Page 55 of Grumpy Puck

“Whatever,” Dante says, his tone more serious as he looks over the opposing team.“Where’s Tugev?”

I scan my former teammates but do not spot the man in question.“Weird.I don’t see him either.”

“It’s fine,” Dante says.“I’ve seen him on video.Plus, he’ll be at the face-off.”

Right.Speaking of that.

“It’s time.”I skate over to the middle of the rink, where a referee is already waiting.

But then Noah Brown—a Canadian player who I thought was on a completely different team—skates over for the face-off.

“Where’s Tugev?”I ask and then realize this is the first time I’ve spoken during a face-off in my life.

“Tugev retired,” Noah says.“You didn’t hear?”

I’m so stunned that I would miss the puck if the referee were to let go of it right now.Then a wave of righteous fury overtakes me, one that was already primed when I thought Calliope was under attack.

How dare Tugev not be at this game?The whole point was that?—

The puck hits the ice.

My instincts kick in.I take it from Noah and pass it to Jack, as was part of the plan.

Channeling all my frustration with Tugev into skating, I quickly end up face to mask with Jason, a.k.a.Friday, the Yetis’ goalie, and as per the plan, the puck is passed back to me.

Jason looks ready, but I don’t give a shit.I feign a shot, then smash the puck and score right between Jason’s legs.

My team goes wild, and the jumbotron shows both Calliope and the rat on her shoulder clapping their paws.

Chapter16

Calliope

Until today, I’ve been pretty lukewarm on hockey, especially for a team mascot.I still don’t know the difference between a wrist or snap shot, for example, or why the players get a five-minute timeout for the kind of fighting that would mean assault charges outside the rink.And yet, I watch in awed fascination as Michael and the rest of the Florida Bears fiercely battle their much stronger opponent.

Michael, in particular, is magnificent, especially when he scores a goal.

I almost forget that I’m mad at him for saying that sleeping with me was a mistake.What’s worse, watching him makes me want to repeat said mistake again.Which is insane.It’s bad enough our fake dating feels real on some occasions.If I have any more orgasms like the ones he gave me last night, the line between?—

The sound of a horn announces the end of the game, and the score is 3 for the Yetis and 4 for the Florida Bears.

As in, we won!

The whole team piles up on top of Michael in jubilation.When all the manly emotions settle down, I skate over to him and take off my bear mask.

“We did it!”he shouts, then leans down to give me a passionate kiss.

Oh, my.The noises around us grow faint, and I lose track of time.It’s not until Michael pulls away that I see us on the kiss cam and realize that this was only for appearances’ sake.

Something inside me contracts, but I do my best to shake off the bizarre disappointment.“Congratulations.”I touch my lips.“I know you wanted this win.”

His excitement visibly wanes.“What I wanted was to best Tugev, but the bastard retired before I got the chance.”

Huh.“Isn’t he the team owner?”

Michael nods.

“You beat his team.I’m sure he’s not thrilled about that.”

---