Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“That was a nice stunt you pulled, brats,” I said. “I give it an A+ in emotional torture.”
“Amen,” Reese agreed.
“At the least.” Greer nodded. Greer, not Santa. He’d taken off the hat and dragged a towel over his beard and eyebrows. “It’s a good thing we always have an ace up our sleeves.”
“No!” Noa yelled. “No aces, no more tricks, we won! We fooled you!”
“But we don’t play by your rules, little one,” Luke pointed out. “Your gifts were so incredibly meaningful that we must make you suffer.”
I loved that man so hard.
“Un-fucking-fair!” Corey cried out.
“Jesus Christ, they’re fucking with us,” Shay grated out. “Calm yourselves.”
Ha! Ah, Corey’s scowl now was something else.
“I’m calm,” he snapped.
“That’s enough, boys,” Sloan said. “It’s a good surprise, I promise.”
I nodded for Reese to take the wheel.
“All right, you bratty li’l fucks,” he said. “Y’all better know how to swim because we’re all going on a cruise in March. Down in the Bahamas, we’ll see what blinds you the most, the sun or River’s lily-white ass.”
I winced at the sudden victory shout of a hundred brats expressing their excitement. Holy shit, I should’ve put in earplugs.
Mack sighed. “So this is why you should have a Dom.”
“Oh my God, I wanna swim with sharks!” Noa exclaimed.
“Oh my God, I don’t!” Corey mimicked.
I shook my head in amusement and refocused on Macklin. “You’re a fool if you think we haven’t included you, pet. We’ve already bought the tickets.”
We just hadn’t known beforehand if we’d be announcing the trip tonight or some other night the brats decided to bamboozle us.
He perked right up. “Really?”
Oh, come on. We weren’t leaving our Mack behind.
“I’m so ready for this trip,” Tate said. “I can barely remember the last time I saw sunlight.”
Safe to say, the rest of the evening would be spent discussing a cruise. And whether or not we were swimming with sharks.
Franklin and Jack were the first to leave around midnight, and Tate and Kingsley followed shortly after. KC and Lucian’s brood went back and forth on whether they were staying the night or heading back to their condo across the river, but in the end, they opted to go home.
The Finlay Foursome decided to split up for the night. Sloan and Archie were beat and wouldn’t mind some downtime before they picked up the kids tomorrow, so at almost two AM, they wished us a merry Christmas and headed for Corey’s place in Arlington, leaving Greer and Corey behind to spend the night here.
Around that time, River, Reese, and Shay said goodnight and went upstairs to sleep. And Corey and Kit begged for a movie night.
“Movie night now?” Luke asked. “It’s two in the morning, boys.”
“Pleeeaase, Daddy?” Kit begged and clasped his hands together. “After tonight, I won’t see Corey until next year!”
Oh Christ.
Macklin snorted a chuckle and carried some bowls and trays out to the kitchen.
“You can decide after we’ve showered, Kit,” I said. “If you’re not half asleep by then, you can watch a movie.”
“Okay! I won’t be too tired.”
We’d see.
I nodded toward the stairs. “Let’s go, then. Corey, you know where your guest room is?”
“Yes, Sir. I’ll go help Dominus in the shower also,” he replied. “Now that Reese is gone, I might dare try my new propaganda jammies.”
I chuckled. As if we wouldn’t take a picture and send it to Reese.
Kit and I made it up to our floor and aimed straight for the bathroom. When he asked me not to pee before the shower, I knew what he wanted, so I merely nodded and removed my clothes.
It’d become a once-in-a-while comfort for him, and lately, for me too. I’d never been interested in watersports before him, and I still wasn’t—except for this one routine he and I shared. Sometimes when he’d had a long day, sometimes when he was feeling emotionally wrung out…
Kit yawned and stretched his arms over his head. “Are we gonna play more tonight, Daddy?”
I hummed as I tested the temperature of the water. “Play might be a strong word. Luke and I talked to Greer when you were sayin’ goodbye to Tate and Kingsley, and we came up with a plan for next time, so to speak. But it doesn’t have to be tonight. We were kinda talkin’ in terms of after the holidays.”
I stepped in under the hot spray and let out a long breath as the water soaked me in seconds. Jesus, that felt amazing.
Kit joined me and asked about said plan.
“That we establish a set of boundaries in which we can test the waters,” I replied. “With you and Corey, for example. Like we decided before, you’re free to do whatever you want with him so long as y’all stay safe. And Macklin—he’s a safe play partner for all of us. But we stay within those lines. Greer’s family and Macklin, nobody else for now. Otherwise, it’s easy—like tonight—you find yourself in a situation where many of your friends are havin’ sex, and in the heat of the moment, you want to push a limit you might regret later. Lust has a way of changin’ one’s mind.”