Page 21 of Misbehaving With Minotaurs (Haven Ever After #8)

CHAPTER TWELVE

MANORIN

T hank fuck Catherine agreed to go out with me tonight, because this day is a shit show otherwise.

I pinch the base of my snout between my eyes as I stare at the monsters seated in the stadium war room.

“We’ve already ascertained that none of you want full-time roles on the team.

That being the case, the only way to grow it is to recruit heavily and spend money on a solid first string and solid second string. ”

Dropping my hand, I look around at the gargoyle brothers, Arkan and Hana, the former Keeper, Abemet, and a handful of others.

I throw my arms wide. “If you want to be successful at growing skyball, this is what you have to do at a minimum. Plus all the infrastructure expansion I’ve outlined. Plus paying me.”

Silence. Furtive glances.

I resist the urge to knock heads together.

Finally, I sigh and lean back in my chair. “Why’d you call me here?”

Alo, the older of the Rygold brothers, crosses his arms and sits back in his chair.

“To be honest, we might have been a little hasty in that, in my opinion. We’re growing whether we want to or not—that part is clear from how busy everyone is.

But the more you talk about infrastructure, the more I wonder if we should focus there first.”

This is an important crux in their decision-making path. I can’t force this, and I shouldn’t. So I remain silent, waiting to see who’ll tack on another opinion.

Arkan walks a slow circle around the room, a habit I see he’s never managed to kick.

“We should do both at the same time. We can do both at the same time. Looking back on the plans from when Ever was first designed and built, it was always the intention for this haven to be larger and accommodate more Evertons.”

“Was skyball mentioned?” That from Shepherd Rygold, Alo’s younger brother.

Arkan’s pale eyes flick to me, softening, and then he shakes his head. “Not specifically, although it looks like Abemet did a fair amount of work when Ever first began ensuring we’d be set up for a skyball team.” He looks at the tall vampire. “Any chance you can provide context here?”

Abe leans forward over the long oval table in my—their—war room, glittering red eyes rounding the room before he halts on me.

“As a group, we’ve gone back and forth on this, but it’s my opinion we need to go all in on skyball.

Havens that do so experience not only better financial growth, but they get better scores on the headquarter’s satisfaction surveys.

There’s a better sense of community in havens with teams. Not only that, but residents tend to remain longer in havens with skyball.

It’s a quality-of-life improvement. For a moment, set aside your personal feelings about playing and just assume you could all be spectators with no other skyball responsibilities. ”

I nod at the reports I’d put together for the team prior to this meeting. “If you flip to the backmost section of that report, you’ll see specific stats from the best- and worst-performing skyball teams in the league. What Abemet’s saying is backed by the data.”

I look around the gathered monsters, wishing Catherine were here. She had an unfortunately timed meeting with Morgan this morning, but I’d dearly love her perspective here.

“There’s already a lot of chatter about the exhibition game even though we just announced it,” Hana says after a short silence.

“We asked Manorin here for a trial period. We can’t keep wiffle-waffling about whether or not this is a priority.

Ever’s going through growing pains now; I know you all feel that.

It’s my opinion that we start on the infrastructure immediately, and I think we’re already aligned on that.

We have to do that to keep pace with the natural population growth.

That part’s a given. But as Ever grows, let's give them that symbol of community to rally around.”

She smiles over at me. “The reality is that we basically don’t have a team now. If Manorin can pull one together for next year’s season, that would be a miracle. The likelihood is that we’d need a building year, and the following year we’d launch more fully.”

“That’s right,” I offer. “I’m headed to Pine Gulch this weekend, and I plan to do a little subversive recruiting. But I don’t wanna dive deep into that without your full backing.”

“We should vote,” Abe says quietly. “Those in favor, raise your hand.”

“We’re missing Catherine,” Alo notes.

“She’s a yes.” I stare at him. “You know she is.”

Alo sighs when everyone’s hands go up but his.

After a long pause, he runs both hands through his dark waves.

“Honestly, I think I’m just missing the days when Ever felt like it was hidden from the world, even the monster world.

We’re not remote anymore with monsters visiting so easily, and I just think I’m going to miss how it used to be. ”

“It’s still Ever,” his brother says softly. “And change isn’t always bad.”

I stare at him until he lifts his gaze to mine.

“We can build thoughtfully. There’s absolutely no need to lose Ever’s charming vibe.

