Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
God, I loved that look.
“Okay, but seriously,” I said, turning back to Julep. “You teach me pole, and I’ll choreograph some floor work for you that’ll make Holden come in his pants.”
Julep nearly spit out her drink, eyes wide like there was a story behind her sudden panic.
Holden perked up from where he was on the floor, currently losing a very intense game of Mario Kart to Zeke and Sebastian. “I heard my name and I don’t like it.”
“You will,” Julep called sweetly.
“Certainly more than you’ll like your final position in this game,” Zeke added, and then threw his hands up as the Luigi character he was controlling flew across the finish line, Sebastian right on his heels. “Boo-yah!”
Sebastian giggled. “No fair, you and those stupid bananas!”
“Don’t be a sore loser,” Zeke teased.
“Hey! You better lay off and let my son beat your ass,” Kyle called from where he was playing on the floor with Raven.
“I don’t need him to let me!” Sebastian claimed proudly, and he swiped Zeke’s controller before starting another game. “I got this, Dad.”
The whole room went silent at that, some looks being shared, and I gave one to Braden that told him he’d be filling me in on that later.
“Okay, now that we’ve been here a couple days… can we talk about the elephant in the room?” Mary asked me, sliding in to join us in the kitchen.
“And that is?”
“That I’m obsessed with your ink, and also desperate to add to the canvas.”
Riley laughed. “Oh boy, here we go.”
“Just know if you let her start, she’ll never stop,” Leo warned from where he was taking the controller from Zeke. “Take me as proof.”
The man was covered in ink, especially all down his right arm.
I smiled, turning to Mary. “Music to my ears. What are you thinking?”
Glee lit up her eyes as she tugged my arm into her and started pointing at the gaps and how she’d fill them. She also went on to talk about her tattoo parlor and how she wanted to add a little piece of me to it. Maybe monthly dance classes, as she suggested.
In the living room, Atlas woke from where he’d been dozing on Clay’s chest.
It was loud. It was messy. It was everything.
It felt like home.
“Hey.”
Warm hands slid around my waist from behind, pulling me back against a solid chest with that greeting.
I melted into Braden instantly.
“Hey,” I echoed, tilting my head back to look at him.
He pressed a kiss to my temple, lingering there.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
I followed his gaze out around the cabin — cataloging the people who had welcomed me in like I’d always been a part of this.
“I’m more than okay,” I said finally. “I think I’m… exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
His arms tightened around me at that.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “You are.”
“Riley is so smart,” I said. “I’ve been picking her brain about youth programs and how to deal with teenage girls.”
Braden chuffed a laugh. “If anyone knows how to do it, it’s her. Does that mean you’re still thinking about teaching after this season?”
“Well…”
But I couldn’t get another word out because chaos erupted in the next room when Sebastian got first place in the Mario Kart race.
He jumped up, swooping his baby sister off the floor and running around with her while she giggled in his arms. Kyle swooped them both up in a Herculean effort when they ran by him, and then he was using his baby girl’s tiny fingers to point at each of his friends.
“In your face! And yours! And yours!”
The room was shrieking with laughter, and even when things settled a bit, it was still madness.
Everyone was talking over each other. No one was really listening.
And yet… everyone was seen.
Braden shifted behind me, his chin resting on my shoulder as we both watched them.
“This is what we needed,” he said quietly. “Just… a second to breathe.”
I nodded, covering his hands with mine.
The season had been relentless. Games, travel, pressure — all of it constant, all of it demanding. But this… this was their pause. Their reset. Their reminder of why they did any of it in the first place.
Family.
Not the one you were born into.
The one you built.
“Come on!” Riley called suddenly. “We’re doing gifts before dessert, because if I wait any longer, I’m going to explode.”
“That sounds like a personal problem,” Leo muttered, but he was already pushing off the floor to join her.
“Emily!” Mary waved me over. “You have to open yours first.”
I glanced up at Braden. “I’m scared.”
“You should be,” he said solemnly. “With Mary, it could be a very thoughtful piece of art or a whole ass animal you have to care for.”
He grinned, pressing one more quick kiss to my cheek before guiding me toward the tree.
I barely made it into a sitting position before Giana shoved a wrapped box into my hands.