Page 119 of Puck Princess

“But you didn’t eat.”

“I’ve lost my appetite.”

I rip through my closet to find the rest of my clothes. The closet is well organized, and I know where everything is, but I’m pissed.

I knew the moment I met Spencer Santos that he was a snake and very bad news. I felt it a mile away. While everyone else was charmed by his stats and his money, I felt the shift in the air the moment Santos walked into my arena. But I never predicted it would end like this.

“Owen.” Callie’s soft voice comes from behind me and I turn to see her standing with a plate.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Please.” She cuts a bite of pancake and holds it out to me.

Grudgingly, I step closer, my hand finding her hip. I fist her t-shirt in my hand as I take a bite.

Itisgood. I really know my way around a pancake.

“It’s going to be okay,” she says softly. “You can handle them, Owen. We’ll figure it out.”

I don’t know if that’s true, so I dodge it, taking the plate from her, instead. “Okay, maybe Iama little hungry.”

She smiles. “I knew you were.”

“Thank you,” I say with a full mouth.

She kisses my mouth even though I am chewing. “I love you.”

“I loveyou.”

And God, do I ever.

When I walk into the locker room, I can hear everyone talking about the rumors. News travels fast, but bad news moves at warp speed.

“All I know is that tonight's game is going to be insane,” Dax says. “I heard it’s a sold out game. And I don’t just think it’s because we’re playing at home.”

“Nah, it definitely has something to do with Daddy Warbucks,” Heath agrees.

I stomp in and hang up my bag. “I take it Junior Warbucks isn’t here?”

“Not yet.” Lance looks me over carefully. There’s no way he doesn’t know exactly how shitty I feel about all of this.

“Probably doing some kind of social media shit since his dad is about to own the team,” Kason guesses as he laces up.

“Or he’s dying from embarrassment,” Dax snorts.

Heath looks around for context clues before he asks: “What does he have to be embarrassed about?”

“He now works for his dad. Can you imagine?” Dax shivers. “Then again, my old man is a drunk who runs a liquor store with bars in the windows.”

“Considering they’re making nine figures combined,” Lachlan says, “my guess is he’s just fine with it.”

I slam my locker shut a little harder than I mean to.

I’m annoyed, but I don’t actually want anyone to know that. I intend to lay low and figure out what to do about the Santos infestation later. For now, I need to keep my job and try not to hit anyone.

“Let’s just focus on the game,” I bark out. “It’s been a minute since we’ve had a normal game.”

“You mean one where you didn’t beat up someone on your own team?” Dax is joking, but I’m not laughing.

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