“It’snotokay. You’re not allowed to swim until your surgeon says so.” I cup Archer’s face in my hands. I hate public displays of affection, and I loathe the idea of a personal day spent with a member of my staff. But I lean in and settle my lips against his. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“Happy day off.”
Finally, the tension dissolves from his jaw, and soft laughter rollsalong his throat. “We hardly ever get one of these.” He puckers his lips and kisses me again. “Happy day off, babe. Let’s enjoy it.”
ARCHER
Adrenaline is like flames in my veins, burning me up and turning each individual minute into an eternity. Which isn’t the worst thing in the world, really, when I so rarely get a day to sit around with my family and listen to the splashing chaos of a teen cannonballing into our pool. Or Doctor Raquel’s friendly conversation as she reclines on sun loungers beside Christabelle and Tiia.
It’s possible she has no clue she’s sitting with New York’s Darling, or the risk she runs being so near Tiia. But she’s extroverted enough that no one seems to care about the finer details.
Felix monopolizes Zora’s every moment, chattering with her when she’s awake, and curling her into his chest when she’s not. When she squawks from hunger, he hands her off to her mother, but the second they’re done, he takes her again. His obsession with gettingthisright, with perfecting fatherhood, is enough to prove any man, no matter where he came from or what he escaped, can begoodfor the people he loves.
Means Timothy Malone the Second didn’t even fucking try.
“Weeee’re heeeeere!” Mia bursts through the back door in an adorable two-piece, ruffle-bottom, pink-polka-dot bathing suit, with a towel slung over one shoulder, and heart-shaped sunglasses covering what I know are honeycomb-colored eyes. She glances left and right, scanning the pockets of people and conversation, and smiles when she finds me at the table. But then she looks to the pool and locks eyes with her favorite.
“Cato!”
“McStinkerson!”
Mia yeets her towel and sunglasses, forcing Fletch to stumble forward before they hit the ground, then she drops her shoulders and dashes straight toward the pool, flip-flops flying left and right and soft brown hair bouncing behind her. “Catch me!”
Eliza who?Cato shoves away from the edge of the pool, splashing the young fighter as he goes. “I’m gonna catch you, baby girl.”
“I can’t swim,” she hollers, scrunching her eyes and leaping with a squeal. “Ahhhhh!”
“She can’t swim!” Fletch rushes to the edge behind her.
Cato catches and dunks her under anyway, his hands wrapped securely around her ribs and his eyes slamming shut when water splashes up and soaks his face.
“Dude! Inhaling water is bad!”
“I got you, McStinkerson.” Cato brings her up, her wriggling body soaring five feet above the surface of the water. Her little legs kick out, her hair plastered to her face. But her giggles peel and bubble, settling over our group. “You ready to go under again?”
“Yes!” She smacks the top of his head, his dark hair hugging his scalp like a helmet. “I’m ready.”
“It’s so odd how little attention he pays to Eliza now that he’s got his McStinkerson,” Minka snickers, her thumb stroking a consistent pattern against my chest. “He’s all about ass until he’s Uncle Cato, then it’s gone.”
“Probably means he’s gonna be a fantastic fuckin’ dad.” Felix proudly settles into the chair beside mine, his eyes latched onto Zora asleep in the cradle of his arms. “Ass matters, after all. But not nearly as much as this.”
“Never thought I’d see the day,” Micah chuckles, scraping the label off a water bottle while his eyes remain locked on the women outside the pool. “Thought I was doomed to deal with his bullshit for the rest of my life. Seems there’s an antidote.”
“Archer.” Fletch wanders this way, juggling a pool bag, Mia’s towel, and scooping up her flip-flops as he arrives at each one. He taps my fist as he passes, dipping his chin for the others seated around the table. “Thanks for having us. It’s hot as hell out here today.”
“No problem.” I wait for him to put his shit down and select a seat before I nod toward our extra. “I don’t know if you’ve met, but Fletch, meet Roscoe. Roscoe, Fletch.”
“Yeah.” Fletch sits, gripping the arms of his chair and pulling it in. “We crossed paths at the wedding last night. Tiia’s brother, right? How’s it going?”
“All good.” Roscoe’s a quiet guy, not quite sure what to do with himself when he’s sitting around with the kind of folks his boss would have him arrest any other day. He swallows, the bob of his Adam’s apple telegraphing his nerves. “Your kid’s a cutie. Out-danced almost everyone last night.”
Fletch scoffs, shaking his head from side to side. “And then she woke up this morning, happy as a clam and begging to swing by the house. I tried to distract her for as long as I could. Figured you’d want to sleep in. Cato!” He glowers at my brother… dangling Mia upside down and dunking the top of her head. “Dude!”
“She’s fine.” Cato holds her hips and swishes her hair through the water. “You’re fine, aren’t you, McStinkerson?”
“I’m fine, Daddy!” She kicks her feet into the air. “I don’t even have water in my nose.”
