Chapter 9

9

Rimmel

The entire family was together, and the backdrop of the unexpected reunion was more beautiful than any photo or painting I’d ever seen.

The sun had nearly set, the horizon on fire with hues of orange and yellow that gave way to a deep-purple sky that would eventually turn navy and light up with stars. The ocean glittered like a giant diamond under a spotlight, its ever-moving state an endless draw to the eye.

We were at the clubhouse on the island with its outdoor cabanas, flickering tiki torches, and lanterns glowing in the sand. A large table was laid out with enough food for a small country, but considering how many of us were here, it wouldn’t go to waste. The fruit offering was drool-worthy, all of it fresh and oversized and artfully arranged beside many other dishes and breads that seemed too pretty to eat.

Off to the side was a pig roast, something I was actively trying not to look at. I was sure the taste was wonderful, and I appreciated the work the staff here put into making such a feast, but I didn’t think I could bring myself to enjoy that particular delicacy.

Two bartenders were on staff behind the large tiki bar, the sound of a whirring blender promising pi?a coladas aplenty.

Kids laughed and ran by in a blur.

“No running by the pool!” I called after them.

“I honestly had no idea a place this beautiful actually existed.”

I smiled wide, spinning in the direction of the familiar voice. “Bellamy!” I exclaimed, rushing forward to hug her. We did greet them at the dock when they flew in but parted after so they could choose a bungalow and get settled.

“It’s so good to see you,” Bellamy said as we embraced.

When I pulled back, I stepped into a hug from Liam. “You guys look great. You haven’t aged at all since we saw you last.”

“I think the island lighting is playing tricks,” Bellamy teased. There was no trick, though. Her thick, long blond hair was halfway down her back and wavy from the ocean breeze. Her skin was smooth and clear, and the only hint of age was the smile lines around her mouth. Even after four kids, she was trim, something I knew she worked at given that she was a chef and around food all day.

Shaking his head, Liam tugged his wife into his side. “No, Bells. You’re just forever beautiful.”

She smiled and poked him in his lean waist. “Maybe it’s the cold weather at BearPaw,” she teased. “It slows down our aging. Because you are still as handsome as you were when I met you at sixteen.”

She was right. I didn’t know what it was about the men in this family, but these guys were like fine wine and only got better with age. The scruff, lines around their eyes, and maturing features only made them more appealing.

He kissed her temple when she turned to me. “But trust me. Four kids are enough to age anyone.”

“ And two successful restaurants!” I put in.

After the couple completed their family with Shaw, Noah, Everly, and Wyatt, Bellamy finally realized her dream of opening a ski-up snack shack at BearPaw Resort. Well, she called it a snack shack. I called it a full-on restaurant. But she owned the place. It was an instant hit, so they opened another inside the resort with a similar vibe but bigger menu.

“I’m very lucky,” she said.

“You work hard.” Liam corrected her.

“We all do,” I declared. “Which is why it’s so great we could all get away. Braeden really outdid himself with this trip.”

Romeo appeared soundlessly behind me. For such a large man, he was very graceful. After planting a kiss on top of my head, he hugged Bellamy and shook hands with Liam.

“B’s gonna be insufferable after this.”

“Poor Ivy.” Bellamy agreed, and we all laughed.

“How’s things at BearPaw?” Romeo asked Liam.

“Running smooth,” he replied.

“Of course they are. I’m in charge,” Alex cracked, approaching hand in hand with Sabrina. He held out his hand to Romeo. “The man of the hour.” His teeth flashed. “Congratulations on fifteen years of greatness. You did the work. We get the vacay.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Braeden joked, sneaking up behind me and lifting me off my feet.

I gasped, and he laughed, plunking me back down on the deck.

“So easy,” he mused.

Another round of greetings went around, and then Braeden and Alex settled into their usual routine of firing insults at each other.

In their thirties and they still acted like children.

“At it again, I see,” Ivy mused, approaching with two pineapples in hand, both of them with a straw and little umbrellas sticking out of the top.

“They’re going to be like this when they’re eighty.” Sabrina agreed.

Her dark hair was pulled up in a twist, and she had a white tropical flower behind one of her ears.

Ivy handed me one of the pi?a coladas. I reached for it, but Romeo plucked it out of her hands and took a pull from the straw.

“Get your own,” I told him.

After swallowing, he offered it to me. “Virgin. Good job, princess.”

