Page 87 of Grumpy Puck

Leaping into my car, I floor the gas once more, and a few minutes later, I approach my front door… only to catch Calliope stepping out with her suitcase and rat carrier.

Something in my chest shrinks, like a punctured tire.“You’re moving out?Just like that?”

I know I shouldn’t really be surprised, not after all the other people who abandoned me in my life, but this is on another level.Calliope doesn’t know that the stalker situation isn’t a problem anymore—which means she’d rather be in danger than spend another minute with me.

“Of course I’m moving out,” she snaps.“I can’t be with someone who hates?—”

“Don’t say that I hate your family.I never fucking said that.”

“You didn’t have to.Your actions spoke volumes.”

I take in a calming breath.Maybe if I explain it just right, she won’t abandon me.“I didn’t leave because I hated your family.I left because I learned who the stalker is—and it’s someone I know.I got very angry and rushed to deal with him.In hindsight, I should have told you, but?—”

“You learned who the stalker is?”Her eyes are wide.

I clench and unclench my fist, sorry that I punched him just once.“Yeah.It’s Jack.”

She blinks at me.“Kangaroo Jack?”

“Kangaroo?”Now that she mentions it, Jack does vaguely resemble one.“Yes.That Jack.As it turns out, he wasn’t after you.He was after a flash drive that has a recording of him jerking off to a gator.”

Her eyes narrow.“You think this is a good time for a joke?”

“I’m not joking,” I grit out.“Ted—whom Jack kidnapped—hid the flash drive in his apartment, which then became your apartment, hence the moved floorboards.”

At this point, her eyes are mere slits.“You expect me to believe that horseshit?”

“Why the fuck would I make this up?”Taking another calming breath, I add, “Ted is filing a police report.They’re public record in Florida.You can check.”

She grips her suitcase tighter.“Fine.If that insanity is true, I don’t have a reason to stay here anyway.”

I gulp in the next breath, and it’s anything but calming.I force the next words out.“Don’t go.”

She swallows, and her gaze drops to my chest.“I… kind of have to.”

“What do you mean?I’m telling you, the stalker situation is over.”Once more, I force myself to say the words that I never got to say to my parents.“I want you to stay.With me.I know we’ve only been dating for?—"

“Less than a week.”She takes a deep breath herself.“This is too soon for a step like moving in together.But more importantly, I… accepted a job offer.In New York.”

A puck smashing into my gut would be less painful than this.“You did what?”

She steps back.“I thought you’d broken up with me.I thought you hated my family.And this is a job I’ve always wanted.”

“What job?”

As she explains, I feel nausea coming on—no doubt I’ve become carsick from driving like a maniac.

“I see,” I say when she reminds me that the rat show has been her dream for as long as she can remember.My tone is hollow as I say, “In that case, you should leave.Now.”

She rushes past me and gets inside an idling Uber.

My nausea worsens as I watch the Uber pull away and disappear from sight.

Turning toward my front door, I smash my fist into it, over and over, until the wood cracks and the pain in my knuckles distracts me from the turmoil in my mind.

The reprieve is short, however.

I soon recall what a fucking idiot I’ve been.

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