“Oww! Fuck, I’m just telling the truth,” he groused from behind her. “Loki would be taking out his knives if I showed up at his house this damn early in the morning.” He eyed Loki with a smirk and went on, “Oh, wait, I forgot. You’re living the life of an old married man now, even if you can’t lock her down. You’re so washed, you probably don’t fuck in the morning no more.”
“Puck!” Both Ava and Abby exclaimed at the same time. Only Loki chuckled in response.
“Sorry for bothering you guys so early, but Ginger isn’t happy with this little one in the apartment. The scent of another cat was driving her crazy, and it was too painful to watch her get stressed out. She’s very sensitive.”
“Don’t apologize to that asshole,” Loki ordered. “We’re here, so we might as well leave the thing with him.”
Puck held up his hands, palm out in a halting gesture. “Whoa, people, hold the fuck up. What exactly do you think you’re leaving here? This ain’t your place. This is our place. Our home. We didn’t ask for savage animals to be thrown on us.”
Abby bent down and opened the animal carrier. Out hopped the smallest, cutest little calico kitten.
“Oh my God!” Ava shrieked as she dropped to her knees and scooped up the tiny animal. The little sociable thing wasn’t scared at all. She cuddled into the crook of Ava’s arm and began purring instantaneously.
“Aww, fuck. Look what you’ve done, you useless motherfucker?” Puck spat out at Loki as he stared him down with a death glare. “Why you gotta do me like this?”
“If you really gotta ask, then you’re dumber than I thought,” Loki shot back at him.
Ava looked up at Puck with glistening eyes and pleaded, “Please, Puck, can we keep her? She’s adorable.”
“Ava.” He growled in a low authoritative pitch. “Be serious, we’re always working. The thing will tear this house apart, alone all day. You know we’re never home.”
“That’s not true! Outside of work, we’re always home,” she argued. It was so sweet and cuddly…and it could help him. Holding up the little kitten in the palms of her cupped hands, she thrust it toward Puck’s face. “Look at her, baby. Please,” she said in a low, husky voice. The kind she knew incinerated his resolve.
“No,” Puck repeated, turning a cold, narrow-eyed gaze on Loki. “This is your fault. I don’t know what kind of payback this is, but you best believe I will get you for this. You’ll be crying like a little bitch by the time I’m done with you,” he vowed.
Ava sighed. Puck’s stubborn streak was coming out. She hated when he dug his feet in. Inhaling deeply, she drew on her reserve of patience.
“Go ahead, do your worst, asshole. You think you can scare me? Oh, fuck no. You can’t make me ‘cry like a little bitch,’” Loki mocked in a high-pitched voice.
Ava bent down and covered up her laugh in the little kitten’s fur. “What’s her name, Abby?”
“She’s like a patchwork quilt of colors, so I called her Patchy. If you don’t like it, you can change it to whatever name you think fits her best.”
“Patchy,” Ava rolled the word on her tongue. “That sounds—”
“Fuck no. No cutesy name like that. Nah, that’s a biker cat, and a biker cat ain’t gonna be called Patchy. The cat should be something like Stryker or Rider or…or…”
“Patchy?” Abby finished for him. Ava hid another giggle in the kitten’s fur. “I was thinking that Patchy works for a biker as well because it’s a derivative of the word ‘patch,’ like when a biker patches into his club,” she quickly improvised.
Puck observed her askance, but Ava knew he didn’t stand a chance when she blinked up at him with her wide-eyed doll-like innocence. Cocking his head to the side, he inspected the kitten. Then his squinty eyes rapidly jetted back to Abby as if trying to catch her in a less guiltless expression. But she still held the same wide, open look on her face.
Patchy elegantly sprang out of Ava’s embrace, hopped over to Puck, and rubbed between his jean-clad legs, her tail swishing back and forth.
“She can help with the panic attacks. Did you know that petting a cat or dog can lower your blood pressure?” Ava said casually. A soft, cuddly little fur ball like Patchy could calm him down right away, should he get riled up.
Puck’s face paled, and his eyes bulged out. She groaned inwardly. Shit, she’d outed him. Biting down on her bottom lip, she held her breath.
