Page 5 of Primal

“B-but how could we do that?” Poppy asked. “How could we all book it?”

“Don’t be dumb. It must be a glitch on the website,” Joey said patronizingly.

I ground my teeth together, silently pissed off, but Axel wasn’t the type to keep his mouth shut.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked heatedly.

“This is Joey,” Poppy answered for him. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, and who the hell are you?” Joey asked, sneering.

“I’m herfather,” Axel replied, jerking his chin toward the door of the cabin. “And I think you two need to go home.”

“Like hell,” Joey said.

“Why should we go?” Poppy asked. “I paid for this cabin, just like both of you. And we were here first.”

“I don’t want you spending the week fucking this guy while I’m here,” Axel said.

“Then, you should go, old man.” Joey threw his arm around Poppy’s shoulders.

I had the strangest urge to rip it off of his body. Maybe that would erase the smirk from his face.

“Guys, there’s no need to overreact,” Poppy said, biting her lip nervously.

“This is a shit situation, Poppy,” I said as Axel started to pace. His anxious energy just made the tension in the room worse.

“You are a problem too,” Axel muttered. “I was supposed to be here alone. I have a book to write damn it. I want you all to go.”

“We already agreed we’d both stay here,” I said.

“And that’s a shit plan.”

“There are three bedrooms,” Poppy cut in. “We could just all stay.”

“No fucking way,” Joey said. “I don’t want to be stuck here with your dad and stepdad. A couple of stuffy old men aren’t staying here with us.”

Old?I was only forty-seven, and Joey was an annoying little shit.

“Shut up,kid,” Axel said. “You’re not important enough to have an opinion about this.”

“Dad…” Poppy groaned.

Things were getting heated, and I didn’t like the aggression pouring off of Axel. The guy looked like he was about to snap, and Poppy’s face was filled with worry. I needed to step in.

“Ax, you’ve got to calm down, man,” I said, stepping to the path of his annoying pacing.

“Fuck you, Mason. You act like we’re still buddies, as if you’re not a treacherous piece of shit.”

“Whoa.” I held up in my hands in defense. “Hitting below the belt there, aren’t you?”

“You know it’s true.” Axel was practically yelling now. “How is my wife?”

I scoffed. “I did not steal Janie from you. The two of you were divorced for seven years when we got married.”

“But you do have a history of stealing women from me.”

“Onewoman. And we were eighteen years old when it happened. Are you still upset over it?”