Page 26 of Finding the Forward: Part One
“Airplane Guy.” A shy smile played on Verity’s lips. “Saphira, meet Grif, of the New York Knights. Grif, this is Saphira. She’s in my PhD cohort.”
“Nice to meet you.” She smirked again. Saphira also had a southern drawl, but it differed from Verity’s. “I think I’m going to do it.”
“Have fun.” Verity waved as Saphira left. She traced her finger over the griffin tattoo on my arm. “Nice.”
“Thanks.” Oh, right, I’d been wearing long sleeves on the plane.
Mercy and the very young player with the pink hair puffs came over to us holding a sweatshirt, followed by the team social media person.
“Look at the back. We made it for you.” Mercy beamed with pride.
I put Verity down. She turned the Maimers’ shirt over, where someone had writtenTeam Momin sparkly fabric paint and decorated it with tiny gems.
Verity beamed. “Thank you both so much. I love it.”
They got pictures and the other girl left as the next challenger got into the tub. Mercy stayed, looking me up and down critically.
“So, this is Airplane Guy. We’re here for a while, so you two can go get coffee and talk. Rusty will hand me off, then you can let me see a movie with Kaiko, and I’ll be back by curfew. You can then take Airplane Guy back to our place and tie him up and spank him and call him agood boylike in one of your romance novels.” Mercy grinned at her.
“You can date now?” I asked, remembering what she’d said on the plane. Also, I got the feeling that Verity didn’t want to be the one doing the spanking. Which wasfineby me. I’d much rather be in control.
Not to mention, I still wanted to take her out on that date sometime. One where I brought her flowers, and Mercy could tell me to make sure she was home by curfew.
“Mercy.” Verity rolled her eyes.
“You know on the bus to away games we used to read the highlighted bits in your e-books out loud? Yep, the dating ban has been lifted.” Mercy gave me a sharp look as she ran her eyesover me. “Break her heart and I will break your stick.” The young alpha left.
Well then.
“Would you like to get a coffee? You got all wet for me. It’s the least I can do. After we change, of course. I mean, can I take you? Or do you have responsibilities?” she asked.
Was she being dirty on purpose? Probably not.
I liked it. A lot.
“Mmmm, you can most definitely take me, Kitten. Or...” Leaning in, my lips brushed her ear. “I can take you and getyouall wet.”
A flash of arousal hit me, along with something else. On the plane, I figured her for a beta. Now, I wasn’t so sure.
As long as she wanted me, I didn’t care.
“Grif.” Her eyes sparkled as she gave me another play slap.
“Coffee sounds great,” I told her. Mmmm, yeah, she liked that idea. So did I.Talk dirty to me, Kitten.
We watched her friend and two of her students go into the ice. Finally, Mercy came back over, holding shoes, a backpack, and the cane.
“Thanks.” Verity sat down in a plastic chair and pulled her shoes on, still trembling a little under the blanket.
“I’ll grab my stuff and change and meet you in front of the bathrooms?” I told her.
“Perfect.” Grabbing her backpack, she leaned on the cane and got up and walked off toward the bathrooms.
Mercy eyed me. “Good job not making a fuss over the crutch. I meant what I said about not breaking her heart. Ver might not be your typical alpha female, but she’s agoodperson who deserves fun and good things, not more assholes. I’m watching you.”
Alpha? Kitten was analpha.Huh. That must be the extra something I smelled. She probably used de-scenter on the plane. I grabbed my bag, shoes, and phone.
Usually, I’d be hesitant to date an alpha. But not her.
