He stops, pivots and dips his chin to his chest, blinking at me slow. “Yes, my wife?”
My cheeks heat. I’ll never tire of hearing that.His wife.“Let’s work out together. I’m betting it’s just the stress reliever we need.”
“And byweyou meanme.”
I just shrug and stand, take his hand and pull him toward the door.
As workouts go, this one was scorching. Auz and Callie will be sorry they missed the opportunity for content, because this man of mine can make just about anything hot. Damn, he’s fucking beautiful. My sports bra is soaked with sweat. My limbs are quivering. Julian, while slicked with sweat, doesn’t look winded in the least. His muscles bulge, veins pop and the hair at his nape glistens with moisture. Yet he calmly wipes down the equipment and puts things where they go while I sit on the bench, suck air into my lungs and chug water while I wait for my heartbeat to return to normal.
“Sauna?” He’s standing by the doorway of the weight room when I raise my eyes to his, lungs still heaving, water bottle dangling between my knees.
I nod, lips parted.
“Need a boost?” His eyes crinkle at the corners. He’s enjoying this way too much.
I flip him off as I stand on shaky legs and move toward the door.
“Was that an invitation?”
I shrug one shoulder and crook my brow as I amble through the door he holds open for me. Just as I make my way past the exit, he snakes his arm around my ribs and snatches me off my feet, cupping his other arm under my knees. I drop mine on his shoulders, curl them around his neck and get lost in his ocean eyes. He’s more relaxed now after the grueling workout, his features calm. He’s playful. My heart swells in my chest with relief. This beautiful creature deserves so much good, and I wish that for him with everything inside me.
That exercising is his stress reliever proves to me he was never a product of his environment. Whether he recognizes it or not, he sought other options than self-medicating with drugs and alcohol or fits of rage. He’s more like the father he didn’t know than he realizes. It’s what I’ve always seen in him—since that first day in Fit watching him be so patient with his older clients and so diplomatic with hiscougarclients. His heart is bigger than any muscle he’ll ever build.
He sets me on my feet in front of the sauna door and pulls my sports bra over my head. I glance behind me like I’m checking if we’re alone, even though I know Allie, Ashley and not even one employee is on the property. Going commando in the sauna will always feel taboo, but somehow that makes it better. By the grin on Julian’s face, he’s thinking it too but loves our partners-in-crime ritual.
Lying in bed later, I listen to the quiet thud of his heart, tracing his tattoo with my finger while he stares at the ceiling. We don’t talk. I let him mull over how everything might go tomorrow. I know it’sunnerving him. I know he overthinks everything—especially when it comes to letting people in, possibly setting himself up to be hurt. I also know this family won’t hurt him. I don’t know them any better than he does, but sometimes you can just tell people are good to their core just by being around them. That’s what Jason Ross is—good to his core. I don’t say it out loud, but I’m so happy this man I love more than anything will have this kind of family in his life. To feel like he comes from a real family. I’m his family. So is Allie and Luke. Even our friends. But for him to feel like he came from something better than what he thought? I want that for him. So I say nothing and let him work it all out in his head so he can feel as calm as possible before we walk in there tomorrow. I already know it’s going to be great.
Chapter 40
Julian
“Hi, Julian, Ever.” A teenage girl, probably around sixteen, opens the door of the Spanish-style home. “Come in. I’m Shaylee.” The Ross home is understated and classic, yet boasts modern upgrades, evident in the entryway alone. The neighborhood gives affluent but down-to-earth. Ever gushed about it as we drove in.The best of both worlds.My girl really does love the beach. If we’d never broken up, she may have never discovered just how much.
“My dad’s—our—um—” Her face blooms bright red under her tan. “He’s in the backyard. This way.” She spins, and we follow her through a dining area with a table set for seven. Just the immediate family and us.
My shoulders relax and my stomach unclenches.
We step into a modernized kitchen full of sounds and smells, with a petite pretty brunette in full motion wearing a tank top and shorts covered by an apron with a turkey on it. Ross wasn’t kidding when he told us to dress casually. Ever still insisted on wearing a sundress, but I opted for shorts and a T-shirt. Southern California weather is givingsummer even though it’s November, and I’m not mad about it. I love warm weather. So does Ever—mostly because it means she can surf without her feet turning blue.
The woman wipes her hands on a towel, also with a turkey on it, and bounces over to us on bare feet. “Hi, I’m Shanna, Jase’s wife. You met Shaylee. Jase is out back with the boys.” She shakes our hands in turn as she says all this. It’s firm but soft, and she clasps the back of our hands with her other as she does. Moving to French doors that open onto a covered patio overlooking an immaculate backyard that expands to a seaside view beyond, the smell of meat on a grill hits me first. “Jase, they’re here,” she calls out to the empty space just as three bodies charge from around the corner of the house onto the grass.
“Dad, go long,” one dark-headed body yells as the other two, Jason and a younger carbon copy of him, sprint across the lawn, arms extended. The one that yelled throws a perfect spiraled football across the expanse of green while the other two tangle to catch it. At the last minute, the younger one snakes his hand between his dad’s two and slaps the football to the ground.
“Gotta be better than that, old man.” Jason grabs the kid in a headlock and tackles him to the ground.
“Jamie,” Shanna calls to the one who threw the football, “come meet Julian and Ever.”
The young man that jogs over to us looks to be in his late teens or early twenties and looks just like his dad—kinda like me. He’s my height. His hair is brown but lighter than mine and curly, but his eyes are ice blue, also lighter than mine. More like his mom’s. He’s grinning wide, showing straight white teeth and he extends his hand to me, then Ever. “Hey, Julian. Ever. Nice to meet you. I’mJames. Or Jamie.”
“He’s our oldest. That pile on the lawn is our middle, Spencer.” He back somersaults and stands up, then reaches a hand down to his dad and hauls him to his feet. They make their way over to us, shoving each other back and forth. “Are you two done showing off?”
“He started it,” Jason says with a last shove to Spencer’s shoulder. He reaches out and hugs Ever first, then me.
Caught by surprise, we hug him back one-handed because we’re holding each other’s.
“Sorry about that. Sometimes I have to remind them I’m still young enough to handle them.”
“Don’t say them. I wasn’t in that,” Jamie spouts, pointing toward the lawn.
