, Golden Boy. There are no other women that exist in the world besides Blake Lancaster.

Walker: What about Geraldine?

Ari: ...

Ari: And Geraldine.

Me: Alright...thirty minutes later. I doubt you will know this, but what are all the best brands for ballet dancers if I was taking a ballet dancer shopping.

Linc: I have to say, Hero. Dogs and ballet. I never would have thought...

I grinned, feeling strangely giddy about being such a psychopath this morning.

Ari: Capezio, Bloch, Miu Miu, Gaynor Minden. Boom. Mic drop.

Me: Alright then. I have to say that we’re learning all sorts of things about each other in the circle of trust lately.

I snorted when Ari removed me from the chat and then sent me a meme with a circle labeled “circle of trust” with a dot outside of it that he’d labeled Camden.

I sent him one back with the dot firmly inside before beginning my search of where all those brands were sold.

I had a little dancer to spoil.

Anastasia

It would have been a small thing to most people, having someone waiting for me after dance. But it was a huge thing for me.

For as long as I could really remember, I’d had to get myself home after class. Walk or take the bus to whatever home or job I was going to.

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