“Hey, Aunt Lottie. We need to get going soon, so we don’t miss out on Ava’s appetizers,” I interject, hoping to stop the argument before it turns uglier.
My diversion works as Lottie’s attention turns to me instead of answering Lola’s latest comment.
“Hey, Cash. Get yourself over here and hug your favorite aunt,” Lottie orders while tossing a smirk at Lola.
I do as I’m ordered and then take a seat while Lottie heads back down the hallway to finish getting ready. I settle in and get comfortable because I know we’ll be waiting for a while.
“Your dad called and said he introduced you to a beautiful young lady. Did you ask her out yet?” Lola questions me.
“Yes, I did. We’re having dinner together this week.”
“You should bring her here before your date. If she doesn’t measure up to what we expect for you, we can save you the cost of dinner and drinks.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen, Aunt Lola. I learned my lesson about introducing anyone to you two wildcats,” I say with a grimace while flashes of that fiasco hit my brain.
“We did you a favor, Cash. That twit was here to meet your family and instead stared at her phone or herself in the mirror the whole time. Shallow, self-centered and nowhere good enough for you. I’m sorry you didn’t like our methods, but they were effective. You aren’t currently tied down to that simpleton, so the ends did justify the means,” Lola states.
“You dumped red wine on her,” I remind her.
“She kept speaking loud and slow like we’re hard of hearing simply because we’re not in our twenties anymore. She had that coming,” Lola says with disdain.
“She whined about everything. Such a princess!” Lottie shouts down the hallway proving that her hearing’s spot on.
“And that justifies telling her I was female at birth?” I ask with a grin.
“We know you weren’t, but it did hurry up her exit,” Lola answers while grinning back at me.
“She screeched at me the whole way to her apartment. Called me names not even my MC brothers know. Slammed my truck door hard enough to break the mirror.”
“And you’re welcome,” Lottie states as she enters the room.
I look at both their faces and shake my head at their identical smug looks.
*~*~*~*
“Aunt Lola and Lottie, it’s so nice to see you two again,” Ava says as she stops next to the table.
“Ava, honey, you’re as pretty as ever. Thank you for having us,” Lola graciously greets Ava.
“Yes, thank you, Ava. Where are your darling little girls?” Lottie asks.
“They’re with Axel but should be here soon. Hopefully, they didn’t learn anything new from him this time,” Ava replies with a slightly worried look on her face.
“He loves them, and that’s all that really matters,” Lola advises.
“True. So how have you ladies been?” Ava asks.
While the Aunts and Ava chat, I watch club members enter and grab seats. I smother a snort when I spot Trigger entering from the kitchen door. His eyes roam the room, probably looking for Tammy, but widen when they land on the Aunts. His body freezes then unfreezes as he spins on his heel to make his getaway. Too late, Lottie spots him.
“Hi, Trigger! Whoohooo! Trigger! Over here!” she shouts.
Trigger stops and slowly turns around, knowing his escape attempt has been ruined. He shoots me the stink-eye and then walks our direction. Lottie and Lola completely forget about Ava’s existence when Trigger makes it to our table.
Ava smiles broadly, winks at me and walks off. I know without looking that our table has the entire club’s attention. It’s well known, and always joked about, that both Lola and Lottie have a crush on Trigger. That doesn’t stop them from flirting with the other guys, though.
“Good evening, ladies. Nice to see you again,” Trigger manages to push out in his gravelly voice.
“Take a seat, Trigger. It’d be lovely to share dinner with such a fine specimen of manhood,” Lottie gushes.