Puck Performance: BTU Alumni Series Book #4

by Ciz, Alley

  When I think we’re done, Jase rushes from the room, his footsteps pounding on the stairs on the way to our bedroom. He’s back as quickly as he left and tosses a white t-shirt at me. The move catches me off guard, the material hitting my chest then falling to the ground.

  By the time I’ve scooped it up, he’s already changed into his, and I snort when I read the words ‘She’s my Sweet Potato’ written in black lettering. Unfolding mine, I snort again seeing mine reads ‘I Yam.’

  Grinning like the corny fools we are, we stand behind the Cup, posing with it and our Playskool counterparts.

  Jordan suggests us doing one holding them, and when Jase hands me Mrs. Potato Head, she rattles.

  I give her a shake, trying to suss out what could be making the noise but failing. I would say it’s her extra pieces, but neither of us store them inside the toys.

  Flipping open the hatch in the back, I turn her over, leaving my palm open underneath to catch the last thing I expected to find inside.

  “Shit! I didn’t bring a notebook.” I hear Maddey curse but tune out her and all my fellow Covenettes watching us like we’re the latest episode of The Bachelor.

  I look from my hand to my boyfriend and back again, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing.

  “Jase?”

  He reaches out, taking the metal object from my hand with a wink.

  “Mels, baby.” Arms snake around my middle. “Our schedules are busier than Walmart on Black Friday.” I’m hit with soap and ice as he tugs me even closer. “I want to at least know I get to come home to you at the end of the day.”

  Is he asking what I think he’s asking?

  “Will you move in with me?”

  Oh-em-gee! He is!

  “Are you serious?” My voice rises an octave with each word. I already have the code, but a key to the deadbolt? That proves the place would be mine too.

  “As serious as I take my potatoes.” He winks again, his eyes swirling green and gold in anticipation of my answer.

  I jump him, my arms circling his neck and my legs going around his waist. I taste hints of coffee and tomato sauce as I kiss him long and deep.

  “Couldn’t have written it better myself,” Maddey cheers.

  “Am I going to be subjected to this any time I come visit?” my brother grumbles.

  “Don’t worry, you get used to it,” Ryan offers.

  “Bullshit, Cap,” Becky says. “You still gag whenever Jake loves up on your sister.”

  “Kissing and hearing about the latest way one of your best friends just dicked down your little sister are two completely different things.”

  “Can you not use the words dicked down and little sister together in the same sentence ever again? Please and thank you,” Jordan asks.

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” I lock eyes with Jase.

  “Absolutely.” He cups my ass, holding me up like I weigh nothing. God, his strength is one of my biggest turn-ons. “I want to have you in a place all to ourselves.”

  “All to ourselves?” I arch a brow. “Your place is busier than Grand Central some days.”

  He nods. “True, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want to go to bed with you every night I’m not on the road.”

  Why does he have to be so swoony?

  I bring our foreheads together. “Yes.”

  His eyes flash the brightest green yet. “Yes?”

  “Yes, roomie.”

  He smile is so wide it rivals any I’ve ever seen before.

  I have a feeling the role of his roomie will be my favorite one of all.

  Epilogue 3- Justin

  While the rest of my friends are distracted by the most recent cohabitation of the group, I step outside onto the back deck, shutting the doors behind me, and make my way onto the beach to avoid being overheard while I handle some business.

  I love my sister more than words, but Maddey’s stubborn streak is going to get her killed—potentially literally.

  For months she hid the fact that she has a stalker from me—and make no mistake, it is a stalker, no matter how much she tries to brush it off—then she goes and rebukes any attempts we make at keeping her safe. It’s infuriating.

  I don’t hit women, but I’m this close to strangling one.

  First, she says nothing.

  Then when she does, she downplays the issue entirely.

  Every attempt at offering her protection is shot down, no matter where it comes from.

  Ryan, the ex-boyfriend turned bestie? Nope.

  Sammy, childhood best friend, and his husband Jamie offering up use of one of the rock star’s security detail? Declined.

  Me, big brother, ex-Navy SEAL turned cop? That would be a big, fat no.

  Even our father failed to make her see reason.

  Get why I want to strangle her?

  The most exasperating part is that she was able counter any argument we made by throwing the training I taught her in my face.

  I’ve only known about it for a month, but to say I epically lost my shit when I found out it has been going on for eight months would be like me saying BUD/S was easy.

  Maddey tried to mollify me by saying it’s only ramped up in the month I’ve been aware of the situation. Yeah, that went over as well as doing a HALO jump without a chute.

  There’s only one person she won’t be able to charm. He is also one of only a handful of people I can entrust with my sister’s life.

  The logistics of getting him here and making it possible for him to have the time off will be…complicated.

  Good thing there are more than a few brass who owe my family favors.

  Time to make some phone calls.

  * * *

  Holy crap! What is going to happen? Find out in June in BTU5.

  How did Jase and Nate bury the hatchet? Click here to see how the bromance started.

  Are you one of the cool people who writes reviews? Puck Performance can be found on Amazon, Goodreads, and BookBub.

  Randomness For My Readers

  Whoop! Welcome to the craziness that makes up my mind.

  I hope you enjoyed Jase and Melody’s story and hanging out with the BTU Alumni Squad again.

  If everyone was new to you, you can see where the group began and learn the story of Jordan’s ex in Power Play, see what went down with Curtis ‘The Cutter’ Cutler in Tap Out, and how Jase told Vince to bend the knee in Sweet Victory.

