Page 17 of Pucking Them
Cody is good at his job.
“So?”
“Four.”
Cody’s lips pinch with worry. “Let’s go inside and set up. You need pain meds, and we need to talk about this.”
The same anxiety and panic that is sheeting across Shay’s face must be reflected across mine.
“What’s wrong?” I demand.
“Healing takes time. It’s different for different people,” Cody replies. “How about I arrange some specialist hospital appointments to see what’s going on, Dee?”
Eden gives a reluctant nod.
Cody shifts from leg to leg like he’s debating saying something more, as his gaze darts from me to D’Angelo and then back again.
Finally, he says in a low voice like he’s passing on information in a spy movie, “You should check out that new app. You can hold private meetings and chats on it. Plus, gain a sense of what everyone else is doing. And right now, among the staff, there is a lot of panic, gossip, and a whole load of crisis meetings. They let the team have this weekend off as if it was a reward, but I reckon that it was an excuse to keep them out of the arena, while the board and higher up staff hold secret talks. Monday morning, I feel like a crisis is going to fall on our heads. Dad is on the rampage. He’s furious about something, sending me voicemail after voicemail and…I’m scared.”
CHAPTER THREE
Rebel Arena, Freedom
D’Angelo
I stand in the cold,narrow corridor in Rebel Arena, facing the door.
I glare at the neat brass plaque:
Silas Anderson, Finance Manager
From the moment that my beautiful Robyn blurted out her brother’s name, while she lay recovering from being ravaged as the twins’ prize, I’d known that I would be called in to have my ass kicked by someone today.
One of the downsides of being both a natural dom and then being trained by someone as dedicated as Tyson Fleet is being able to read body language and facial cues.
Cody had been screaming both anxiety and fear, despite attempting to hide it under his normal cheery smile.
Possibly, it’s not surprising that he has become such close friends with Eden, when he reminds me of Shay.
He’s a brat who hides his pain to spare those around him.
What is so bad that Cody ended up admitting that he wasscared?
My mouth tightens.
Cody is my family now.
I won’t allow coach to continue to terrorize his own family.
Terrorize the entire team, who are also my brothers.
Living in Freedom Mansion for the last few months has meant learning what it is truly like to be loved and accepted at the same time as sharing my space, even if that means smashed windows, kitchen counters smeared in raspberry jam, and the awkward elbow battle of brushing my teeth alongside three other people.
I’ve also had the pressure of leading my team through the best season of our lives.
I won’t fail them now…fail any of them…the people who have made my life worth living again.
I stare down at my phone’s screen and the new Bay Rebel’s scheduling app.