“You get panic attacks? Since when?” cut in Loki, his eyes sharped on Puck. “Wait, was that what happened at the club party the other night?”
“No, asshat, I don’t have fucking panic attacks,” Puck snarled. “Don’t jump to conclusions. This isn’t a Chopper situation.”
Chopper situation?
As if hearing her silent question, Abby turned to her and explained, “Since you’re practically family, you might as well know about Chopper. He was Loki’s younger brother, who came back from Iraq with PTSD. He killed himself a few years ago.” Reaching for Loki, she tucked herself under his arm and squeezed his waist. “It’s not a secret, but…”
“It’s a sensitive subject,” finished Ava. She caught the stricken expression on Puck’s face before he covered it. “I understand.”
“Why do I not believe you, Puck?” Loki hissed. “You know what letting shit fester does to you. To your family. If you think I’m not going to get in your face about it, think again. Already let one good brother die. Not gonna happen again. Not on my watch.”
“Christ, Loki, back the fuck off.” Turning to Ava, he declared, “And you. You need to learn to keep your mouth closed.”
“Puck—”
He slashed his hand in the air. “Baby girl, we’re not airing our dirty laundry right now.” Sending Loki a warning look, he went on, “Yeah, alright, I admit I’ve been on edge since getting out, but I’m dealing with it. Ava gave me a list of people that I can go see and,” he swallowed before biting out, “talk about this. Satisfied, Dad?”
Loki gave him a long look and then turned to scrutinize Ava. “Alright,” he accepted with a slow nod of his head, “but to get me off your back, you gotta take the cat.” He cracked a grin. “To seal the deal, you know?” Angling his head, he gave a chin lift to the cat snuggling in the crook of Puck’s arm. “God knows fucking why, but she’s taken a liking to you. She must have a thing for assholes.”
“’Course she likes me. What pussy doesn’t?” he huffed out.
Ava rolled her eyes.
Giving Patchy’s spine a long stroke down, he grudgingly acknowledged, “I suppose that’ll work. Anything to get you off my fuckin’ jock.”
Ava let out a breath of relief.
Clapping her hands together, Abby yelled out, “Yay! This is so happening! I’m so excited.”
Puck pointed at Ava and warned, “Don’t think you’re out of the woods yet. Haven’t begun dealing with you yet.”
Ava happened to glance at Abby and caught her quick little wink, which had luckily gone unnoticed by Puck.
“Great!” said Abby. “I had a feeling this would work out, so we stopped by and got kitty litter, food, and a bunch of toys before coming here.”
Puck turned to Loki. “Is this what your life is like every fucking day? Being steamrolled by someone half your size?”
“Yup,” Loki replied proudly, hooking his thumbs in the front pockets of his black jeans.
“So pussy-whipped,” Puck muttered under his breath as he dropped on a bench near the front door and pulled up his boots.
“Heard that, motherfucker,” Loki said, his hand on the door handle. “Wait and see. That shit’s gonna happen to you soon.”
“No it won’t,” Puck volleyed back.
“Yeah, right. Don’t make promises you can’t keep ’cause you’re gonna look like more of a fool the day she hands you your ass while you’re on your goddamn knees beggin’ for forgiveness. Can’t wait for that day,” he finished with a hint of glee in his tone.
Ava commiserated with Loki’s sentim
ent. Even she sometimes wanted to see him brought down a peg or two. Abby waved Ava over as she moved toward the kitchen. “Come on, let’s have coffee while these guys set everything up. Knowing them, it’ll take them a while to figure out how to put the litter box together.”
“I heard that,” hollered Loki from outside the open door.
Abby rolled her eyes as she walked toward the kitchen. “It’s not like I was trying to keep my voice down.”
Ava gave Puck a sidelong look. Catching the frown on his face, she hurried behind Abby. Anything to get out of his way because she had no doubt they were going to have it out once Loki and Abby were gone. He was going to blister her ass for this one.
Abby stopped and linked her arm in Ava’s and murmured, “Don’t feel bad about it, Ava. You’re a social worker. We’re more comfortable talking about these kinds of things. It’s Puck’s hang-up, not yours.”
Her shoulders drooped. “I know, but I spoke without thinking. I can sympathize that he might be upset. He’s the guy who went to jail. He doesn’t want to be known as the guy who came out of jail with a problem. It slipped out.”
