Page 45 of Grumpy Puck

I suppress a chuckle.“Is this a test?”

He pauses mid-bite of his cracker.“What?”

“You tell a joke that features a bear, I laugh, and then you get pissed off.”

He blows out a breath.“You can laugh when I tell a bear joke.Just don’t call me a bear.”

“Deal,” I say, but then I can’t help but ask why he’s so touchy about it.

So he tells me, and in a weird way, it makes sense.Being a Klaunbut, I can even relate.

“Is that why you hate the mascot?”I tap my suitcase, where Mr.Bloom is vacuum-sealed in a specialized bag.

“I hate the fact that some people callmethe mascot behind my back.”

Oh.“Who?”And are they suicidal?

He clenches and unclenches his fist.“Russian-speaking players from other teams.”

“That can’t be many people.”Yet it explains why he’s broken so many noses on the ice.

“Ten percent of the league are Russian,” he counters.“Plus, there are plenty like Tugev who aren’t Russian but speak the language enough to mock me.”

Wow.“That’s more than I would expect.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.There are four times as many Canadians.”He wipes his hands on his napkin.

I wipe mine too.“That makes more sense.”

“Yeah,” he says.“Dante is Canadian.”

“He is?I would have guessed Transylvanian.”

This time, Michael smiles full-on, with teeth showing and everything, and it’s a glorious event, like a sunrise over a stormy ocean.

As if it’s developed a mind of its own, my hand lands on his thigh.“I will not make any bear jokes ever again.”

His eyes grow heated.“And I will never start making clown butt ones.”

I scoot closer to him.“It’s a deal.”

He leans toward me.“A deal has to be properly sealed.”

It’s unclear who moves first, but our lips meet.

The world starts to fade way… and then our stupid limo stops.

Chapter13

Michael

Fucking fuck.I’m not sure who I’m angrier at: the two of us for deciding to kiss without cameras, or the driver for interrupting it.

“We’re here.”Calliope touches her luscious lips and clears her throat.“Which is probably for the best.”

“Yeah.We shouldn’t have done that.”It’s like eating chocolate-covered bacon—tastes good in the moment but has detrimental effects on your heart.

Calliope’s nostrils flare.“We definitely shouldn’t have.What were we thinking?”

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