Page 160 of Bossy Hero

Lettie answers, “Based on who we’re expecting, we’re only waiting for Shep, Kri, and Junior.”

I check my watch. “We’ll give them sixty seconds.” My gaze lands on Sammy again. “No jokes this time. But why are you here? Are you that hard up for entertainment that you want to sit through a duty meeting?”

Sammy’s shoulders lift, and she expels a fluttery breath. “I could have tickets toHamiltonwith the original cast, and I’d still miss it for this meeting.”

My neck cricks to the side. “Huh?”

“Nice retort, Shakespeare,” she quips, then settles into a business tone. “Historically speaking, these meetings provide more entertainment per capita than... than...”

Blinking rapidly, she flounders while searching for a way to wrap it up. I choke back a laugh, determined to wait her out.

“Almost there, princess. Bring it home,” Sawyer encourages.

“More entertainment per capita than something else, like, super entertaining.” She nods to emphasize her point. “Yep. That. Nailed it.”

Sawyer holds out his fist in front of her. “Pound it out. I’m sure nobody noticed you trip at the finishing line.”

Shrugging, she fist bumps him. “They can’t all be as good as Big Al’s mother kissing jokes.”

Klein’s face brightens. “Sounds like a step down from his mother fucking jokes.”

Maddie breezes into the room, holding a bag of microwave popcorn. “Oh, he does that too,” she announces casually, making everyone’s eyes triple in size.

Including my own.

It takes a solid three seconds before the shocked silence devolves into chaos. There are braying guffaws, hoots, groans, and a few other reactions I can’t decipher through my fog of embarrassment.

She’s so blasé about it, which not only blows my mind but warms my heart.

On my right, Leo shoves away from the table and marches away. At first, I worry that he’s enraged. However, once he finally turns around, his face is beet red, and he’s shaking with laughter, doubling over at the waist.

Still laughing, Sue jumps up to sprint out of the room. She’s either horrified to the point she’s no longer able to be around people or she has to pee from the laughter. Could be either way with her.

Unbothered by the bedlam she incited, Maddie demurely takes a seat in the corner and shakes the popcorn bag at her daughter. “Samantha, I brought this to lure you away from the table. Let them work. Come on now. We can quietly watch the show from over here.”

As Leo slowly returns to his seat, he swats at the low-hanging joke fruit. “Sammy isn’t capable of being quiet anywhere, Ma. At the table or in the corner. In church, a doctor’s appointment, a?—”

Sammy flips off her brother and shoves her heels into the floor, rolling her chair toward Maddie. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it. But I want popcorn.”

Junior attempts to silently sneak into the conference room with his head down. Nice try, kid.

Where did I put my shit list?

Shep comes tripping in right behind him. “Sorry for being late.”

Kri follows, her finger pointed at Shep. “It was his fault.”

He scoffs, shaking his head and putting his hand over his heart. “Judas Dayton.”

Grinning, I wake my tablet screen. “That’s fine. Just sit the fuck down so we can start before this shit show goes any further sideways than it already has.”

Kri huffs, scooting her chair up to the table. “Aw, did we miss something?”

Sawyer makes his eyebrows do the waggling dance of innuendo. “Just some mother fucking jokes.”

With an audible sigh, I smack my fist lightly on the table. “Enough of that shit. It would behoove you to shut your traps before my shit list grows exponentially. We’re passing out duties today, so you don’t want to be on my bad side.”

With the change in my tone and my not-so-veiled warning, their spines stiffen. All jaws stop flapping.

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