“If I had known it would meet your approval, I’d have added extra rum,” Ivy told him, and he laughed. Her blue eyes found mine, face sheepish. “I just figured after all the travel and with all the water around…”

I smiled. “Definitely a good call. I’d be passed out in a palm tree after two sips.”

“Now see here. There will be no drama on this trip.” Braeden told the group. “Nothing but good times allowed.”

“About that,” Liam put in, a twinkle in his gray eyes as he held up a white bag I hadn’t noticed before. “We brought you something, Rimmel.”

I took the offered gift, reached inside, and groaned. “Not you too!” I exclaimed, pulling out a neon-orange life jacket.

Romeo laughed.

“Maybe you should put that on now,” Alex suggested.

I scowled at his handsome face and twinkling icy-blue eyes. “I don’t need a life jacket to eat dinner.”

“Knowing you, you’d find a way to fall in the ocean with your plate,” Daniel said as he and his wife, Meredith, joined the group. “Probably find a dolphin and tame it.”

Meredith smacked him in the middle, but he laughed.

After pushing the ridiculous life jacket into Romeo’s hands, I hugged them both. “Where is Selene?” I asked, looking around for their only daughter.

“She and Everly went to find Nova,” Meredith replied, tugging her long dark braid over her shoulder.

“They’re on the beach,” Daniel said more precisely and muttered off a string of coordinates, which was probably the exact location of his daughter.

“I see you haven’t changed,” I mused, taking in his dark hair that was peppered with gray.

“That’s my daughter,” was all he said.

Ivy laughed, and Meredith winked.

All the men were overprotective around here, but Daniel… I think he probably took the cake.

“How is the veterinary clinic?” I asked Meredith.

She smiled. “Busy as ever. I was finally able to hire on another full-time vet, so I’m hoping to have more time off.”

“Well, you’re off to a good start,” Ivy told her, gesturing to the gorgeous view.

“I agree. This place is stunning. A far cry from the mountains of Colorado.”

“All right, guys,” Braeden said, “the bar awaits.” He flung his arms toward the cabana and waiting bartenders.

Everyone started to move in the direction of the drinks, but Braeden planted himself in the Ivy’s and my path. “Not you two. You’re cut off.”

“Excuse me?” Ivy asked.

Braeden’s eyes narrowed on the giant pineapple in her hand. “What the hell is that?”

“Something you’re about to wear,” Ivy intoned, sweet as pie.

“Blondie, if you want me to take my shirt off, you just need to ask.”

“They’re virgin,” Romeo told him.

Braeden grunted. “Good looking out, Rome.”

Ivy and I shared a look, then turned back to Braeden.

“Life jackets,” I said.

“Restricted drinking,” she said.

“Rules.”

She made a sound. “It’s like they think they’re the boss of us.”

Braeden’s brown eyes were wide. “Now wait just a minute.”

We stepped toward him. He stepped back.

I set my drink on a nearby table, and Ivy did the same.

“Now, I’m just trying to?—”

We grabbed him by the arms and yanked him toward the pool. We got maybe three steps before he planted his big feet and refused to budge.

“Braeden James Walker, you let us punish you!” I hollered.

“You deserve it, bonehead!”

“I can’t do it. I’m about to get my eat on.” Braeden refused.

Ivy and I shared another look.

Braeden made a sound.

“Jax!”

“Blue!”

We both yelled at the same time.

“Oh, hells no!” Braeden roared.

A whole pack of kids appeared, and Braeden stood no chance. He went over the side of the pool with a massive splash.

Right after, the kids all leaped in after him, waves splattering the concrete and my feet.

With a roar, Braeden hoisted himself out of the pool, water plastering his board shorts and Hawaiian shirt to his muscular body. Dark hair lay heavy against his forehead and water dripped off his scowling brows. His attention zeroed in on his wife, and she shrieked and turned to run.

He caught the hem of her sundress when it billowed out around her hips as she spun. In seconds, he had her swung up into his arms, heading back to the pool.

“I just did my makeup!” she hollered. “Drew!”

“He can’t help you now.”

“Do not throw me in that pool, Braeden James. We are about to?—”

Splash!

When she came up sputtering, Drew reached over the edge to offer his hand. But instead of having him help her out, she pulled him in.

“What the hell, Ives?” he complained, wiping the water from his face.

“That’s what you get!” she told him.

From the side, Trent laughed.

“Keep laughing, frat boy,” Drew called. “You’re next.”