“Sure, it did. You’re comfortable around us, and I’m a social worker, too. At work, we talk about clients all the time to bounce off ideas and get feedback.”
“I rarely make mistakes like that, though. I’m so careful with my clients.”
“Well, he’s not a client. Not anymore. He’s your old man, and it’s your right to worry about him,” she replied firmly.
“Yeah, I wish you could remind him of that on your way out,” she joked, casting a last worried glance at Puck before turning the corner into the kitchen.
Chapter Twenty
Ava watched as Puck and Whistle pushed through the double glass doors of her father’s shop to meet her and Kat for dinner. Kat was bouncing off the walls in her excitement, although she stopped in her tracks the moment her eyes fell on Whistle. Even Ava had to admit that Whistle was exceptionally handsome. He could have easily been a fashion model with a square jaw that sported the perfect amount of scruff and a pair of brilliant, unusually colored eyes. They were turquoise, framed by long, tar-black eyelashes. His matching black curls were perfectly tousled. Of course, she much preferred the warmth of Puck’s chocolate irises. Especially when they turned black obsidian, like when he was aroused. She instinctively rubbed her bottom in memory of the fight and makeup session they’d had yesterday after Abby and Loki left.
As they sauntered toward the counter, Ava sensed Kat’s nervousness. “These are Squad brothers,” Kat hissed beside her. “They’re…like…wow,” she ended, at a loss for words. “I’m glad you came early, so I wouldn’t have to face them alone.”
“Leaving you speechless, eh?” she teased.
That got her a whack on her arm. “Don’t you dare embarrass me,” Kay threatened in a deadly tone, eyes glued on their approach.
“Who me? I would never,” she retorted with a small chuckle.
As per his usual inconvenient timing, her father chose that moment to come out from his back office. Stumbling slightly when he saw Puck and Whistle, his shoulders squared back. His eyes went from Puck’s face to the patch on his cut and back to his eyes. Guess he recognizes Puck. His back stiffened, but he pasted on a professional smile. Ava frowned at his reaction.
Puck scooped Ava up in his arms and planted a smoldering kiss on her lips that screamed ownership. Ava melted in his arms and also cringed internally because it was in front of her father. As he dropped her gently back down on the ground, Ava had a little trouble on her rubbery legs, but he kept an arm hooked possessively around her waist. She glanced over her shoulder and found her father glowering at them.
Leaning down, Puck murmured in the curve of her ear, “Missed you, babe. How you doin’?”
She smiled up at him, loving how he took a moment to check in with her. “Good. A little tired. You know how it is at the jail. I wake up early, and those days tend to run me ragged.”
With an understanding nod, he murmured low, “I’ll take care of you when we get home. Promise.”
A flush of heat swept over her cheeks. By God, he knew how to make her ache for him. Shaking off the lust, she introduced Puck to her family. “Puck, you may not recognize Kat after so many years, but this is my little sister,” she said as she tried breaking away.
He tightened his hold for an instant before letting her go. “Sure don’t recognize her after all these years, but you’ve grown into a beauty,” Puck said kindly.
Kat flushed at the compliment, ducking her head in embarrassed pleasure. Squeezing Kat’s shoulders, Ava said, “And this is Whistle, Puck’s right-hand man. Whistle, this is my little sister Kat.”
“Whattup?” he replied with a chin lift.
From under her lashes, she returned his greeting. Whistle’s eyes didn’t linger, which Ava was grateful for. At fifteen, Kat was still a girl to a man like Whistle. At least, for now.
Ava’s father, Grant, put forth his hand and introduced himself. “Hey Damien, I’m Grant. Been a long time since I heard about you.”
Puck carefully laid his palm in Grant’s, and they had a little wrangling handshake standoff. “Glad to meet you, sir. I go by Puck now,” he replied respectfully, breaking off the handshake.
Grant’s face was set in a cold expression. Ava pressed her lips together to stop herself from jumping in. No good would come from her interference. Puck hadn’t formally met her father the first time they dated. It was during one of the rougher patches with her dad, when she refused to talk to him.
