Page 22 of Grumpy Puck

“Please donotanswer that,” Linda says in a panicked voice.More calmly, she adds, “I think I speak for everyone when I deem this meeting successfully concluded.”

Chapter8

Michael

Concluded?What the fuck?What about the logistics?If I’m supposedly dating Calliope,there’s?—

Everyone leaps to their feet, and the room empties faster than you can spell “cowards.”The only one who isn’t running is Calliope, but I suspect that has more to do with the rat on her shoulder than any bravery.

“We should talk,” I tell her grudgingly.

She turns my way, a perfectly shaped eyebrow raised.“Oh?Why?”

I sigh.“How are we going to pull this off?”

“Ah.That.”She runs her hand through her hair, her nails as sparkly as the rest of her.“Who cares about the pesky details, right?”She makes air quotes.“The meeting was ‘successfully concluded.’”

I shrug.“Linda probably wanted us to discuss the minutia amongst ourselves, like adults.”

“Like adults?What is that supposed to mean?”

Fuck me.“Are your feathers always so easy to ruffle?”

She gapes at me.“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw pucks.”

I grit my teeth and strive for what little patience I possess.“I get it.You need to process all of this.Maybe we can talk after practice?”

“And maybe you should bite me.”She turns on her heel and strides out of the conference room.

“That may not be a bad idea,” I say without thinking—though, in my defense, this is the first time I’ve borne witness to the marvel that is her rear end.I mean, butts have always been my weakness, especially ones with plenty to grab during doggy style, butptichka’sass is on another level.If there were a competition for the juiciest derrière, she’d win it without even needing to bend.And if she did bend?—

She slams the conference door almost in my face.

I leave the room and follow her in silence, my dick painfully hard on account of the view.When we get to the locker room, I frown, and when she tries to go inside, I grab her shoulder—a firm, shapely shoulder, to be exact.

“What the hell are you doing?”she demands, eyes on my hand as if it were a cobra.

“Right back at you.”I remove my hand.“Practice is about to start.There are naked assholes in there.”

“Oh.”She shuffles from foot to foot.“I forgot my costume inside.”

“Right.I know.It was there when I came in this morning.I hid it in my locker for you.”And sure, maybe I took a whiff of the disembodied bear’s head to check ifptichkatruly smells like cotton candy, and she does, but that was just a momentary lapse of reason.“You also forgot your other clothes.”Including her panties, which I didn’t sniff, no matter how tempting the proposition.“I’ve got it all stashed away.”

“You do?”She looks at me and then at her rat, as if she wants him to confirm she heard me correctly.

“It’s no big deal,” I reply gruffly.“If I hadn’t, those assholes in there could have messed with your stuff.”And then I would have had to break some bones, which would’ve meant we’d be a player short while flying to New York to play the Yetis.

“Thanks.”She bats her eyelashes prettily.“Can you bring those to my changing room?”

“Sure.”I head into the locker room—and am met with hoots and cheers.

“What the fuck?”I demand from all the leering faces.

“The video,” Isaac says for everyone in a rare feat of leadership.“You’re famous.”

Fuck.I guess this is a segue.“It’s good you all saw that.Saves me the time to explain what will happen to the balls of anyone who so much as looks at Calliope the wrong way.”

Jack pales so much his skin is almost as alabaster as Dante’s.“I’ve already told them she’s off limits.”

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