Page 21 of The Goddess is Angry
It must be some kind of day if Church was the sane one when it came to sex with George. Don’t get me wrong, she was fantastic in bed, especially with the connection she had with Oscar and me. West and Church were slightly deranged when it came to our girlfriend.
“Oh, shit, look! We’re going to get to see Baby Drake in action!” West yelled.
I adored West. He was one of us. We’d never try to tame or change him. His balls being celestially blessed and could affect the outcome of a dodgeball match wasn’t even that weird. Some of Oscar’s teammates in high school had some pretty gross pregame rituals that made being in the same room with them pretty stinky.
He coined the nickname Baby Drake and nothing about that made sense. I didn’t know if Drake was bisexual, but he was definitely hot. He had this dark-ginger bad boy thing going. Drake had the tortured past, and he was also a musician who was willing to help Oscar. He also knew sign language. Like,I’dbe into bringing Drake into a relationship with Oscar and me if he could be a little more open-minded about witches, but we were with George and those two didn’t get along at all.
There was nothing soft and baby-like about Drake.
Like, he was guarding the goal like he was fully prepared to kill someone before he let the Earth Ball get by him. Some of the players on the other team weren’t very good. They were concentrating more on dodging the balls flying at them than being open to catch the Earth Ball and score for their team. A good dodgeball player had to be able to do both.
The bear shifter Zion had chosen as team captain and the warlock he chose to tame the team ball were doing most of the work. They were good players. Good enough to make the final cut when the rest of their team wasn’t up to par. They were showboating pretty hard, too.
The only person who could stop them from scoring at this point was Drake. The bear shifter thought he had it and he got arrogant about it. He was trying to show off. I guess he thought he needed to make a big impression after what George and Michael did in the air and his team was already down one point.
He made one key error. He tried to look Drake in the eyes in a show of bravado. Drake snared him right away, and he froze. Before his warlock friend could get to him and rescue the Earth Ball and try to score, the Water Ball hit him with a tidal wave and washed him halfway across the field.
Drake gave this dark sexy grin, picked up the Earth Ball, and threw it straight to the closest player on his team. Which happened to be George. She also smiled when she caught and tried to bean the warlock in the head with it. Drake whooped when it slammed into his chest so hard, he dropped it instead of catching it.
So, those twocouldget along and support each other when it came to sports. It was a fucking start.
george
Imissed playing dodgeball with my idiot brother. I thought those days were over when he graduated high school because the Academy of the Profane didn’t have a team. I had several tricks I couldn’t do without him because he had those wings that I’d never tell him were fabulous because he had a fat head about them.
My team won. The other team had some good people, but they were no match for us. I scored the last goal with an assist from Dexter, who was a beast in the air. Dexter was closest to me and tackled me. The rest of my team puppy piled on me.
Thisis what I loved about dodgeball. This match didn’t even matter. It was a tryout and Zion was watching how we played. There would be people from the losing team who made the cut and people from my team who didn’t. But we were just so excited we won, anyway.
We were all sweaty, and dirty, and some of us were burned or bleeding. That was dodgeball. Zion stepped on the field with his clipboard.
“That was a good show. I think I can not only put together a good team with this, but we’re going to kick some ass. I’ll be posting the final list on the academy message board as soon as I can get Azren to show me how to fucking do that and I finalize the team. Which is already making me cranky because back in my day, you had to drive to the stadium and read your name off a fucking list and now I have to figure out idiot message boards because your generation is all about instant gratification. Anyway, go take a fucking shower. All those hormones mean you’re also extra stinky after a match and as a bear shifter, some of you are pretty offensive right now. Get out of here.”
Zion Skinner just called us all entitled children who reeked, and I wasstill-ass crazy excited that I just tried out for his dodgeball team. I was getting ready to leave when Dexter pulled me off to the side.
“Dude, my brother said he first noticed you in flying class and I see why.”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about. Michael told me your secret. I want to go flying with Michael and I want to play dodgeball. I’m better in the air on the dodgeball team. I can’t fly and bind my chest at the same time. I can’t bemeand a pixie at the same time right now and I can’t afford top surgery. I won’t be able to for a while. Michael said you might be able to do something like that with no healing time.”
“I’m pretty sure Ican,but I’ve never done anything that big before. I’ve mostly only made sure my sister’s manicure is always perfect. I’m going to have to ask Azren for tips. They are tutoring me. Just let me make sure I can actually do this before I try.”
“Thanks. I think your fan club is waiting and so is mine.”
Michael scooped Dexter up like a caveman and carried him off the field on his shoulders. My guys were waiting for me. West was suspiciously in a trench coat that I was pretty sure he was naked underneath.
Drake was with them and he was grinning. I’d give it to Drake. We couldn’t get through an entire meal in the dining hall without him getting in at least one dig at me, but we played dodgeball together seamlessly. He was getting slightly better about being rude to me, but I still had no idea what I was supposed to be helping him with.
“Bold move taming the Air Ball. I’ve literally never seen that done before,” Drake said.
“Me neither,” Oscar said.
“That’s because no one does it,” West said. “I’ve watched old dodgeball games from way back and everyone goes for the Earth ball or tries to take the Fire Ball out of commission.”
“They should,” Oscar said. “Passing it or scoring with it issomuch easier than any of the other balls. The Earth Ball is bulky and vibrates. The Fire Ball won’t burn you once it’s been tamed, but it’s still hot and it shocks you. You can drop them if you aren’t careful. The Air Ball is light and I’ve never played an easier game.”
“Have you tried the Water Ball?” Drake asked. “Something tells me you did, but you decided to make the Air Ball your signature move.”
Was that a compliment? I was having a blast trying to make the dodgeball team doing moves I perfected with my brother on the lawn outside the Library of the Profane. I wasn’t trying to impress Drake, but if he could be pleasant right now, so could I.
