“Uh-oh,” I squeak, already backing away.
He lunges for Teddy, who giggles and bolts down the hallway, Diesel barking at full volume as he tears after them. I get a two-second head start before Sebastian pivots and charges straight for me, sweeping me off my feet with an undignified yelp. It’s chaos. Glorious, unfiltered chaos.
And I wouldn’t trade a second of it.
The air hums with that sticky November warmth—lazy, lingering heat that clings to your skin and reminds you spring hasn’t quite finished showing off. The scent of grilled meat drifts through the backyard, mingling with bursts of laughter and the clatter of beer bottles knocking together. Kids are everywhere—chasing bubbles, or balancing paper plates in little hands.
Teddy, however, hasn’t left my side. He’s been glued to my hip all afternoon, his fingers either tangled in the hem of my shirt or pressing against my palm, as if anchoring himself. I don’t mind. Not even a little. He’s quiet, watching the younger kids play. Every now and then, he leans into me and whispers something only I’m supposed to hear. My heart squeezes each time.
Brushing the hair off his forehead, I crouch to his level. “You okay?”
Teddy nods, clutching his juice box tighter.
From across the yard, I feel his gaze before I see him. Sebastian showed up around midday after finishing up at the station. I’d left earlier to run last-minute errands—potato salad,candles, you name it—so I hadn’t seen him much until now. He’s talking to Xavier near the grill, head tilted, with a beer bottle dangling from his fingers. The sleeves of his shirt are rolled up, forearms flexing as he talks. I shouldn’t notice the way my body still remembers him—every graze, every thrust, every breathless moan that wrecked me the other night. But I do. Especially because we haven’t had sex since then. I hate the part of myself that’s been waiting for him to make the first move again. Not because I don’t want him, but because I don’t want to be the one who pushes. I don’t want to come off too eager, too forward, too much. I’m spiralling, clearly.
And to make matters worse right now, Sebastian starts to walk over, pausing briefly to pat Bradley on the back and dodge a stray Nerf bullet. I glance down at Teddy, but he’s distracted by his juice box, casually picking at the sides of the cardboard box.
“Hey,” he murmurs when he reaches me, close enough that his arm brushes mine, bare skin grazing bare skin.
“Hey.”
He nods toward Teddy, who’s now humming to himself and lining up cucumber slices like traffic cones. “You’ve got a shadow today.”
“Jealous?”
He lets out a quiet scoff. “A little. My own kid doesn’t even want to hang around me lately.”
“I’m just more fun, that’s all.”
“More like trouble.”
“That too.” I wink. “But I’m the one who should be jealous. He gets juice boxes and pizza slices with the crusts peeled off. Where’smyVIP treatment?”
His laugh is like gravel stirred in honey. “You want me to peel your crusts, too?”
Something about the way he says it makes the words sound a lot dirtier than they have any right to be.
My eyes narrow. “You offering?”
He dips his head, voice a low rumble meant for me alone. “If I start with your food, I’m not stopping there.”
My cheeks heat instantly, and I bite back a laugh, because what else am I supposed to do when my skin is tingling, my stomach is doing somersaults, and I’m surrounded by myentirefamily? I glance around quickly, trying to act normal, even though I feel anything but. No one’s near enough to hear, not even Teddy. Then I spot Zoe.
She’s sitting at one of the trestle tables beneath the string lights, mid-conversation with Imogen and Mum, but what rattles me is that her eyes are on me. My stomach knots. I shift a step away from Sebastian, and his brow quirks slightly.
“Something wrong?” he asks, his voice lower now, more cautious.
“No,” I say too quickly.
Before he can press, Teddy tugs at my arm, sticky fingers curling around my wrist. “Olivia?”
“Yeah, buddy?”
“Can we go find the bubbles?”
“Of course.” I ruffle his hair and force a lightness into my voice. “Let’s go pop some magic.”
Sebastian doesn’t say anything as I turn, only watches as I press a rushed goodbye into the air and hurry off with Teddy’s small hand in mine, the heat of his words still echoing under my skin.