Travis appeared, wrapping his arms around Trent in a bear bug and bulldozing him over the edge. Even though Trent was much bigger than his son, he was surprised, and his large body made a giant splash when he hit the water.

After that, all hell broke loose and an epic water battle broke out.

Romeo lifted me off my feet, and I went rigid, but he whispered in my ear, “That’s no place for you.”

He carried me away from the chaos and to a table where Joey, Lorhaven, Hopper, and Arrow were sitting. Even though there were enough chairs, Romeo sat down with me in his lap.

“You don’t want to join the battle?” I asked the group as he signaled to one of the bartenders.

“I prefer to eat dinner dry,” Hopper mused.

“I’m starving,” Arrow announced.

A bartender appeared wearing a relaxed cream-colored linen short set. He placed a beer in front of my husband and turned to our once-blond friend. Arrow had stopped bleaching his hair about a year after he retired from racing. Just showed up at one of our family get-togethers with a buzzcut.

Since then, his hair had grown into a messy brown mop that flipped out around his ears. Even fifteen years later, he still had a baby face. And honestly, I still secretly thought he looked like Justin Bieber.

“Please help yourself to the buffet,” the bartender told Arrow, gesturing to the massive spread. “All the food is prepared and ready to be enjoyed.”

“Thank you,” he said.

Lorhaven caught the bartender’s attention to order a beer for him and a daiquiri for Joey.

When the man was gone, Arrow pressed his palms onto the arms of his chair and stood. He’d filled out over the years, becoming wider, and both his arms were covered in full sleeves of tattoos. The loose tank top he wore showed them off perfectly as well as offering glimpses of a few on his chest.

He stood and turned toward the pool where half the family was still trying to drown each other. Placing fingers between his lips, he whistled.

Everyone looked around, and he waved. “Let’s eat!”

I glanced at Hopper, and he winked at me. “Better feed him before he gets hangry.”

Hopper’s dark hair seemed curlier than usual, likely from the salt and humidity on the island, and the breeze ruffled it around his forehead. He, too, was more tattooed than he used to be, but Arrow would always have more ink than anyone else here.

Hopper laid a hand on the back of his husband’s neck and directed him toward the food.

“So, Rimmel, how are the shelters?”

I turned back to Joey who had her dark curly hair piled on top of her head. A pair of sunglasses pushed up kept the loose strands away from her green eyes. Her flawless skin seemed golden in the island light across her neck and shoulders, which were bare above her strapless maxi dress.

I ran three shelters now. Well, I owned three and had a lot of help running them. My main focus was still the one I took over when it was first built.

“They’re doing great,” I said. “We just hired a veterinarian at the new location. It’s going to be a clinic as well as a shelter.”

Romeo’s arm tightened around me from behind. “You do a lot of good work, baby.”

Lorhaven smiled. “How many dogs do you have at home right now?”

I laughed. “Just a few.”

“Lies!” Braeden appeared, soaking wet and missing his shirt. He came close and shook himself, splattering Romeo and me with water.

“Braeden,” I shrieked, crawling farther against Romeo.

“I had to do it, sis. I need to cool off your lies,” he deadpanned, sticking a finger in his ear like he needed to drain it.

Pushing his wet hair back, Braeden turned to Lorhaven. “Ten,” he said. “Ten dogs, which ain’t just a few.”

“You like my dogs,” I told him.

“I like you, so I tolerate those dogs.” He corrected me.

“You take Milo and Rocket to football practice with you every afternoon,” I refuted. Every day, he whistled, and every day, those two dogs tripped over themselves jumping up into the cab of his truck.

“The kids like them.” He defended himself.

Romeo laughed.

Braeden gave him the finger.

“How’s your father?” I asked Joey about Ron Gamble, the owner of the Maryland Knights. “We were sorry to hear he couldn’t join us.”

Lorhaven made a sound. “Man is pushing eighty, and he’s still a workaholic.”

“That’s never going to change.” Joey agreed. “But he’s doing good. Set in his ways. He sends his regards, Romeo. Wants to have dinner when we get home.”

Romeo nodded. “He called me. We’ll be there.”

“Rome’s his favorite football player,” Braeden put in.

“Rome made Gamble a lot of money over the years. Instead of being filthy rich, now he’s obscenely rich,” Lorhaven said of his father-in-law.

Trent’s wet feet slapped over the concrete, alerting us to his presence. Like Braeden, he shook his sandy-brown hair all over, making it rain.

