Page 77 of Cash

“What the hell, Terry?” Cash asks incredulously as he hands Liam to his grandpa.

I push around Cash to get a better look and start laughing. Snots is sitting in the corner and looks like he’s hanging his head in shame. I think it’s hilarious. Pulling out my phone, I start to take a photo to send to James. My phone gets snatched out of my hands, and I look up to see Cash with it.

“You’re not taking pictures of him. If Axel ever got his hands on them, I’d never hear the end of it,” Cash explains while holding my phone out of my reach.

“Why would you hear about it? He’s my dog,” I say while trying in vain to get my phone back.

“We’re together, and that’s all the reason the guys need.”

“Don’t worry, Livi. I’ll text you the ones I took after our spa day,” Terry promises with a grin when Cash groans.

“Thank you, Terry. Spa day?”

“I’ll serve dinner while Terry describes, in boring-ass detail, his day. Again. Once was enough for me,” Lola grumbles as she makes her way to the kitchen.

“I heard about this awesome spa place from a friend of mine a few months ago. It’s called Dawgs n’ Daddies. I’ve been dying to go but until now, I didn’t have a dog to take with. Snots loved all the pampering. We both did,” Terry explains with animated gestures.

I start to ask a question but stop when Terry throws a hand up in a wait gesture. He’s almost bouncing in excitement to finish his story. I bite back a grin and give him his moment.

“So, I signed us up for the works. It was fabulous! We both got facials. While they waxed my brows, Snots got his teeth brushed and flossed. They loved how easy he was to work with. I was so proud of our little man. Then we got mani/pedis and full-body massages with heated stones. We got to lay on beds side-by-side. They were great about getting in and around all the wrinkles he has. He was making the cutest sounds! After that, Snots got whisked away for a bath including a coat conditioner that smells a–maaaa-zing! No more of that doggie funk he had going on. We were served appetizers and champagne. Non-alcoholic for Snots, of course. We then were taken to a room full of clothing, and I picked out his outfit. How cute is he?” Terry asks while waving his hand toward Snots with a flourish.

“He looks great, Terry. That was so nice of you to do for him. Thank you,” I answer before giving him a quick hug.

“You picked out his outfit, Terry? That explains everything,” Lottie says sarcastically.

Terry completely ignores Lottie’s comment. Instead, he claps his hands and does a weird little dance as I laugh and walk to Snots. Crouching down, I can smell the conditioner Terry mentioned, and he was not exaggerating. It smells great, and I need to find out if they make a human version.

Snots looks up and I can’t stop the laugh at his face. He looks extra grumpy today, and I know why. He hates baths and nail clipping. I didn’t tell Terry that because I had no idea he planned a spa day. Today must have been Snots’ version of hell. I give him a head rub and wish again that I had my phone. I look at Cash and watch him slowly shake his head at me while pocketing my phone. Guess I’ll wait for Terry to text some to me and then make sure Axel and Pooh get copies.

*~*~*~*

We’re finishing up dinner when the front door opens and in flies Tessie. She stomps her way to the table, looks it over then retrieves a plate and silverware. Pulling up another chair, she takes a seat and starts filling her plate. She hasn’t spoken a word yet, and neither have any of us. She has everyone’s full attention as she stabs a meatball with more force than necessary. Using her fork, she pushes the meatball around her plate for a moment before setting her fork down and sighing loudly. I watch as her eyes drift around the room, and I can tell she’s thinking about how to say what she needs to.

Tessie’s eyes stop moving and focus in on something. I watch as they narrow slightly, and her head tilts to the side. Her brows furrow, her lips purse, open then close again. Finally, her mouth opens, and she blurts out her question.

“What the eff did you do to that dog, Livi?”

Terry beams and starts to answer when Lola shushes him.

“Shut it, Terry. I’m not going through all that again.”

“But…,” Terry tries to cut in.

“Let me explain. I can do it in a few sentences unlike you. Terry took Snots today, and they had a daddy and dog spa day. Blah, blah, blah–smells great–blah, blah, blah–appetizers, champagne, waxing,” Lottie informs Tessie with a smirk.

“Gotcha,” Tessie answers.

Looking at Terry, Tessie asks, “A pink, sparkly tutu and a neon yellow bikini top on a male bulldog. You thought he could rock that outfit, Terry?”

“He was rocking it hard until the leg warmers fell off. They pulled the whole outfit together,” Terry defends his choices.

“I’m sure they did. By the way, what the hell are leg warmers?” Tessie questions.

“That’s not important. What I want to know is why the long face when you got here?” Cash interrupts.

“Trigger and I just finished fixing my latest mishap, and now I have another dent in my Jeep. It was not my fault, either. Something jumped into the side of my Jeep and dented it,” Tessie says dejectedly.

“Something jumped into the side? Like what? A human, maybe?” Lars asks with a snicker.

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