Page 6 of Accidentally Joining His Cult

“Wow! Youlikethis guy,” Adrian says excitedly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you light up when you talk about someone until just now.”

I roll my eyes again but don’t disagree with him.

“I don’t think that you need to be nervous if he already mentioned hooking up, sounds like he likes you too,” Jordan points out.

“That’s true.”

The crowd groans, pulling our attention back to the game. A holding penalty was just called against one of our defensemen. With only three minutes left in the game, losing one of our players for the next two dramatically decreases our odds of winning.

Maybe we can hold them at a tie, go into overtime, and at least get one point for the season.

Our penalty kill unit takes the ice for the face off. Somehow, our center wins possession and passes the puck to the left winger, who breaks away toward their goal. The entire arena holds its breath as he charges down the ice. Near the net, he fakes right and flips the puck into the top-left corner.

Goal!

Werewolves take the lead with just over a minute left in the game.

Our goal song plays, and everyone jumps around scream-singing along. I love our fan base so much, I’ll never get bored of being in this crowd. The joy is infectious and reminds me of Cody with his contagious smile and upbeat attitude.

Does Cody like hockey?

Focus. Stop thinking about the hot man.Be present.

We’re all on the edge of our seats as the final minute counts down, and when the final buzzer sounds, the true celebration begins.

No one brings up Cody or my date again, but I can’t stop thinking about him.

* * *

I’m pretendinglike I’m my usual, confident, put-together self as I walk into the hotel for today’s class. Like Ididn'tchange my outfit five times while getting ready this morning.

I started in one of my usual designer black suits. I figured that I’d met Cody while we were both in suits, and he must have liked what he saw to agree to this date, I should stick with what works. But then I was worried about looking like a pretentious asshole wearing a fancy suit in a Saturday morning self-help workshop or whatever the fuck this class is.

My next attempt was too casual in a designer tracksuit. It probably costs more than most people’s tuxes, but I have money and I like nice clothes, sue me. Back in the black formal suit, I thought that maybe a colored one would be more casual, but couldn’t decide if that looked like I was trying too hard.

I finally landed on a pair of charcoal tailored chinos and a fitted black button-up with some wing-tipped black boots. It’s one of those random warm days in early March, and if I don’t have to deal with a coat all day, I’m happy to skip it. It’ll probably snow again next week, so I’ll enjoy it while I can.

I’d hoped to talk to Cody before the program began to confirm the details for this evening. I arrived at the hotel thirty minutes early, and even though they insisted on having us sign NDAs and turn our phones over as a part of the super fucking weird check-in process, I still figured that would leave us plenty of time.

Apparently, I underestimated his popularity.

Cody has a crowd around where he’s standing at the front of the conference room, casually leaning against a podium in a hot as fuck fitted royal blue suit. He definitely doesn’t look like he’s trying too hard. His dress shirt has the top few buttons undone, and a silver necklace draws my attention to the light dusting of hair visible on his defined chest. My cock is already thickening as I picture ripping the rest of his buttons off tonight.

Fuck. It is way too early in the day for those thoughts.I don’t know how I’m going to get through a whole day of staring at him without being hard the entire time.

I think of boobs and women, willing my dick to calm down as I reevaluate my plan of securing his attention before the class. There’s no way all of those people will give us a moment alone.

I also don’t want to be stuck in the back of the room all day, so I snag the last open seat that I can find in the first few rows. It’s at the end of the third row near the center aisle, so my view of Cody should be unobstructed.

I still would have preferred to sit in the very front.

I’m not above asking people to give up their seat for me, but that might not go over as well when they don’t work for me, and I’m not trying to start any drama before the class even begins, so this will have to do.

Looking around the room, I’m surprised by the number of people who have shown up to participate. The screen at the front of the room next to the podium reads “Individual Empowerment Program” with smaller text under that reading “a Kyla trademark developed by Viktor Kivela” so apparently that’s what we’ve all signed up for.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m out of touch when it comes to the cost of things, and “expensive” to me might not be the same as the average person. I tend not to look at prices when I buy things, but even I was surprised when I heard how much this program was.

I’ve heard people complain about how expensive it is to go to a Werewolves game. But even if a couple bought first-level seats at center ice, brand new jerseys, meals, and beer for the entire game, it would cost less than one of these courses.

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