“Ugh!” I exclaimed. “Not you too!”

Laughing, Trent shook his hair out one last time, then peeled the T-shirt over his head and dropped it on the ground. He still worked for New Revolution Racing on the business side, but having an office-type job didn’t make him soft. If anything, it made him hit the gym harder, and he was just as big as always.

“Sorry, sis,” he said, leaning over Romeo and me to smack a wet kiss on my temple. “I still love ya.”

I sighed. I was a total sucker for my brothers.

Drew appeared, his soaked hair plastered to his head, water dripping from his scruff, and blue eyes narrowed. Crossing his arms over his chest, he scrutinized Trent. “Where is your shirt?”

Trent smirked. “Figured I’d eat without one tonight.”

Drew growled. “Oh, hells no.”

“What’s going on?” Arrow asked, his lips smacking as he chewed and his hands filled with loaded-down plates.

“Drew’s got his panties in a wad as usual,” Lorhaven cracked.

“Maybe you should put on a shirt,” Hopper told Trent.

Arrow sat down and started plowing through a mound of food. Appreciative noises fell from his lips. “This is damn good.”

The bartender delivered Joey’s and Lorhaven’s drinks.

“Isn’t anyone else going to eat?” Arrow asked, pausing midchew.

Drew slapped him on the shoulder. “I’m going now before you eat it all.”

Travis appeared, black hair mashed to his head and the black jeans he always lived in soaked. Like his dad, his shirt was missing.

“This pig is delicious,” he said, shoveling a huge bite of meat between his lips.

My nose wrinkled.

“Where is your plate?” Ivy exclaimed, coming over to plant her hands on her hips and scold her nephew. “I know you did not go over there to the carving station and hold out your hand for a slab of meat.”

She was the only one who took the time after being dumped in the pool to comb out her long blond locks and exchange her wet clothes for a one-piece shorts romper that tied in a big bow at the back of her neck. She would always be this family’s best dressed.

Travis shoved more in his mouth. “He gave it to me,” he said, defending his poor manners.

“It’s so good,” Arrow moaned, shoving some in his mouth.

Travis and Arrow high-fived over the table.

Ivy grabbed Travis by the ear. “No nephew of mine is going to be walking around with handfuls of meat.”

“Ow, Aunt Ivy!” Travis complained.

“We’re getting a plate.” Exasperated and still gripping his ear, Ivy turned to Trent and Drew. “Really? Is this what you taught your son?”

“He’s a growing boy.” Drew defended them.

Jax appeared with meat in his hand too. “I’ve never seen a pig roast before,” he told everyone, taking a huge bite.

“You have got to be kidding!” Ivy exclaimed, throwing up her hands.

Everyone laughed.

Jax looked at Braeden. “What?”

Valerie, Tony, Caroline, and John came around the path leading to the clubhouse. All four of them looked far more put together than the rest of us. The second Valerie saw the meat in the boys’ hands, her nose wrinkled.

“We use plates in this family, boys,” she told them. “Come on. Let’s go.”

“I’ve tried,” Ivy implored to Caroline.

Caroline patted her daughter-in-law on the shoulder. “You’re a good mom, honey. They get this from their fathers.”

“I’m literally your son and standing right here,” Braeden deadpanned.

Caroline laughed and patted his cheek before going off to help Valerie give the boys a lesson in manners.

The other kids came up from the beach, and the entire family moved to the buffet to fill plates and sit down at a row of tables all pushed together. Palm trees swayed in the night breeze, light glowed from lanterns and tiki torches, and music played over speakers I couldn’t see.

Drinks flowed, and laughter filled the air.

The sun disappeared completely, and the sky turned velvet, filling with more stars than I’d ever seen before.

Stomach and heart full, I laid my head against Romeo’s shoulder and gazed up at the glittering night. The sound of the ocean lulled me, and the warmth of my husband made me feel safe.

Romeo nuzzled into my hair, his nose nudging the side of my neck. “Is it later yet?” he whispered, causing goose bumps to rise along my bare arms.

I wiggled in his lap, and he growled deep in his throat.

“How about we call it a night?” he murmured.

I started to nod, but a sizzling sound followed by clapping brought up my head.

One of the staff held open the door of the clubhouse while several others came out. They were clapping and smiling, and behind them, a cart was pushed out with a massive white cake in the center. A few sparklers stuck out of the top, shooting off sparks in all directions.

“Happy retirement, Rome!” Braeden yelled, rising from his chair.

