Page 36 of Dirty Pucker

“You think you can threaten me?”

“Yeah. I do. Stay away from her. Stay away from all of us.”

He coughs and curses. And then he laughs.

My blood turns to lava. My entire body is rigid with anger.

“And what exactly are you gonna do about it?” he taunts.

“Whatever I have to do to keep my mom and my sister safe from you.”

There’s a long pause. “Oh yeah? Maybe get a little violent with me? You do that, Del. See how well that goes for you. You’re a hot-shot hockey pro now. I could call up some sports reporters and tell them all about my son threatening me. How do you think that would play out? Or maybe you do kick my ass. You could get in trouble with your team. Maybe even get fired. There goes your career.”

Panic slices through me. This asshole. Of course he would taunt me with a threat like that.

“This is between me and your mom. Think again before you interfere, Del.”

He hangs up. The rest of the drive, I’m tense with the same anger and panic as before.

As soon as I make it to my condo, I throw on some running gear and crank out a few miles in my neighborhood. My body is tired from practice, but I need to get this anxious energy out of my system.

My dad is threatening to ruin me if I keep trying to protect my mom. The thought of losing my career because of him pisses me off and scares the shit out of me.

But there’s no doubt in my mind what I’m going to do. I’m going to keep protecting her. He can do whatever he wants to ruin me. I’ll deal with the consequences later.

Chapter 13

Ingrid

“What’s the deal with Del eye-fucking you in the most recent Bashers’ TikTok you posted?”

I almost cough up my sip of sangria at Maya’s question.

I glance around the massive outdoor patio space of Coach Porter’s home to make sure no one has heard what my best friend just asked me. I let out a breath when I see that no one is paying attention to us. We’re standing at the wet bar, which is at the end of the massive patio. Everyone else is gathered around the long table on the opposite side, grazing on the appetizers and engrossed in their own conversations.

I clear my throat and wipe my mouth with a napkin. “Wow. No ‘hello’? Just straight into wildly inappropriate questions to ask at a barbecue while I’m surrounded by all my coworkers.”

“No one heard me.” She steps closer to me. “And you had to know I’d bring that up. Especially after all the comments people have been leaving on that video. I mean, that’s some genius marketing on your part. Blonde or brunette?” Maya chuckles. “Well done.”

She starts to bow in front of me, but I quickly pull her back up.

“Maya, people are going to look over and wonder what the hell you’re doing.” I let out a nervous laugh.

I arrived at Coach Porter’s house for the barbecue he’s hosting just a few minutes ago and I haven’t seen Del. Almost all of the team staff and all the players are here. He might be milling around somewhere and I just haven’t seen him yet. I don’t want him to look over and wonder what the hell Maya and I are talking about, since it has everything to do with him.

“Of course I’ve read the comments,” I say, my cheeks flushing. That TikTok currently has one million views—the most views of any of the TikToks I’ve posted on the Bashers account so far.

Maya scrolls through the comments on her phone and I skim them once more.

Be less obvious with the eyefucking, Dirty Del lol

How much you wanna bet that the person filming him was a hot blonde?

I think Dirty Del has a thing for the Bashers’ social media girl

If you Google eyefucking, this is the video that would come up

I’ve never seen that guy smile like that. Ever.

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