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“We can both ask.”
I turn around and leave, keeping my footsteps as silent as possible.The last thing the twins need is for me to have a heart attack in the hallway.
It would be a good heart attack.Not that it’s ever the best-case scenario to have a major organ fail, but if it ever does, I wouldn’t mind exiting the world because too much joy took me out.
Ben sounded so confident about me.And then that offer to come to me if Mia was nervous?
Jesus, it was good.
I get back downstairs just as Bristol emerges from our bedroom with a throw blanket over her shoulders and a sleepy smile on her face.“Why are we up so early?”she whispers.
A kiss feels like the right answer.A long, thorough kiss, because it’s Saturday and we live in a house together and I fucking love her.She’s breathless when I finally bring myself to stop.
“I slept.I woke up.Went to check on the twins.They’re entertained.”
Her smile wrinkles her nose.I’m going to be in serious heart-attack danger with all this adorable shit happening.“By what?Their bedrooms?”
“I’ll show you.”I bundle her up next to me just because I can and take her through the living room to the big windows, then point out at the ocean.“That.”
“What am I—” Her eyes get wide.“Is that Emerson?”
“Yep.”
“He’swayout there.Will, those waves!Is it safe?”Bristol gasps, and it’s so loud that I put my hand over her mouth.She keeps trying to talk, and then something hot and wet flicks my palm.I pull my hand away.Bristol ignores me wiping my hand on my lounge pants and leans closer to the window.“He’s gone again.”
“He is not gone.It’s just a wave.If you’re going to lick me, you should be prepared to face the consequences.”
“Will, your brother could be drowning.”
“He’s not.”
“But he’s not—oh.Oh, wow.How—” Bristol tears her eyes from the window and looks at me.“Can you do that?”
“Can I hop on a surfboard in high waves and make it look easy?”
“Yeah.”
“Would you think it was hot if I did?”
Her face flushes.“Yes.”
“Then of course I can.”
We spend Saturday going from house to house.Emerson’s for lunch.Mine for dinner.In between, Daphne and Emerson disappear for several hours so that Daphne can paint, which I assume is code for fucking.After dinner, Daphne teaches the twins to play a card game called Skip-Bo, then beats everyone in an impromptu tournament without an ounce of guilt.
No news about Mom.
No news about Bristol’s Dad.
No news on Mountain Man or his band of assholes.
The only thing I make any progress on is giving Bristol exactly what she wants.A safe place to live.Time at the beach.A family that’s not going to let her down.
Me and the twins, but my brothers, too, and Daphne.It makes a difference for them to be here.A huge difference.The twins have already had to move once this year, and this move could’ve been tough.The nice-as-hell house helps.I was still bracing for some serious feelings about it, especially from Mia.
She just seems happy, though.We’ve landed in a place where there’s living evidence that everything is going to be okay.None of us has to be alone.
I brushed it off when Leo said those things about being family at Emerson’s birthday.And I didn’t understand why Finn Hughes would put any stock in it until now.