Romeo laughed and stood, setting me on my feet beside him. The cake was wheeled to the head of the table, and Braeden slung his arm around Romeo’s shoulders, guiding him over.

“Speech!” Trent yelled.

Everyone followed suit and started to chant. “Speech, speech, speech!”

Romeo shook his head, his smile blinding even against the backdrop of paradise. He and Braeden stood behind the cake until the sparklers burned out and the staff retreated inside.

The bartenders carried over trays of champagne glasses filled with bubbly and began passing them out to the adults.

“We know you’re a man of few words, Rome,” Braeden said. “But we did drag ourselves across the globe for this. So how about you say something?”

Romeo’s gaze met mine across the table, and I smiled.

He cleared his throat and looked around the massive table with our entire family filling it. His golden hair glowed against the moon and torches, candlelight flickering in his blue eyes. With a gauzy white button-up shirt hugging his shoulders and billowing around his narrow waist and the champagne flute in his large hand, he looked very much like the head of the family. A true alpha who wrote his own rules, loved with everything he was made of, and built a family that not even DNA could rival.

We all played our part in this family. We were all the heroes of our individual stories, but Romeo—my Romeo—he was where it all began.

“Well, since you all dragged yourselves across the globe,” he mused.

Everyone heckled but then fell quiet as Romeo’s chest rose and fell.

“You know, when I was young?—”

“Old man!” Alex called, and everyone laughed.

“I always thought— planned —that football would be my biggest accomplishment. The best thing I would ever do.” His eyes connected with mine again, and the tether we created all those years ago tugged my heart. Smiling, he shifted his glance to his parents. “And you both made sure I had all the opportunity and support I needed to realize those dreams.”

Valerie smiled and dabbed the corner of her eye with a napkin.

“I know I wouldn’t have made it as far as I did without you both, so thank you for that, Mom, Dad.” He lifted his glass in a small salute.

“But here I stand fifteen years later with what I thought would be my biggest accomplishment in the rearview mirror. Don’t get me wrong. I love football. I love the game. And yeah, maybe I set a record or two.”

Trent coughed. “More like six.”

Romeo grinned. “Won a few Super Bowls.”

Liam coughed. “Eight.”

“What can I say? I’m a legend,” Romeo allowed, smug and big-headed as always.

But it was okay. He’d earned it for tonight.

“But as I stand here tonight with all those accomplishments under my belt and fifteen years of playing to ruminate on…” He paused and gazed out across the ocean. As he turned back, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and he smiled. “I can honestly say football is not my biggest accomplishment.” His stare found mine and held. “This is.”

“Grandpa’s going soft!” Arrow called.

“What’s wrong with being a grandpa?” Anthony retorted.

Romeo shook his head. “At the risk of sounding like an after-school special?—”

“What’s an after-school special?” Blue asked, and Romeo groaned.

“All that time I was playing, something else became bigger. We built something better. Life became about way more than me and a ball. And maybe if football was all I had all these years, then yeah, retirement might be bitter. But looking around this massive table that B so generously paid for?—”

“I’ll never quit you, Rome,” B called.

“This family we built, the unshakable relationships and loyalty we’ve all worked hard to form and keep… This is my biggest accomplishment. Our accomplishment. And though the expiration date on my football career has been reached, this family is forever.”

Romeo raised his glass higher. “Thanks for being here to celebrate my retirement, but let’s also celebrate this fam because, in the end, there’s nothing better.”

Glasses rose.

“To family!”

Everyone echoed Romeo’s sentiment, and we all sipped from our drinks.

“That was corny as hell, Rome,” Braeden teased after finishing off his champagne. He turned to the table. “Who wants cake?”

Romeo grabbed the back of his head. “Well, since you paid, it’s only fair you have the first piece,” he quipped and pushed his face into the massive white confection.

Braeden yanked himself back, vanilla cake and white icing covering his entire face and hairline. Using his fingers, he swiped it out of his eyes and then swiped his tongue across the corner of his mouth.

“This is pretty good,” he said, then grabbed a fistful and launched it at Romeo’s head.

They ended up locked in a wrestling match, and Braeden stepped on a mound of icing and went flying backward. Romeo tried to catch him, but he ended up toppling over too, and both men fell into the rolling cart and hit the ground, the cake tumbling over on top of them.

Heavy silence draped over the group, and I hurried around the table to stand by Ivy and gape at the overgrown children we called husbands. They were in a heap on their backs, cake literally everywhere and covering them both.

