AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Welcome home!” Hailey is beaming and a little breathy, coming up and tucking herself underneath my arm sometime later. “Officially,” she adds, stepping on the tips of her toes and pecking the side of my jaw.
Inside, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I graduated college a few months ago, I have my family, and I made the team that allows me to be the closest to them. Life couldn’t get much better.
Wait! Hold on a second. Rewind…
“That’s it? A kiss on the cheek is all I get for being drafted?”
She winks. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a special present for you later tonight.”
I groan, and my cock twitches in agony at the promise.
“What about a sample a little early?” I flirt, wagging my eyebrows.
“Only because you look cute in your outfit and”—she leans back. Her eyes scan over me as she reads the phrase on my apron—“you know what? You do have a nice rack,” she jokes with a chuckle.
I fondle my chest. “I do, don’t I?”
This draws a snort from her as more bursts of laughter bubble out. I swear I have never heard anything more attractive in my life than the sound of her chortled shrieks.
She squeezes her grip, tightening her hold around my waist. Her face turns serious all of a sudden. “I mean it. I’m so proud of you, Finn,” she boasts, gushing up at me. Her brown eyes shine with only pride and joy. “You did it! You achieved your dream!”
Fuck, I love this woman.
“Basketball is an accomplishment. YouandAiden are my dream,” I correct. “Now are you going to let me kiss you or not?” I ground out, losing patience.
Hailey clicks her tongue, rolling her eyes with a sigh. “Fine,” she groans, but it’s playful.
My pulse picks up. She doesn’t have to tell me twice.
I crash my mouth down to hers and it’s not long before my tongue slips past my teeth and she’s breathing heavily into my mouth. Hailey clings to me, giving me everything I could ever want and then some—
“—Hey, dumbass, the food is starting to burn!” Cole hollers in the distance.
“Do you know how badly I want you right now?” The need in my voice is palpable as we separate.
“Tonight,” Hailey agrees, flushed. Her pupils are huge and dilated. “I’m, uh, going to go inside and see if my mom needs any help.”
I shoot her a skeptical glare but let her go anyway because I think Cole’s comment and our getting caught like we did embarrass her more than anything.
Not cool.
My gaze slices straight down at my friend, clacking my tongs together at him from over the railing. “I’ve got everything handled up here.”
“You were handling something alright, but it isn’t the dinner you insisted on cooking for us all after I suggested a caterer,” he grumbles, grunting his entire sentence.
“You want to come up here? Think this food will cook any faster with you hounding me?” I clink my tongs again out of spite when he says nothing. “That’s what I thought.”
“Do you want me to watch Aiden or not?”
Lil Sis swats at her husband’s chest. The big-ass diamond on her finger nearly blinds me in the process. “Don’t worry about him, Finn, we’re fine down here.”
The three of them and Dad are down by the shoreline building a sandcastle with Aiden. Well, Rory and Dad are attempting to help Aiden; Cole is mostly off to the side, supervising.
That is until Aiden takes his filled bucket of sand and walks a few steps, holding it up between them. The action makes my chest swell with pride. Our toddler wanted him to feel part of the fun, so he offered up his favorite lime-green bucket as a way of including him.
Suddenly I’m no longer in charge of how I feel because, in spite of Cole not wanting to partake, the top part of his lip quirks, and a ghost of a smile settles there. Then he sinks down to his knees and joins the rest of the small group.
I hold back my grin at the wholesome sight. Who would’ve thought a toddler could bring out the gentler side of Cole? I snort. Who other than Rory believed it existed or that it was a possibility, to begin with?
