I snorted and moved his arms around until I could snuggle into his side with my head on his shoulder. I pressed a kiss to his chest and hummed in contentment. “I think you killed me too.”
He snorted. “Ugh. How are we gonna make it to the party?”
“We have time.”
“Hun, the party starts in ten minutes.”
My head shot up, and I looked for the clock we had on my nightstand. “Holy shit. Oh my Scales, how were we,you know, so long?”
“Making love?”
“Not the point, babe. Get up. Get up, get up, get up.” I gave him a tiny push so I could climb off the bed and run for the shower. “Come on, slowpoke! We gotta shower and get up there, and I still have to do my makeup!”
Roman chuckled, groaned, and slowly—way too slowly for how late we already were—got off the bed and followed me into the shower.
I should’ve known getting Roman in the shower with me when we were in a hurry was a bad idea. He wouldn’t stop touching me and kissing me, and eventually I gave in and let him jerk us both off in the shower.
Okay, so maybe I couldn’t keep my hands off of him, either, but I wasn’t going to admit to anything.
But now we were an hour late.
I couldn’t really complain because I felt amazing and relaxed and loved and seen.
The second I stepped onto the tower’s roof, I heard a loud, “Oak!” Two seconds later, a small body slammed into me.
I chuckled and hugged Reef back, saying, “What’s up, little bro?”
The young teenager smiled up at me, looking embarrassed by his display of affection. Sometimes he acted a lot younger than his age—obviously due to the trauma the poor baby endured his entire life until last year—but I knew he was also a little aware of it. He always got embarrassed when he realized he did something like… run across the roof to hug his older sibling.
Since I didn’t want him to feel self-conscious, I pulled him into another hug, kissing the top of his head as I whispered, “I missed you too, Reef, and I’m so happy to see you.”
I’d seen him yesterday, but the statement was true. I seriously loved having younger siblings, and I loved that we lived close enough to visit each other every day.
When he pulled away this time, his cheeks were red, but he was smiling, so I called it a win.
Roman ruffled the kid’s hair and asked, “Where’s your dad?”
Reef waved toward the food table. “Dad’s bugging Daddo while Daddo cooks veggie kabobs on the grill. I thought Daddo was going to kick Dad off the roof a little while ago.”
That made both me and Rome snort, and I said, “That sounds about right. Did you eat yet?”
Reef shook his head. “I was waiting for you.”
That made me grin, and I gestured for him to lead the way. “Where are our sisters?”
“Dad’s carrying Blossom around even though she wants to go to the pool, and Isidore’s already swimming with a bunch of our cousins. Do you guys wanna swim with me later?”
I glanced at Rome, and he gave a smiling nod, so I said, “Yeah, bud, we’d like that.”
Nearly a year ago, Dad and Daddo opened up the den’s community floor—it had a huge pool, a workout area, a banquet hall, a games room, and a ton of other things. It was a floor madefor community, made for Dad’s den to come together, hang out, and become a true family.
The day he’d opened it, both Dad and Roman had been really emotional, remembering their old den before my mom ruined it all and got most of them killed.
I was learning not to feel guilty about that since I knew deep down it wasn’t my fault. But sometimes it was hard to remember it.
So the community floor was open, and now, we had people using it all the time. Bel, Remi, Lanche, Dain, Jed, Beshiro, Phae, Keryth, and everyone else, even the Ellwoods, came to the tower to use it and to see everyone.
To get to know one another and become a strong community. A stronger family.