That’s why monsters come here to visit. It’s one of the reasons Ever’s been such a successful haven.

If we’re conscientious of that as we plan, we’ll keep that small town feeling even as we grow.

Pocket neighborhoods over sprawl, things like that.

There are already two downtowns that feel like two separate entities. There’s space for more of that.”

He nods, but it seems clear he’s still not fully on board.

“That settles it then,” Abe says in a confident tone, smiling over at me. “We’re in your corner, Coach.”

He’s saying the right words, but I can’t shake the feeling that they’re not entirely true, which puts this entire job on somewhat tenuous footing.

A s evening rolls around, I double-check my preparations for my date with Cath. I’ve stuck an extra set of clothing, snacks, and a bottle of wine in a small sling bag.

I’m ready. She mentioned earlier that we were doing too much dating, but I can’t find it in me to stop. I thought I could be her dirty little secret for a few weeks—shit, the idea of that is appealing—but I find myself wanting to spend a lot more time with her than that.

Excitement moves me out of my room, heading downstairs to find Catherine. I comm’d her earlier and asked her to meet me in the front room.

Still, nothing prepared me for seeing her in a short leather miniskirt and white tee.

The shirt highlights her heavy, large breasts and the roundness of her waist and hips.

I halt at the bottom of the stairs, my mouth dry as I drop my eyes to the black stilettos on her impossibly adorable feet.

Her nails are painted red, my favorite color.

She did that for me. Her favorite color is pale pink.

“Love the red,” I murmur, bringing my focus back to her face.

Her smile lights up the entire room, and I’d swear I can almost see glittery stars dancing around us.

Dating someone you’ve dated before is a wholly different experience from what I’m used to.

No, not dating. Hooking up. Because I promised her there were no strings attached, and I’d do well to remember that.

But I know her already. There’ll be none of those awkward first-date silences. None of the having a good time, only to discover the person’s life priorities don’t match yours. None of the worry that she’s only with me for the paparazzi photos and glamorous evenings out.

“I’m excited for our date, Nor,” she says in a bubbly tone, smiling up at me. She crosses the small space between us and slides a hand to the middle of my chest, rubbing soft circles. “I had a couple ideas if you’re looking for something spec?—”

“Stop that,” I say with a laugh, pulling her closer. With one hand, I sling the bag over my shoulder and tip her chin up. “I made a plan for this date. This is all about having fun with you. You don’t need to plan a thing, Cath.”

The familiar pink blush crawls along her cheeks and down her neck. “Is that so?”

I lift my chin and stare at her. “It’s so. You ready?”

She nods, so I grab her hand in mine and guide us toward the door. When Annabelle swings the double doors wide, I thank her. The little inn’s so friendly and hospitable. I’m thoroughly enjoying my time staying with her. I rub a spot outside the front door as we leave.

“Bye, sweet girl. We’ll be back in a few hours, alright? ”

Annabelle wiggles her shutters at me, reminding me I promised to get those sanded and painted.

“Tomorrow,” I promise her, pointing at the sandpaper and fresh gallon of white trim paint. “I’m all yours tomorrow, Sweetheart.”

Annabelle rolls the sandpaper toward me but I shake my head with a laugh.

Grabbing it, I set it on top of the nearest shutter and pat it lovingly. “Tomorrow, I swear.”

Cath is quiet as we descend the stairs and head up Sycamore toward the skyball stadium.

She laughs. “Are we going to your office?”

My nostrils flare, and I chuckle. “Not my plan, but the idea of doing things to you in my office is very appealing.” I wink down at her. “Some other night.” Glancing farther down at her pretty red toes reminds me I should let her in on a little bit of tonight’s plan.

“We’re going for a ride,” I say. “I just don’t wanna get naked in front of Annabelle for all of Ever to see.”

Catherine grips my hand tighter. “That sounds absolutely fabulous, Manorin.”

I can’t resist a dig, though, and I tug her hand to pull her focus up to me. “Did that centaur ever take you for a ride, Cath?”

Her throaty laughter tells me everything I need to know.

Halting, I pull her to my chest and bend down enough to bring my muzzle to her ear. “Tell me, Cath. Did he ever put you up on that big, broad back so he could feel your pussy on his fur?”

She growls softly.

“That’s what I thought.” I nip at the skin just beneath her ear. “You’re gonna ride me, woman, and I want to feel every naked inch of you. ”