Page 26 of Gross Misconduct

“I’m sorry. I…” Just when I think a real answer is going to come out of his mouth, he clears his throat, as if shoving it back down. “I enjoyed spending time with you, and maybe we can be friends.”

I’m starting to realize that Griffin isn’t the suave, charming guy I thought he was. It’s like he’s never been with a guy. How did he ever find his ex-wife? A mail-order website? Perhaps getting pushed away from his crotch was the best thing that could’ve happened to me.

“I think the friend ship has sailed. And now I find out that you tried to have me tossed from the league?” I laugh again, and I realize that it’s masking anger. “You know what comes next, Griffin?”

“What?”

A smile slashes across my lips. “Payback.”

9

GRIFFIN

My frustration over Jack fades away the second I open the front door to Carmen’s house.

“Daddy!” Annabelle’s and June’s voices echo in the hallway as they barrel toward me. Their small bodies move with such exaggerated movement that it convinces me their bones are made of bouncy balls.

“Angels.” I scoop them into a hug, each arm wrapping around a daughter. I know my days of doing this are numbered. Each time I see them, they look more like burgeoning teenagers.

June breaks from the hug first and tugs at my sleeve with utmost urgency, her eyes going so wide they take over her face.

“We built the ice castle!” she says. “It’s so cool!”

Annabelle, her quiet second in command, nods along. June grabs my hand—I remember when her fingers could only curl around my thumb—and drags me to the living room.

In the kitchen, Carmen makes quesadillas on the stove. She waves to me.

The girls plunk me down on the floor. They’ve arranged pillows and blankets into a droopy structure that only they’re small enough to crawl into.

“This is the ice castle!” June exclaims. “Annabelle created it with her hands.”

Annabelle does a spell, complete with sound effects. She then joins her sister inside. The pillows wobble as she shimmies through the opening.

“Annabelle, careful!” June warns.

“That’s a nice ice castle, better than the one in the movie,” I say.

“It’s really big in here,” June says through another opening made from arranging the throw pillows to form a window. “There’re almost too many rooms.”

“How many bedrooms?” I ask.

“Seven.”

“Wow. Lotta bedrooms.” I whistle. “Have many people do you have living there?”

“It’s just me and June,” Annabelle says, getting a word in edgewise with her sister, not always an easy task. “But one of the bedrooms is for our pet reindeer, George.”

“His room is at the other end of the castle because he chain smokes,” June tells me. “We’re trying to get him to quit.”

Kids’ imaginations are the most creative things in the world. It’s like one big game of Mad Libs.

“One of the bedrooms was turned into a pool,” Annabelle says. “A pool with a waterfall.”

I’m about to ask how a pool and waterfall in an ice castle don’t turn to ice themselves, but I don’t want to ruin the fun.

“We caught George smoking a cigarette in the pool.” Annabelle shakes her head. “We really want him to quit.”

“I told George I don’t want any smoking in my house.” Carmen squats down next to me. “I’m going to have another talk with him.”

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