  So now for a little bullet style fun facts:

  * I have the same Marilyn painting as Melody and until I moved in with the Hubs it hung above my bed too.

  * Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire are my favorite Marilyn movies.

  * The Hubs and I love all the different sports All-Star Skills Challenges. The NHL’s is our favorite but our Valentine’s Day weekend tradition is to watch the NBA’s skills comps.

  * The old shootout challenge was my favorite and I can’t tell you how many hours of footage I watched on YouTube writing this. Trust me, if you aren’t familiar with it, look it up. I dare you to watch it without a smile on your face.

  * If this was the first book you’ve read of mine I can tell you Friends is one of my all time top shows. But like the crew here, Sons of Anarchy, Saved by the Bell, and Full House are right up there too.

  * The Duel is loosely based off of a piano bar in NYC.

  * You can meet all the boys from BoP in The Rule Breaker Anthology coming out April 2020. I’m super honored to have Sammy and Jamie’s story to be included in a book with some of my author besties.

  * Karaoke was a staple of my squad when we were younger. We would go to the bar for it every Wednesday night.

  * I too played Peter’s sister in a school production. But I was in 2nd grade and that was the end of my acting career lol.

  * You know I love to fangirl and give a shoutout in my books to some of my faves so of course I had to go with my girl LJ Shen’s Hotholes. I just love all those alpha holes so damn much. Plus she is
one of the sweetest people the internet has brought into my life.

  * The TV show SMASH was a big inspiration for Melody’s musical. I was so, so sad when it got cancelled.

  * Fun fact. I went to a wedding this past fall and one of my Covenettes used packing tape to secure her boobs. And yes I did warn her I would tell this story lol.

  * The Cup Day stories are a real thing. I have a bunch of them pinned on the BTU4 Pinterest board.

  *The story about the Garden’s mortgage is actually a true story about the NY Rangers.

  If my rambling hasn’t turned you off and you are like “This chick is my kind of crazy,” feel free to reach out!

  Lots of Love,

  Alley

  For A Good Time Call

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  Acknowledgments

  This is where I get to say thank you, hopefully I don’t miss anyone. If I do I’m sorry and I still love you, just you know, mommy brain.

  I’ll start with the Hubs—who even though he gave me crap again that this book also isn’t dedicated to him he’s still the real MVP—he has to deal with my lack of sleep, putting off laundry *because… laundry* and helping to hold the fort down with our three crazy mini royals. You truly are my best friend. Also, I’m sure he would want me to make sure I say thanks for all the hero inspiration, but it is true (even if he has no ink *winking emoji*)

  To my Beta Bitches, my OG Coven: Gemma, Jenny, Megan, Caitie, Sarah, Nova, Andi, and Dana. Our real life Coven Conversations give me life.

  To Stef and Michele for taking another pass over Jase to make sure he was as perfect as he deserved.

  To Jenny (again) my PA, without her I wouldn’t be organized enough for any of my releases to happen. Thank you for being the other half of my brain and video chatting all hours, damn our timezones and letting me break your heart over and over with this book. You know I live for your shouty capitals.

  For Jess my editor for always pushing me to make the story just that much deeper. Some of those shouty capitals are in your honor lol.

  For Caitlin my other editor for entering my crazy and making sure my words sparkle.

  To Gemma (again) for going from my proofreader to fangirl and being so invested in my characters stories to threaten my life *lovingly of course* I can’t even begin to tell you how entertained I was by all your hockey questions.

  To Dawn for giving Puck Performance it’s final spit shine.

  To Mama Dukes for taking me to my first Broadway show and making me fall in love with musical theater from the first time you ever had me watch The Sound of Music. All these years later seeing a show with you is still one of my favorite things to do.

  To my street team for being the best pimps ever. Seriously, you guys rock my socks.

  To my ARC team for giving my books some early love and getting the word out there.

  To every blogger and bookstagrammer that takes a chance and reads my words and writes about them.

  Thank you to all the authors in the indie community for your continued support. I am so happy to be a part of this amazing group of people.

  To my fellow Covenettes for making my reader group one of my happy places. Whenever you guys post things that you know belong there I squeal a little.

  And, of course, to you my fabulous reader, for picking up my book and giving me a chance. Without you I wouldn’t be able to live my dream of bringing to life the stories the voices in my head tell me.

  Lots of Love,

  Alley

  Also by Alley Ciz

  BTU Alumni Series

  Power Play (Jake and Jordan)

  Tap Out (Gage and Rocky)

  Sweet Victory (Vince and Holly)

  Puck Performance (Jase and Melody)

  BTU5- Coming June 2020

  U of J Series

  U of J 1- Coming September 2020

  U of J 2- Coming October 2020

  U of J 3- Coming November 2020

  About the Author

  Alley Ciz is an indie author of Contemporary/New Adult, Rom-Com, Sports Romances.

  She's a stay at home mom to 3 amazing and crazy mini royals, a 95lb lab, and let's face it on some days her hubby is her 4th kid... But to be fair she totally loves him a a lot.

  When she's not corralling her crazy mini royals she can be found writing the stories the voices in her head tell her. Caffeine is a staple in her daily diet since she does most of her writing late at night when the rest of her house is asleep, usually with her trusty dog Buke (short for Beukeboom reluctantly named after a NY Ranger even though she's a NJ Devils fan all the way) Is it any surprise she writes sports romances?

  Pizza and mac-n-cheese are major food groups and she is a proud Potterhead and superhero buff.

  She is a complete romance junkie and can always be found reading or listening to a book.