“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, mate,” said Fluke.
“Did you see it too?” He heard how utterly dazed and insanely stupid he sounded.
“Nope?”
“Mitch?”
“Nah, you’re the one got stung.”
“I don’t know what just happened.”
Mitch laughed, but not unkindly, and jostled Fluke. “You’re in trouble, Dan.”
“But I haven’t done anything. I just stood there like they told me to.”
“Yeah, you did something.”
Dan turned to Fluke, always the ‘go to’ for tricky things. “What did I do?”
“I think you might have taken the plunge, mate.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She’s the one.”
“What?”
“She’s the one.”
“What one?”
Mitch jumped in, “Some pissed off angel in a nappy shot you in the fat head with a laser beam.”
“Be serious!”
“I am. She just hit you for six, Dan. You’re gone.”
Dan looked at Fluke to verify the emergence of this horror, both hands up as though to ward off the danger, to bounce the dirty truth of it away.
“Yeah,” said Fluke, “Your dog days are over bar how fast she tells you to fuck off and how long you stay depressed about it.”
Buy Grease Monkey Jive
About Ainslie Paton
Ainslie Paton is a corporate storyteller working in marketing, public relations and advertising.
She’s written about everything from the African refugee crisis and Toxic Shock Syndrome, to high-speed data networks and hamburgers, and for everyone from George Clooney to Barry Humphries—as Edna.
She writes cracking, hyper-real romances about strong women and the exciting men who love them.
She’s the author of the bestseller, Grease Monkey Jive, as well as Getting Real, White Balance and other stories.
Ainslie blogs at: www.ainsliepaton.com.au and tweets when she should be working @AinsliePaton.
You can buy other Ainslie Paton titles at: www.escapepublishing.com.au or at Amazon
Acknowledgements
This story is for readers who enjoyed surfing through Grease Monkey Jive.
Blame it on Rhian Cahill for suggesting it and the trusty BTA for agreeing it can make like a grommet and have its own wave.
Special thanks to Kathryn Pryor for expert beta reading, and Rebekah Turner, mother of Chaos Born and The Chronicles of Applecross, for the fabulous cover art.
Hail to the girls of the Sydney Roller Derby League and roller girls everywhere. You really rock.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Whip it meets Wall Street
1: Bitch
2: Big Swinging Tricks
3: Puce
4: Pivot
5: Warmer
6: Bruised
7: Sucker
8: Contact
9: Epiphany
10: Confession
11: Suicide Zone
12: Soul Crush
13: Stickyfoot
14: Fresh Meat
15: Holding the Star
Excerpt from Grease Monkey Jive
About Ainslie Paton
Acknowledgements
Desk Jockey Jam Page 13