Page 31 of Grizz

“You realize this partnership is for premium concessions, not a dessert buffet?”

He shrugs, unbothered.“Sounds like ayouproblem.”

I cross my arms.“You’re impossible.”

“Yeah, but I’m charming about it.”

I sigh, the sound exasperated.“Fine.You’ll get dessert.Whatever you want.Just get him out here and into a cab with me in the next sixty seconds.”

He grins.“Now we’re talking.”

“Sixty seconds, Tanner.I’m serious.”

“Sixty seconds,” he repeats, pushing off the wall with an easy roll of his shoulders.“You better start warming up the cab.”

I point a finger at him.“Don’t test me.”

He gives a lazy salute.“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Then he disappears through the locker room doors, the hinges hissing shut behind him.

A few seconds later, I hear the faint bounce of a ball and the crack of paddles.Someone yells, “Point!”followed by laughter.

I close my eyes, practice my box breathing to calm myself, and check my watch again.

Tanner now has fifty seconds to deliver the package.I walk outside and hail a cab, intent on having it ready to shove Grizz inside.“Just waiting on someone,” I tell the driver when I open the rear door.He nods without a word.

Thirty seconds.Then twenty, then ten—

When Tanner finally exits the training facility with Grizz walking behind him like it’s a hostage exchange, he looks pleased with himself.

“Three seconds to spare,” he says, pointing at me.“Dessert privileges secured.”

I don’t even look at him as Grizz slides into the cab.As I’m buckling my seat belt, I lean over and say, “Zero seconds, actually, but since I’m reasonable, I’ll get you desserts for the week, not a month.Hope you enjoy chocolate cake.”

He grins.“I savor anything I don’t have to pay for.”

Then he’s gone, leaving me and Grizz as we buckle up.He’s wearing a hoodie and a backward cap and has that same relaxed posture that makes me want to throw his phone out the window.

He manspreads, one knee against the door, and glances at me like he’s boarding a flight he didn’t book.“Morning,” he says as the cabbie pulls onto the street and heads down Broadway.

The late-afternoon sunlight slices between the buildings, highlighting the dust on the dashboard.I turn toward Grizz, arms folded and irritation still buzzing beneath my skin.“You’re late,” I snap, stating the obvious.

He grins without even looking at me, attention squarely on his phone.“Technically, we’re moving now.So, I’d say we’re on time.”

I bite the inside of my cheek hard enough to feel it.“You were supposed to be ready to leave thirty minutes ago.”

“Yeah, but I had to defend my title.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, squeeze my eyes shut, and pray for patience.“You can’t skip a sponsor shoot to play ping-pong.”

“Correction,” he says, scrolling his phone.“Iwona ping-pong game while being fashionably late to a sponsor shoot.Feels like a win-win.”

I stare at him, incredulous.He’s too relaxed… too unbothered.“You know what?I don’t even care about the ping-pong.What I care about is that you keep treating these commitments like they’re optional.”

He doesn’t look up.“That’s because for me, they are.”

The arrogance is eye-popping.I laugh under my breath.“You really think that?”