Page 85 of Bound By Temptation

“Your cash is out,” Gibler said.

“How much have you paid already?”

“A hundred and twenty dollars,” I told her.

Her mouth dropped open. “No way.”

“Not gonna lie to ya, Indie.”

She swallowed and looked at the pricing. “So each round of five balls was five bucks each. That’s ten bucks a go. We did twelve rounds?”

“Apparently.”

She sighed huge. “We’re done.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Ax. We’re not putting another hundred bucks down on a fish. I can go to Walmart and pick up one for five bucks.”

“Let me do it one more time.”

She shrugged. “Wasting your money.”

I smiled and handed Gibler a five dollar bill, and he set up the balls.

I tossed the first, and it landed in the bowl.

“No way!” Indie cried out as I threw the second ball, and it landed in the bowl.

“You’re cheating,” she accused me with her hands on her hips.

“Nope.” I threw the third and missed. “See.”

The next I missed.

I held up the little ball. “I’ve already won you two of these guys. How about three?”

“Ax, how are we gonna get these home on the bike.”

I shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.”

One last toss had the ball landing in the bowl.

Indie stood there slack jawed. “How in the hell did you do that?”

“Three fish for the biker man,” Gibler yelled out loudly, trying to get the attention of all of those around us. More business and all. He got busy putting the fish into bags then tied the bags off.

“Ax. I don’t think Gizmo will like these. And they can’t be in the same tank or they’ll kill each other. What am I going to do with three of them?”

I smiled as Gibler handed me the fish. They had such big air bubbles in them, they looked like balloons.

My gaze swept over the crowd, noting a mom with her three children. I nodded their way. “What’d ya think? Presents?”

She grabbed onto my arm, smiled, and kissed me on the cheek. “Perfect.”

It was the first time that she really initiated the kiss, and it was just a peck. But fuck, it meant a lot. It meant I wasn’t in this alone. That she was right there with me.

Walking over to the kids, Indie spoke. “Excuse me. We just won these fish and don’t have a home for them. Would you be interested in taking them off our hands by chance?”

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