Braeden groaned and pushed up onto his elbow, a chunk of cake rolling off his head. Romeo sat up, cake on his shoulder and icing dangling from his ear. His hair was no longer golden but frosted.

“This is why our sons don’t use plates,” Ivy deadpanned.

I laughed.

“You were right, B. This cake is pretty good,” Romeo said, swiping some off his arm to eat.

“Right?” Braeden said, licking his arm.

“So much for cake,” Arrow mourned.

Joey laughed. “They just brought out a tray of cupcakes.”

Arrow ran off, and all the kids followed him.

Romeo leaped up from the mess and scooped me into his arms, making me squeal.

“Roman Anderson! You’re sticky!”

“I’ve come to give you some sugar,” he said, pressing our lips together and smearing icing all over the lower half of my face.

I started to protest, but his tongue slipped between my lips and, with it, the sweet taste of vanilla frosting. Sighing, I gave in, as I always did, to this man and kissed him back.

Nearby, Valerie cleared her throat. I pulled back, dipping my face into Romeo’s chest.

“Well, hopefully you boys have gotten all of these antics out of your systems on the first day so we can have a more… relaxed vacation.”

“They’re heathens, Mrs. Anderson,” Ivy declared. “I’ve lost hope.”

“Valerie.” Romeo’s mom corrected Ivy and then laughed.

Braeden stood in the center of the pile of cake. “Don’t worry, Moms,” he said, glancing at her and then at his mother. “Yoga class starts at seven a.m. by the pool.”

“Oh, how lovely,” Caroline said.

“I’ll be in bed,” he told her. “Enjoy it, though.”

“London will enjoy that,” Valerie said, glancing at me.

I nodded. “I’ll tell all the girls.”

“We will be sure to keep an eye on them,” Caroline told me. “That way you can sleep in after all that travel.”

“Oh, well, this is your vacation too. I don’t expect you to babysit our kids.”

“Please, this Gram can’t sleep past sunrise no matter the day. Yoga with my granddaughters is the perfect start to my day,” Caroline refuted.

“Me too,” Valerie said. “We can have breakfast with a view afterward.”

“Well, if you’re sure…” I hedged.

“Of course we are.” Both women nodded.

Valerie laid her hand on mine, then drew back when she felt the icing coating my skin. “Enjoy your time with your husband. I know we are celebrating his retirement, but it’s yours too. Being the wife of a famous pro football player for fifteen years also deserves recognition.” She paused. “Not that I think that’s all you are,” she rushed to say, forgoing her aversion to my sticky hand and reaching for it once more. “You are a wonderful mother, business owner, philanthropist, and daughter as well. I just meant?—”

I laid my free hand over hers, stopping her rambling. “I know, Mom.”

Valerie’s eyes widened, lips parting in surprise. She searched my face almost as if she couldn’t believe I’d willingly called her mom.

I smiled. “I know what you meant, and thank you for saying it. I couldn’t have accomplished everything I have without your and Anthony’s help. You’ve been amazing grandparents to our children and amazing parents to Romeo… and to me.”

“Rimmel,” Valerie practically gasped. Tears filled her eyes.

“I know I don’t say it, but I do love you.”

A cry ripped from her lips, and she pulled me in for a hug. “Oh, honey, I never thought I’d hear you say that.”

“Never underestimate this family,” I whispered.

“We love you too,” Valerie confided.

After fifteen years, I could honestly say that the rough start Valerie Anderson and I got off to was firmly behind us. Her love for my children, my husband… and yeah, me was just water under the bridge we now stood on.

Nearby, Romeo cleared his throat.

I pulled away from Valerie and looked at him.

“I have cake in my ear,” he complained.

“Serves you right for wrestling like that with Braeden. And at family dinner!”

“Honestly, Roman,” Valerie scolded. “Go shower.”

“C’mon, smalls,” Romeo said, holding out his hand.

“Me? Why do I have to come?”

“Because if I leave you alone, you’ll get lost at sea.”

“How could that happen with the bright yellow and orange vests everyone keeps handing me?” I sassed.

Swooping in, he picked me up, dumping me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Put me down!”

“Can’t do it,” he said, heading off toward our room. “Look at that. Now you’re covered in cake and need a shower too.”

He smeared his gross hand along the back of my thigh.

“You’re going to pay for this!” I vowed, my body dangling down his back.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m counting on it.”