I Pucking Love You (The Copper Valley Thrusters #5) - Pippa Grant Page 0,51

their games.”

“No pressure if you’re not interested,” West adds to her with a head nod toward me. “We’d get it. But you’re still welcome.”

I ignore the subtle jab that I’m no fun to hang out with.

“It was nice to meet you too,” Muffy says to West. “I hope you enjoy Richmond today.”

“Do you need any extra guests at the funeral, Veda?” Daisy asks. “I’m very good at distracting annoying family members. All I need is the obituary and a general timeframe when your father might’ve taken a trip where I might’ve possibly met him, and I can be the life of a party.”

I shoot West a look. Who the fuck volunteers to go be the life of a party at a funeral?

He shrugs, but he’s clearly hiding a smile.

“Are you serious right now?” Veda asks her.

West turns that smile onto his wife. “Daisy’s life mission is to improve other people’s lives.”

Veda and Muffy share another look.

“Not to sound rude,” Muffy says, “but if you come, can you pretend you don’t know us?”

Daisy winks. “Only if you promise to let me take you out for drinks next time I’m in Copper Valley.”

19

Muffy

Tyler’s in a mood, and I know I should care, because it’s probably my fault—funeral, awkwardness, his bruised butt, you name it—but I don’t.

He might be holding my hand as we stand graveside behind Veda and her uncle in the dreary November morning, and it might be stupidly reassuring since Dr. Richardson is right across the casket and keeps looking at me, but I still don’t care that he’s in a mood.

I thought he didn’t care that I’m a disaster, and that he found me attractive despite all that, but clearly, I was wrong.

If I embarrass him, then he shouldn’t have taken me to breakfast with his family.

I embarrass myself plenty.

I don’t need to carry the weight of his embarrassment too.

Plus, why is Dr. Richardson staring at me again?

I paid him back what he bid on me. I didn’t even tell Veda who met me in that hotel room. If he’s going to cause a scene—

A woman starts singing a funeral song, and I’ve been paying little enough attention to the service that her sudden acapella performance makes me jerk.

Tyler leans down like he’s going to ask if I’m okay.

But that’s not what he asks. “Why is that asshole you ran into yesterday staring at you?”

“What asshole?”

“I told myself I wouldn’t pry, but if I need to take him behind a headstone and beat the shit out of him, squeeze my hand twice.”

I choke on an unexpected laugh at the image of Tyler grabbing Dr. Richardson and trying to stealthily beat him behind one of the wider headstones in this cemetery, like any of them are small enough here that no one would notice a two-hundred-pound hockey player beating a sixty-year-old man.

But then, considering the Daisy Carter-Kincaid factor, it’s likely no one really would notice. People can’t stop stealing glances at her.

Naturally.

She’s utterly stunning in her black dress, and she’d stand out even without the blue hair and massive sparkly sunglasses.

And she’s behind Dr. Richardson, for the record.

He is not staring at her.

I’ll bet she and Tyler have some secret signal that would prompt her to pull her flask out of her cleavage and pretend she’s trying to be subtle about taking a hit off of it so that everyone would watch her while he leaps across the casket, grabs Dr. Richardson, and pushes him behind that taller, but still not very tall, tombstone a few rows back.

Not that I’d ask Tyler to beat anyone up. Especially at a funeral.

Especially when I’m starting to want to beat him up myself.

It was my fault for thinking that auctioning my virginity was something I could follow through with, and for not considering that a faculty member might be the one to win me instead of one of the preppy trust fund students.

But yeah, I’m totally squicked out at the fact that he keeps staring at me.

And now I’m wondering how many other students he’s slept with. Or tried to sleep with.

And if his wife knows.

Tyler lets go of my hand, then clamps his arm around my shoulders so tight that I get a weird pull in my hips and have to adjust my stance.

Across the casket, Dr. Richardson goes pasty white. He looks down quickly and steps closer to his wife, who makes one of those back up and give me space looks and steps away from him, running right into Daisy,