Page 54 of Dream Girl Drama

“Are you familiar with broken cartilage?”

The Donor laughed, but removed his hand as fast as possible. “So, besties, what are we talking about?”

“Nothing.” This from Burgess.

Yeah, no way Sig wasn’t going to use Corrigan and Mailer’s interruption to his advantage. “Apparently, there is going to be a team meeting tonight. Big one.”

Their excitement was palpable.

As was Burgess’s irritation. “Are you happy?”

In response, Sig grabbed Burgess’s smoothie and took a long sip. Grimaced over the taste of grass and set it back down.

Corrigan propped his elbows on the table, leaned in to study Burgess’s and Sig’s faces in turn. “What is the meeting about?”

Sig didn’t miss a beat. “Do you want to tell them or should I, Sir Savage?”

Not a single blink from Burgess. “You break it to them.”

“Fine. I’ll be the bearer of bad news.” Sig let out a slow breath. “The brass has spoken. You’re the new team mascots. The giant, fuzzy costumes are being sized as we speak.”

“One of you was going to be the head, one of you was going to be the tail...”

“But you’re both asses, so the new mascot has two tails. No head, whatsoever. First of its kind.”

“Fitting, right? Since there isn’t a brain between you.”

Burgess and Sig gave each other a very mature fist bump.

Mailer and Corrigan were looking at each other. “I can’t figure out how they do this,” Mailer marveled. “They don’t even need time to come up with ways to trash us.”

“It’s so natural,” Corrigan agreed, shaking his head. “I guess it’s just the kind of wisdom that comes from being ancient.”

Sig drilled the Donor with a look. “I’m twenty-nine, motherfucker.”

Mailer scooted his backward chair closer to the table. “What is the meeting really about?” He opened his mouth and closed it, as if he wasn’t sure he should share something. “Speaking of Reddit, I probably went a little too deep on a thread last night, but, uh,... there was something about the GM. A member of his family taking over day-to-day operations? Have you guys heard anything about that?”

Sig shot the captain a look to determine if he knew anything, but he looked just as baffled as Sig probably did. “Has anyone met his kids?”

A chorus of nos.

Burgess shrugged. “Probably just a rumor.”

Mailer slapped a hand onto Burgess’s shoulder. “The captain has spoken. It’s hearsay, I daresay.”

“We can only pray,” Corrigan tacked on.

“Oh shit. That was seamless.” They slapped approximately ninety high fives over the table while Burgess and Sig stared at each other, mentally exhausted. “We’re turning into you two right before your very eyes. How does it feel?”

“Demoralizing.” Burgess sighed.

“Guys—” Sig cut himself off when his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. There was only one person who called him, instead of texting, and it was Chloe. Sure enough, her name was scrolling by on the screen, the green circle at the bottom indicating it was a FaceTime call.

Corrigan leaned over. “Who is that?”

“Is it Chloe?” Mailer demanded to know. “Answer and put in a good word for me, man.”

“Sure, I’ll get right on that. Never.”

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