Page 22 of Call the Shots
“You worked for the Romans, right, June?” Montoya leaned forward, inspecting the design. “Is this what you did for them?”
June cleared her throat. “Um…not exactly. They have an entire graphic design department?—”
“While we get the scraps,” Denali finished.
“What we really need is a catchphrase,” June contemplated. “Cleo and I have been trying to figure it out…”
“It’s ‘Glad for the Gladiators,’” Denali said.
“No, this is an opportunity to rebrand. We’re ditching the old saying and coming up with…something. I don’t know.”
“What about my shirt?” I asked.
“Yours?” She smiled. “Hope you love it.”
At the next slide, the guys burst into laughter, and I stared, dumbfounded, at the cartoon teddy bear holding on to the tree branch with the wordsbearly hanging on!over it.
“What isthat?” I made a noise of indignation. “I’m not wearing that.”
“You don’t like it? Make your own.”
The guys laughed harder, but I ignored them. “You’re like my assistant. You work underneath me.”
“Yourassistant?”
“Make another one—” I glared at the guys, wheezing with laughter. “Stop laughing. It’s not funny.”
June smirked. “Learn to take a joke,Bear.”
“Comic sans!” Nick grabbed his sides. “That’s the best part about it!” I elbowed him in the ribs, and he fell off the bleachers, crashing to the ground. “Fuck, Bear!”
“Are we practicing or what?” I snapped.
CHAPTER 9
JUNE
I’M NOT YOUR MOTHER
I didn’t thinkthe biggest problem of working with a hockey team would be tracking down the head coach.
Returning from the bookstore, I groaned into my cell. “Coach Vernon has to besomewhere. He didn’t vanish! I have alerts on his socials, his ex-wife’s, his estranged kids’, but there’snothing.”
“I drove by his house, the lights were still off.” Cleo cursed under her breath. “The figure skaters have been trying to get hold of him too. Withoutallof the coaches’ approval, there’s no renovations for the Colo. And we can’t hire outside help. Marrs won’t permit it.”
I stepped into Roman Villa’s lobby to see two hockey players pummeling each other. Elijah was perched on one of the couches, eating a bag of chips while he egged them on. I threw him a look of disbelief.
“What?” He held up the bag of chips. “Want some?”
“What’s going on?” Cleo asked, mystified.
“Two hockey players are fighting.” I took a step towards them and hurried back. “What should I do? Get a broom?”
“Let natural selection take its course.” Elijah tossed another chip in his mouth, leaving no doubt he was the one who startedthis. He shrugged when I glared at him. “They’re both forwards, I want to see how this changes the layup.”
Oh my god, I didn’t have time for whatever stupid fights were going on. Classes hadn’t started yet but one of my professors offered an open house to discuss her course. It was in an hour, and I had to drop off my stuff before giving my big apology. Instead of submitting my final last semester, I emailed her ‘sorry but im really tired.’
At least I didn’t have to worry about Bear—I saw his dad’s car at the student center. Clearly, he was dropping by to visit his demon spawn children.
