Chapter Fourteen
Marco
“A beautiful day to be outside,” I said, holding the picnic basket up and kicking my feet a little. “Don’t you think?”
“Blue skies and my guys,” Demir said, leaning sideways and kissing me. “But you promised we’d talk business until we got there, remember?”
I sighed. The way Demir had been crunching numbers lately, I knew I was lucky I convinced him to take a break in the first place.
“That’s right,” I agreed. “And I want you to be able to relax and enjoy the picnic and meet Grayson’s friends without having business on your mind. So where were we?”
“Long-term,” he said, “having the club across the street could actually be good for us, but short-term, the finances are going to take a hit.”
“Okay…”
“We’ll have to trim things down for the transition, maybe pull back the scale of the addition. It’s probably not the right time for a personal assistant, at least not right away.”
I stopped in my tracks, my sandals landing with two flops on the grass. A kid nearby yelled, and then a frisbee flew behind Demir’s head.
“What did you just say?”
“The personal assistant? I still want to make it happen. I’m just having questions about—”
I held my hand in the air, then sucked in a deep breath. I let it out slowly, the air puffing through my nose, and Demir’s eyes went wide like when he knew he did something wrong.
“Demir,” I said sharply. “Do you want to stop and think about what you just said to me, please?”
Demir tightened his brow, then seemed to hear himself and nodded.
“Anything you want to say to me now?” I asked, my hand on my hip.
“Finances are getting in the way of me finding a personal assistant, but I’ll prioritize figuring that out. I know I made a promise, and I won’t forget that getting more time with you is what matters.”
“And with Grayson,” I said, the words coming out before I really thought about them.
Demir nodded. “Yes, and with Grayson.”
The acknowledgment lingered in the air. The more Grayson became a part of our lives, the more we each wanted to pull him closer and to be in that surprising, happy world the three of us created together.
I reached out and touched his cheek, his beard rough on the pads of my fingers. I caught his eye, and we saw each other, just like we always did.
“Sorry,” he said. “I get lost in work sometimes, but I never actually forget about you. I hope you know that.”
I brushed a kiss across his lips. “Accepted. Let’s go find Grayson.”
Demir took the picnic basket from me, and we continued through the park and toward the hill Grayson had described in a text. We walked up the hill, and slowly, the crowd gathered at the top came into view. There were probably thirty or forty adults, enough to look like a healthy family reunion, and a scattering of children, running around and laughing.
Demir adjusted his sunglasses, then reached out and adjusted mine. I laughed and swatted his hand away, the fresh air and crowd of new people making me feel playful.
“I love a chance to socialize during daylight,” I said.
“I love a hot dog off the grill,” Demir answered, eyeing the substantial set-up, with tables full of salads and desserts and a few coolers scattered nearby.
I spotted Grayson at the back of the picnic, tossing a football back and forth with a friend. I took Demir’s hand, and we made our way through the crowd, smiling and nodding to a few friendly people as we passed. “Hello, hello,” I said. “Lovely afternoon!”
When we emerged, Grayson tossed the football back to his friend, then jogged our way. Demir and I took him into an embrace, and the picnic basket dangled behind us, swaying back and forth.
“I’m so glad you could make it!” he said. “And the rain didn’t end up coming through after all.”