She wasn’t sure if that was the reason behind the antagonizing ripples coming off him, or if he didn’t like that she was dating a member of the Squad. He’d never commented on the men she dated in the past. She didn’t think the issue was about Puck being a biker, because he’d dropped enough hints of setting her up with a Renegades member. Either he didn’t like the Squad, or he was feeling protective of Ava because Puck had ended their relationship. She’d find out soon enough. While their relationship was one of reserve, her father wasn’t one to pull any punches.
“Hey, Kat,” her father said. “Why don’t you show Puck and Whistle around the shop. I’m having trouble with my computer and need Ava’s help.”
Kat glanced at her father quizzically. “Uhm…sure…yeah.” Directing Puck and Whistle toward a row of bikes near the front of the shop, she said, “Let me show you the new arrivals. They’re dope.” Although only fifteen years old, Kat practically lived in the shop and already worked there part-time.
Puck glanced back at her, but she gave him a reassuring nod.
Once they were out of earshot, she looked over at her father, who waved her toward his office.
Shutting the door behind her, she took a seat near his desk. “What’s going on?” He’d never once asked her for help with his computer. The man was a whiz with them.
“He’s the boy who dumped you in a hot fucking minute eight years ago,” he declared, leaning his back against the glass door, effectively blocking her view to the outside. “Kat told me you hooked up with him again. But to bring him here? To introduce him and his brother to Kat? What the hell are you thinking, Ava?”
Her eyelashes fluttered in surprise. She jerked back at his presumption. Who was he to comment on who she chose to be with?
“Where is this coming from?” Ava asked, social-work mode kicking in. Her father didn’t mince words, but what he said was out of left field, and he was coming at her hard. “I mean, I’ve been an adult for quite some time, and you’ve never gotten bent out of shape over anyone I’ve dated before.”
“That’s because you’ve never brought a man around before and you’ve certainly never dated a biker like him before.”
“Okay…so I’m bringing a Squad brother around. Do you have a problem with that?”
“The question is, why don’t you?” he asked, his eyes flaring with incredulity. “His track record isn’t spanking clean. He’s a fucking dirty biker is wha
t he is. One who broke your heart before. Look at you!” He flung out his arm at her. “You’re a gorgeous, smart woman. Can’t you find anyone better than that asshole? Hell, I’ll find you someone better, if that’s the case.”
Ava’s head tipped back at his vitriol. Her temples started throbbing with pain, and her heart beat fast against her ribs. What the hell…?
Lowering his tone, he continued, “You’ve got a lot going for you, Ava. If you like bikers, I can set you up with Turbo. He’s a biker, but he’s a stand-up guy, a businessman. What does Puck have to offer you?”
Shaking her head to clear her mind, she stammered out, “Uhm…his heart.”
“Pfft. Come on, be serious,” he scoffed.
“I have to admit I’m surprised by your reaction. You’ve never gotten involved in my choices, or really much of anything in my life,” Ava noted, as she crossed her arms and rubbed them nervously.
“Ava,” he said, as his jaw flexed with tension. “I’ve been there when it counted, and I’ve shown up when you asked me for something. The big things. I know you still resent me, and so I try to back off, but this is too serious for me to let slide. Let’s face the facts; you’re pushing thirty.” Wow. Just wow. He’s bringing up my age now?
“The guy you choose now is the guy who’s gonna give me grandbabies. Kat loves everything about bikes, bikers, and the biker lifestyle. In that way, she’s followed in her mother’s footsteps. You’re the only one I can count on to make a normal choice. Plus,” he jutted his thumb toward the outside, “I don’t trust that guy. The Squad has a reputation for smuggling. They’re a bunch of wild jackasses.”
He pushed off the door and took the seat beside her. Ava simply watched, stunned, as he took her hand in his and said, “Look, I know you can’t forgive me for what happened between me and your mother. I’ve made my share of mistakes, and I know what it is to hurt someone I love. To live with that mistake. Knowing that I damaged my relationship with my firstborn. He’s hurt you once before. Can you trust him not to do it again? With the biker bitches and hangers-on in that club of his? Hell, Squad brothers makes the Renegades look like a bunch of Boy Scouts.”
Puck's Property: A Bad Boy Biker Romance (The Demon Squad MC Book 5) Page 16