Page 150 of Call the Shots
“What else do we know about Vernon?” I pushed to the lounge.
“He’s the coach with the smallest salary at Marrs,” Bear offered.
“Do we think he embezzled money?” Montoya picked up a new stack of papers to go through. “That’s a crime. I think.”
“Erm…maybe?” Cleo shrugged. “Wouldn’t he use his office’s budget if he was embezzling?”
The room lapsed into confused silence. It didn’t make sense. If Vernon knew the hockey team would fold, why did his office look so nice? How was Riley involved? Why would Riley even want to get involved if the hockey team was going under?
“June?” Bear called, and I walked to his workstation. His laptop didn’t have anything interesting on the screen, but he made a clear sign to look beyond the computer. My eyes flickered to Montoya, in a circle surrounded by the figure skaters like a Great Dane surrounded by puppies.
“You can’t be serious,” a figure skater giggled.
Montoya blushed and he shook his head.
“Like never? Never ever?”
“I had braces since I was eleven, I got them taken off in April,” Montoya explained, his words high-pitched. “I was scared of cutting someone’s face open, I saw it in a horror movie with my dad once?—”
“So you’ve never kissed a girl?”
Oh, absolutelynot. I knew where the line of questioning was going.Andsurrounded by a group of giggling girls? With his teammates only ten feet away? I moved to stop it.
Bear snaked an arm around my waist, his breath cool at my ear. “Calm down, mama bear.”
“Do youwantto kiss a girl?” she asked Montoya.
He floundered for an answer and the girls giggled again.
“This isn’t how his first is supposed to go,” I pleaded quietly.
Bear drew me between him and the desk, locking me to him with my back to his chest. “You can’t protect him from everything, you need to let him make dumb decisions.”
“Trent and I are on a break…” the figure skater mused. “Do you want to help me make my boyfriend jealous, Caleb?”
Andusing his first name?! I tried to bolt to Montoya, but Bear was too strong.
She smiled. “Only if you’re cool with it?—”
“I’m cool with it!”
“Oh my god,” I groaned, Bear’s chuckle vibrating my body. A ring of sweat soaked Montoya’s shirt and the figure skater rose on her knees, making sure her friends were filming.
The noise in the lounge quieted. Waseveryonewatching?
She pressed her lips to his. It was a chaste, small kiss until Montoya folded into her, kissing her like he was worried it’d be the last kiss he’d ever had. She made a little noise of surprise, and he kissed her harder.
The Gladiators erupted in applause and the figure skater pulled away with a giggle. Montoya’s whole body flamed red, and he fell backwards, his back hitting the ground with a thud.
“That fucking kid,” Bear laughed.
“Get it, Kid’s Toy!” Pickles shouted and the room shouted into‘kid’s toy, kid’s toy, kid’s toy!’
Montoya groaned and put his head in his hands which made the cheering louder. I was mortifiedforhim. In front of everyone. I turned to press my forehead against Bear’s chest. I couldn’t watch anymore—I had my fill of secondhand embarrassment for a loved one.
“How could you let that happen to him?” I mumbled.
“Our kid’s growing up,” Bear chuckled. “We have to let him do stupid shit.”
