Page 2 of Grumpy Puck

“She’s dripping everywhere.Get her out of the suit,” says the kangaroo-looking guy who misled me with the directions.He’s one of several beefy dudes who are standing by the pool room’s entrance, clearly having snuck up behind me.

“Touch her, and I’ll break your fingers,” says the gruff voice of my savior.

“That’s pretty violent,” I say, turning to check out the speaker.

And… wow.

He’s shirtless and muscled like a god.His face is fierce, angular, and almost perfectly symmetrical, except for his aristocratic nose, which seems to have been broken at some point and then healed slightly imperfectly—which only highlights the perfection of everything else.

He slowly examines me through a pair of somber eyes that are darker than the inside of a black hole.

Oh, boy.

There’s stubble on his cheeks that I want to reach out and touch.

But I don’t.

If I were going to be inappropriate, I’d touch the thick hair on his naked chest instead.Body hair is my sexual kryptonite when it comes to men, and even now, cold and embarrassed, I find myself wet in more ways than one.

“Are you okay?”he asks in that growly voice of his, then tucks a wet strand of my hair behind my ear.

Oh.My.Fucking.God.His touch is like the sting of an electric eel… right on my clit.And nipples.And?—

“Call a fucking ambulance,” my savior growls at the kangaroo guy.“Do it fast, and maybe I won’t kill you for tricking me into pushing her.”

Wait…

“You pushed me?”I glare up at his ridiculously handsome face.

“It was a misunderstanding,” the guy retorts.“I thought you were Ted, and that one”—he gestures at either the kangaroo guy or one of the other muscle-bound dudes—“told me that Ted called me a?—”

“Look, Michael,” Kangaroo says conspiratorially.“Ted did call you?—”

“I’m not Ted.”I snatch my bear’s head from where it’s floating near the edge of the pool and watch with jealousy as Wolfgang scrambles up my arm to my shoulder and expertly shakes off his wet fur.

The asshole—Michael—narrows his dark eyes at my little friend.“Is that a rat?”

“No, it’s a giraffe.”I turn on my heel and trudge away with squelching sounds.

“Fucking fuck,” Michael growls.“Hold up.”

“Let me help you with those wet clothes!”Kangaroo shouts.

“Do not mention her clothes again.”Michael’s growl turns threatening.“Not if you want to keep the little marbles that pass for your balls.”

“So you’ve checked out his balls?”I say over my shoulder and immediately wish my oldest brother were here.

He’d have a pair of sponge balls appear out of thin air and would label my words a “mad burn.”

“Will you slow the fuck down?”Michael grumbles, falling into step next to me.“Where do you think you’re going?”

“The ice rink.”Wherever that is.

“It’s cold there.You’ll catch your death.At least change first.”

“Yeah, into what?”

Apparently, when Ted disappeared, the backup mascot suit, along with all of his worldly possessions, went missing from his apartment.

---