Page 56 of Riding Hard

Reaching for the bags, I open both of them and take some of each out, holding my hand out for him. “Taste them,” I offer. “Then let me know.”

“Serious?” he asks.

“Serious,” I rasp.

Tipping my hand to the side, I let the chips fall into his waiting palm. I watch as he pops them into his mouth and begins to chew. Then he frowns, his eyes flicking to mine. “I like them mixed,” he states. “I think it’s going to taste good when they’re warm.”

He’s right. It is.

It’s going to taste amazing.

“Then we’ll do that,” I say with a single nod.

He pours in a cup of each, and I add a little extra. Thankfully, Slade did have a metal baking pan. So I use a spoon and scoop the dough onto it before sliding it into the oven. While they bake, Cade tells me about his favorite show. It’s an anime, something about pirates.

I don’t care about it at all, but I listen intently to every single word he says because he’s so excited about it, and not just that, he’s excited to tell me about it. I ask a few questions, and he talks to me about the fruit these pirates eat that gives them some kind of special powers.

When the cookies are ready, I take them out and let them cool for a moment on the pan before I move them over to a plate. There isn’t a cooling rack or anything here, so the plate is going to have to do.

I slide the plate across the bar, and Cade stops midsentence about the pirate anime, his eyes wide and focused on the warm cookies.

“They’re hot,” I warn.

“Can I have one?” he asks.

“Personally, I’d have two,” I say.

His head jerks up, his eyes find mine, and his lips part. “Two?” he exhales. “Wow.”

Without hesitation, he reaches for one, and I watch him bring it to his lips. He closes his eyes as he takes a bite, then lets out a moan as the chocolate hits his tongue. He chews, then swallows, before he opens his eyes again.

“The white and milk chocolate chips were the right choice.”

No. They weren’t the right choice. I mean, they probably were, and I’m going to find out in just a minute when I eat one, but making cookies with Cade…

That was the right choice.

CHAPTER

FORTY-SIX

LOOT

“We need to talk to the Russians,” Hound announces.

Church. Sometimes I fucking love coming down here. Sometimes I would rather be anywhere else. Hound’s words make me feel the latter. I don’t think I want to be here. I’d personally rather be at home with Juliette and Cade.

I felt bad leaving them anyway. They’re still getting to know one another. They only met yesterday as it is. Hound’s announcement is met with silence. Nobody wants to deal with the Russians, and I don’t blame them, because I don’t either.

But if Hound is saying that, then I know it’s something that has to happen. There must be no other way around it. Sinking my teeth into the corner of my bottom lip, I lean back in my chair and wait.

He’s got to have a decent plan if he’s bringing it to the whole club. “We’ve worked with them, and while I know it was out of necessity, they respect us for what we did by coming to them with the issues.”

Hound isn’t wrong about any of this. But he’s not getting to the plan either. Dare grunts, then he leans back in his chair, but it’s Wrath who speaks next. “What kind of deal are we bringing to the table with them?”

Hound clears his throat. He places his hands on the table, bending over slightly. “I know none of us want to get into bed with the Russians. It’s something we’ve been able to avoid for years, but I think this might actually be unavoidable.”

“What the hell do we do?” I ask.