Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29591 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 148(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29591 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 148(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Jesus fucking Christ, he had me nervous there for a while. “You absolute punk. I thought you were gonna have an actual issue with us.”
Max exhaled a chuckle. “Me too.”
Dylan knitted his brows together and stuffed his face with salad. “No issues, just hunger and poverty, Dad.”
I laughed and shook my head. “We can do something about that, don’t you worry.”
I’d already seen the collection of gift cards Max had picked for him.
“Thank you.” Dylan looked genuinely relieved, so I made a mental note to check in on him up here more often. I was the one who’d asked him not to find a second job, because I knew he struggled with concentration at times. He picked up shifts as a bike messenger here and there. That was enough. “I gotta take a leak. Don’t eat my bread stick, Dad.”
What the fuck? They were free. We could order more.
He was gone before I could respond, still busy chewing on salad and bread, and I got the feeling he planned on filling up on that so he could bring most of his pasta home.
“I didn’t know things were that dire,” Max murmured, concerned. “Didn’t he say last night that he’d ordered something for Alex?”
Yeah… I scratched the side of my head. While Dylan was happy for Max and me, my son’s personal happiness came from solidifying the roles between him and Alex. They’d viewed each other as almost brothers for years, and this made things more official.
“I think we should add a few more gifts,” Max said resolutely. “I’ll go with gift cards, and you get him one of those prepaid Visa cards. And maybe they can be early gifts, so he’ll have something to tide him over until Christmas.”
Not a bad idea at all.
“Figures. I’d hoped I was done shopping.”
He snorted and went back to his salad. “I think you’ll survive a trip to the nearest 7-Eleven, sweetheart.”
“You don’t know that. This is New York.”
The following summer
I understood and appreciated that Mclean House was a great kink community, but two things could be true at once. Because it was also a spectacular place to come to after work, just to chill by the pool with your man and have a beer or two.
Max and I weren’t the only ones who did it either. A handful of brats were playing a game in the pool, River and Reese were in the sunbed next to ours, Colt and Lucas were preparing the grill for a barbecue on the deck, and Ty and Lane were playing cards at one of the picnic tables. Judging by Lane’s cursing, he wasn’t winning.
“Cannonball!” Corey yelled and jumped into the water.
I twitched as some water droplets landed on my stomach.
Damn brats.
“What about September?” Max yawned and sat up next to me.
These double sunbeds were genius. I’d dozed off in most of them at this point. They were incredibly comfortable, and each one had its own umbrella and side tables. What were we talking about, again? Oh right, finding a date to get married.
“Late September or early October,” I muttered drowsily. “I don’t wanna be sweating my balls off.”
“Aw, but I like your sweaty balls.” He chuckled and legit patted my crotch.
I shoved at his arm. “Dick.”
“That one too.” He dipped down and kissed me. “Next one. Number of guests?”
“No more than twenty-five,” I said. “If we wanna go to Bali, we need to cut some corners.”
“Agreed. Maybe twenty is a better number,” he replied. “We want to buy snorkeling gear too.”
Fuck, how I loved that man.
“I got the luggage!” someone hollered. It sounded like Shay, River and Reese’s boy. I pushed myself up on my elbows to see the guy step out onto the deck with a rollaboard in tow. “Thank you, TJ Maxx, for 50% off!”
River and Reese sat up in their sunbed too, squinting and smiling lazily.
For some reason, it made Corey get all huffy in the water. “Is this even a kink community anymore? Mister Max and Mister Reid are planning their freaking fairy-tale wedding, where apparently no one’s invited because they wanna go snorkeling in Asia, Mister Colt and Mister Lucas are busy making kissy faces, and Mister River and Mister Reese and Shay are planning a damn vacation. Like, what the crap, yo!”
“Agreed!” Kit smacked the water with his pool noodle. “This is some nonsense, y’all! Give us kink!”
“You’re just playin’ around in the pool,” I said. “How kinky is that?”
“Just what I was about to say,” Reese added. “Kit, didn’t you get the mother of beatings from your Daddy last night?”
Considering I’d seen the bruises on Kit’s body—the parts that weren’t covered in tattoos—I’d say the beating had been good too.
Kit shrugged. “Barely felt it.”
At that, Colt laughed on the other side of the pool. “Oh, I love it when you beg, baby boy. Don’t you worry, I’ll beat you harder next time.”