AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With a sigh, I grab the bottom of his shirt and pull. “Shut up already and kiss me, will you?”
His mouth lowers to mine, muttering, “Yes, ma’am.”
All night, I toss and turn. Sleep eludes me as if it’s some hidden treasure I’m not worthy enough to find. Gregory tried to tell me before we left that sleeping on the ship is some of the best sleep ever; I have to disagree. I’m thoroughly exhausted and so glad we’re at sea today. I don’t know that I could handle getting off at port and exploring. Hopefully, I’ll be so tired by tonight, my body will have no choice but to succumb to the exhaustion. Not only that, but I feel off kilter and my head is killing me.
Brent stirs next to me. I roll over to face him and kiss his cheek just as he opens his eyes. “Happy birthday, old geezer.”
He smiles. “I’ll let you get away with that today, but only this once.” His eyes scan over my face. “I mean this in the nicest way possible, but do you feel okay? You don’t look too good.”
“I’m fine.” I’m not about to tell this man on his birthday that I have a headache from hell and I feel bad in general.
“Are you sure? You bumped into me a few times when you were tossing and turning, so I know you didn’t sleep well.”
“Maybe that’s how I sleep,” I quip back.
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Hon, you don’t move like you’re restless and need to go for a run in your sleep. I should know because this isn’t the first time we’ve shared a bed,” he reminds me. There’s a knocking sound from the balcony, which causes Brent to groan. “Our side is still closed. That means we don’t want to be bothered.”
“They probably want to wish you a happy birthday.”
He tosses the covers aside and steps onto the balcony to separate the partition.
“Happy birthday, Daddy!” I hear Kayla say.
And then, “Yeah, happy birthday, Dad,” Gregory says, sounding like he just woke up.
“Thanks.”
I turn my head to where he stands in time to see him hug them both.
“We have presents for you, but we left them at home because we didn’t want to add to the weight of our suitcases or get lost somehow,” Kayla tells him, causing him to nod and tell her that’s fine. Then, she asks, “When are we going to breakfast?”
“Ah.” Brent looks inside to me. Surely he isn’t trying to get out of breakfast with his kids. “I guess after everyone showers and gets ready.” With plans made, everyone returns to their rooms. Brent climbs back into bed and crawls over me. He kisses my forehead, my eyelids, my cheeks, and then my mouth. “I was hoping for morning birthday sex.”
“Maybe after breakfast.”
“Fine,” he growls, making me smile. “I’ll take my shower first. Maybe you can try to get a few more minutes of sleep.”
“You’re sweet.”
“Oh, sorry!” we hear from outside the glass doors. We glance over to see Gregory covering his eyes. He belatedly knocks. “Dad, can I talk to you?”
“I’ll take a shower first,” I say, wanting to give them privacy in case Gregory wants it.
Brent nods, gets off me, and goes to let Gregory in. “We were talking,” he says. “Wasn’t even under the covers with her.”
“Dad, I don’t want an explanation because then it’ll be burned into my mind.”
I laugh a little as I get out of bed, a surge of dizziness holding me in place for a moment before I’m able to go around to where we’ve stored our clothes just outside of the bathroom.
“Everything okay, son?” Brent asks while I find at least a clean bra and underwear. I’ll get the rest later.
“I wanted to let you know that Kayla’s a little pissed at you two.”
I open the bathroom door, step inside, but I don’t close it yet. What in the hell have we done?
“What the hell for?” Brent asks.
“Because you didn’t call our room to make sure I came back from the teen center soon after it closed last night.”
