Page 156 of Curveball

Before I can grab him by the shirt, Cheetah stands between us. “Relax, Q. He’s fucking with you. Layton, stop riling him up.”

Layton chuckles. “But it’s so fun.”

Cheetah tries to contain his smile. “Itisfun, but he doesn’t need to know about your wife’s sexy pink nipples.”

My eyes widen. “What the fuck? Why do you know that?”

Cheetah winks.

Before I can kill both of them, we hear a noise at the end of the hallway. We all turn to see one of the doors opening. I warn everyone to stay still as a flannel-pants-clad Pierre walks out, and we all hold our breath as if it makes us invisible.

Worst. Spies. Ever.

He simply places a tray of food on the floor of the hallway and turns back into his room. We all breathe again when his door closes with a loud thud.

I breathe out, “Phew.”

Trey asks, “Who’s the ginger?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Cheetah asks, “What do you call a sexy woman with a redheaded man?”

I shrug. “What?”

“A hostage.”

I roll my eyes. “You realize I might have a redheaded son one day, right?”

“Whoops. As long as he looks like Ripley, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

I motion with my hand, “Let’s go, you moron.”

We walk down the hallway and I knock on his door.

In Pierre’s deep French accent, we hear, “Who is it?”

I respond in an unnecessarily high-pitched voice, “Room service.”

He answers, “I left my tray in the hallway.”

“I need you to sign for it, sir.”

I can hear him scoff before he begins to open the door. As soon as he opens it a crack, I push my way through and grab him by the neck, pushing him against the nearest wall.

His eyes practically pop out of his head. He’s a big guy, but I have a few inches and a lot of muscle on him.

I can faintly hear Cheetah and Layton freaking out about what I’m doing, but I zone them out.

I growl, “Don’t fuck with me, Pierre. I want the truth. Do you understand?”

He vehemently nods.

“What’s your angle? I know you don’t give a shit about forming a relationship with Ripley.”

He tries to speak but he can’t because my hand is around his neck. I move it and pin him with my forearm across his chest.

He takes a few labored breaths. What a pussy.

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