Jackson was pulling a waffle from the waffle maker when Day stumbled down the stairs, his platinum hair sticking up in all directions and his glasses perched on his nose. He was wearing a pair of black joggers and a hoodie the same pool blue as his eyes. He seemed out of sorts.
“You hungry?” Jackson asked.
Dayton crawled onto a stool at the other side of the bar, glaring at Jackson’s dark wash jeans and fitted t-shirt. He could only smile at the grumpy look on Day’s face. He clearly wasn’t a morning person, and he seemed irritated that Jackson was already dressed and ready for the day.
Jackson plated the waffle and held it out to him, but Day shook his head, eyes at half-mast. “Coffee?” he croaked, like he had just crawled across the desert.
Jackson leaned onto the counter until he was in Day’s space, chucking him under the chin. “You could at least say please.”
Day perked up enough to purr, “Please, Daddy?”
Jackson grinned. “That’s much better. I should warn you though—”
The door to Jackson’s apartment flung open, and three screeching gremlins ran through the door, followed by Jackson’s sister, who looked like she was two seconds away from committing murder. Jackson was instantly pinned to the fridge, his two nieces and nephew hanging from his arms as he did curls and roared, garnering squeals of laughter.
The tension in the room shifted when Ruby and Day caught sight of each other. Day looked at Ruby suspiciously, but Ruby looked at Day like he was fresh meat. Her smile looked friendly, but Jackson smelled trouble.
“You didn’t tell me you had company. I thought you weren’t seeing anybody right now?” she said, her tone letting him know she didn’t like being lied to.
Jackson sighed. “Day, meet my younger sister, Ruby, my nieces, Chloe and Keisha, and my nephew, Isaac. Ruby, meet my newest client, Dayton.”
“Day,” Day corrected, holding out his hand. “I love your dress. Did you get that at Calico’s?”
Ruby’s eyes went wide, and she smoothed her hands over her orange sundress before sticking her hands in the oversized pockets and swaying, giving Day a genuine toothy grin. “I did! How did you know that?”
“I know fashion,” Day said, his tone a bit smug. “That color is amazing on you. Very few people could pull it off.”
Jackson thought his sister looked like she’d just escaped from teaching a kindergarten art class with her bright sundress, oversized cardigan, and her hair in two buns on the top of her head, but the last time he’d commented on Ruby’s style, she’d forced him to go shopping with her. So, he said nothing, instead pushing a mug of coffee in front of Day, who took a sip of the black brew and sighed.
Jackson frowned as a thought occurred to him. “I thought you said you were going to call when you were downstairs?”
“Well, there was nobody at the desk, so we just came on up. Besides, if you’d had any warning, you would have just hidden away your new…client, and then I wouldn’t have gotten such a nice compliment,” Ruby said, beaming at Day, who smirked at Jackson, his brows somehow looking smug.
“What do you mean there was nobody at the front desk? There’s always supposed to be somebody at the front desk. That’s why I live here,” Jackson said, ignoring the way Ruby and Day appeared ready to tag team him.
“You don’t live here. You live in Miami,” Chloe reminded him. Jackson snatched the five-year-old up and tickled her until she screeched, “Stop! I’m gonna pee.”
That earned a snicker from Day, and it did something funny to Jackson’s chest to see him smile at Chloe. Keisha, however, was not one to be outdone by her baby sister. “Uncle Jack, I got a reading award at school.”
“You did?” Jackson asked, putting as much pride in his voice as he could muster. “Well, that sounds like you deserve some whipped cream on your waffle.”
“Gross. I want peanut butter,” Keisha said.
“Now, you're talking,” Day said. “Peanut butter on waffles is the bomb.”
“Nobody says ‘the bomb’ anymore,” Isaac said, watching Day warily and picking lint off his Spiderman t-shirt.
“Isaac Isiah Harrington. Is that how you speak to grown ups?” Ruby asked.
“Sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. “I’m gonna go play Xbox in your room, Uncle Jack.”
Jackson watched as Isaac shot up the stairs and threw open his bedroom door, not waiting for permission.
“Can I take my waffle upstairs and watch Isaac playAssassin’s Creed?” Keisha asked.
“Yes, you may. Just don’t get your sticky fingers all over my bed,” Jackson said.
He finished prepping her waffle and handed it to her, watching her walk up the stairs at a much slower pace. Chloe didn’t follow. She climbed up onto the stool beside Day and just stared at him while he drank his coffee. When Day noticed her, he frowned at her over his cup before setting it back on the counter. “Hi?” he said.
