Page 74 of Cash

I watch as Cash then walks off, rummages around in a duffle bag by the front desk and then hands a box to Pooh. Pooh looks at the box in his hand, and I get suspicious at the grin that hits his gorgeous face. I know something’s up, and I’m curious as to who’s about to get pranked.

“Pooh’s grin is evil and demonic. I hope whatever the hell is about to go down doesn’t involve us,” James states from next to me.

“Cash wouldn’t set us up. I’m guessing Axel’s the target.”

“Grab a seat and relax. Whatever’s about to happen will be entertaining as hell for us,” Ava advises with a grin.

We all drop to our asses and lean against the nearest wall. Cash ambles our direction, grin still in place. When he gets to our resting spot, he leans down, effortlessly picks me up, takes a seat and sets me in front of him. Raising his knees, he pulls my back against his chest and drapes his arms over his knees. I’m cocooned between his arms, legs and body so I rest against him and await the fireworks.

“What did you hand Pooh?” Ava asks.

“Cookies for Axel,” Cash replies. “Lactation cookies.”

“Axel’s going to lose his shit, and Pooh’s going to get the beatdown. Smart move, Cash. A two-for-one,” Ava says in between giggles.

“Both of those things amuse the fuck out of me,” Cash rumbles out.

We all watch as Axel exits the office, and Pooh waves him over. Axel reads the box he’s handed as Pooh stands to the side laughing his ass off. It only takes a second and Pooh’s hauling that ass around the gym with Axel hot on his heels. Everyone stops what they’re doing to watch as Pooh jumps over weights and equipment trying to evade the very large, unamused biker on his heels.

While they do this, Chubs and Lucy stroll up to our group and watch the action avidly. I bark out a laugh as I see Chubs eating the cookies Axel dropped to chase Pooh. He grins down at me, shrugs his shoulders and pops another one into his mouth.

“No sense in letting the cookies go to waste,” Chubs says around a mouthful of lactation cookies.

“Are they any good?” questions Ava without taking her eyes off Pooh running for his life.

“Not bad. Where’d you get them?” Chubs asks.

Cash answers as Pooh bolts past us, breathing hard. As Axel flies by he suddenly goes down hard. He slides a ways on his chest before turning his head to glare at Craig.

“You tripped me!” Axel accuses loudly.

“Don’t mess with Pooh!” Craig hollers back.

“That’s between him and me! You stay out of it,” Axel orders as he stands.

“He’s going to be my dad. That makes him my family and my job to protect,” Craig says in a serious tone.

I really like that little boy. He’s so damn cute but especially right now. He takes no crap off anyone regardless of the size difference between him and them. He defends his family at all costs. He loves the pets and takes good care of them. He’s smart as hell and not shy to let you know that. What’s not to like?

“I’m family too, kid,” Axel complains.

“Yeah, you are, and I like you. But you’re not going to be my dad and Pooh is. That places him higher on the family tree,” Craig reasons.

“Always said you were low-hanging fruit, Axel,” Pooh taunts from a distance away.

While everyone is laughing and Axel’s glaring, a woman walks up behind him. Suddenly, the look on Pooh’s face changes to wide-eyed astonishment. Seeing this, I look the woman over carefully.

Hands on hips, feet planted wide, she doesn’t look happy to be here. She’s dressed in what looks to be men’s workout gear, Chuck’s, an ‘80’s style headband and looks like her goal in life is to rip someone’s head off. Not attractive and with more manly features than feminine, she has an angry resting bitch face firmly in place. Curious about why I wait for Axel to notice her behind him. Somehow, I know this is going to be interesting.

“Uh, hi there, Candy. Can we help you with something?” Pooh asks politely, and I swear he’s fighting a smile.

I feel Cash’s body stiffen when Pooh says her name, but it quickly turns to jerky, twitching movements. Turning my head, I see Cash trying valiantly to keep his laughter silent. His eyes are pinned to Axel, so I turn back that direction to see what’s about to go down.

“Nice try, Pooh. Am I supposed to be scared and whirl around thinking she’s behind me? Not falling for that second-grade trick,” Axel says with a wicked grin. “Besides, I’m not scared of her.”

“You should be,” the woman named Candy growls in a perfect imitation of what I think Sasquatch would sound like.

I watch as Axel whirls his head around, and then literally jumps back a few feet in one move. At the same time, I hear a very loud “eek” come from his mouth as his eyes go wide.

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