22. Chapter 22

Chapter twenty-two

Astrid

Three Months Later

“Happy birthday, dear Lilly! Happy birthday to you!” My eight-year-old girl blows the candles out on her cake as our family and friends clap and cheer.

Eight. How on earth is my daughter eight already?

“Is it time for presents now?” she turns to me, the impatience in her body amplifying the longer I make her wait.

“Yes, baby. You can open presents now.”

“Yay!” She hops off her chair at the table and all the other kids in attendance follow her to the living room.

“Mom, can you make sure to take pictures of her, please? I’m going to slice up this cake.”

“Sure, Astrid. Although it’s a shame you’re about to cut into that beautiful cake.” My mom steps into the living room, her phone poised up, ready to take pictures as Lilly reads the card on the first present.

“How long did that cake take you to make?” Penn comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. And I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this feeling—safety, warmth, and lust. All he has to do is touch me and my body wants him.

“About four hours.”

“And now everyone is going to eat it?”

“Yup.”

“How does that not make you irrationally angry?” he asks, a teasing lilt to his voice.

“Because the best part of making something like this is watching people taste it and enjoy it.” I pick up the knife from the counter and cut into the Frozen themed cake that my daughter requested for her birthday. Elsa’s castle stands tall on the top layer, with all the characters positioned in front of it. The icing is sky blue to mimic ice, and the crystal details make it shimmer when the light hits it.

It truly is beautiful, but I know that it tastes amazing too.

Penn’s lips find my neck. “Funny. I was just thinking about how I want to taste you .”

“Penn…” I groan as my eyes close, which probably isn’t smart considering I’m holding a knife.

“Hey. No hanky panky around the cake.” Willow enters the kitchen, interrupting our moment.

Penn lifts his head. “Who the hell calls it hanky panky?”

Willow shrugs. “I don’t know. That’s just the word that came to my mind.”

“That’s fair,” I say, pointing the knife in her direction before I go back to slicing the cake. Laughter and screams filter out from the living room as Lilly holds up her latest present and tissue paper goes flying everywhere.

“Penn, could you… ”

“I’m on it, babe.” He kisses me on the cheek, heads to the pantry to grab a trash bag, and then moves into the living room to start picking up the mess that Lilly is making with wrapping paper and bags.

“Look at you. You speak and he moves.”

I roll my eyes at Willow. “No, we’re a team. He helps. I help.” I sigh wistfully. “It’s amazing.”

“And how’s it been living together? You still think all of his weird quirks are cute?”

Laughing, I reply, “There’s been a few bumps here and there, a little tiff or two. But the make-up sex is worth it.”

Willow grins. “Can’t argue with you there. When Dallas and I fight, it actually makes me horny now.”

“Uh, did I walk in on a conversation that I shouldn’t be a part of?”

When I look to my left, my brother is standing there, his hair standing up on all ends like he’s been yanking on it all morning. “Dear lord, did you poke your finger in a light socket?” I ask him.

“What?” He tries to glance up, but quickly realizes that you can’t see the top of your own head. He moves to pat down his hair and then lets out a breath so strong he might blow over Elsa’s ice castle. “No. It’s just been a long weekend.”

“What happened?” I ask, moving to serve slices of cake onto the plates.

“The garage got broken into Friday night.”

“Oh my God, Grady! Is it bad?”

Penn comes rushing over, concerned by my outburst. “What? Is everything okay?”

“Yes. No.” I turn back to my brother. “The garage was broken into? Is everything okay?”

Dallas steps up next to Willow. “Dude, I fucking heard someone talking about that at the post office this morning. Did you catch them?”

Grady rubs the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah. I caught one of them. It was some kids. Three teenagers. Two of them escaped, but we got their names from the kid I caught.”

I shake my head. “Damn. I swear, if Bentley ever did something like that, I’d make sure he didn’t see daylight for a very long time.”

“Yeah, well I think his mom had the same idea.”

“You met his mom?” Penn asks.

“The alarm triggered a call to the cops, I kept the kid contained until they got there, but because he was a minor, they called his mom to come pick him up since I hadn’t decided if I’m going to press charges or not.”

“Why wouldn’t you? He smashed in the hood of the Nova,” Dallas says. “At least that’s what I heard.”

Penn winces. “Shit. The Nova?”

“I don’t give a fuck about the car right now,” Grady grumbles, his head hanging low.

I put my arm on his back, rubbing in circles. “Grady, what’s going on? I feel like you’re not just upset because of the car.”

When his head lifts, I see the uncertainty in his eyes, the anguish on his face, and then he says something I never saw coming.

“The kid’s mom is a woman I slept with a few months ago, right around Christmas. And when she came to talk to me yesterday about how to make this right, she also dropped a bomb on me that I wasn’t expecting.” He looks around at me, Penn, Dallas, and Willow. “It looks like I’m about to be a dad.”

THE END