The Sleepover

This is a bonus chapter only. It takes place a few months after the penultimate chapter of In the Gray. In the event I decide to write more from this world later, please note the timeline and details are subject to change. Otherwise, enjoy!

demi

“Okay, everybody ready?” I asked as I carried the snacks for our movie into my living room. 

“Yes!” Halo announced cheerfully, her tears from earlier long gone. 

The floor was already covered in pastel blankets, pillows, beads, string, and embroidery floss for friendship bracelets, nail polish, and whatever I could think of on the fly to keep a demanding five-year-old happy. They were piled in and around the three adorable princess teepees that I’d managed to get delivered from Amazon at the last minute. 

Thank you, ‘Zon.

“I’ll get the lights,” Atlas offered once she looked up from frowning at her phone and spotted my full arms. 

“Thanks, munchkin.” Atlas beamed like usual at the endearment, but it was slow to come this time. 

Returning, she settled in her purple teepee, which matched mine. When I ordered, there was only one pink left. According to Miss Halo, only she was allowed to have pink because she was the princess. 

Before I could ask Atlas what was wrong, Halo spoke.

“I want to watch the new Minions.”

“Yup,” I said simply while picking up the remote and loading the movie. Halo had already told me four times since her dad dropped her off. I’d already downloaded a digital copy and planned to surprise her, but Halo’s spoiled ass was so damn bossy it was damn near impossible to surprise her with anything.

She’d been a mess of tears after missing out on her first sleepover. Roc found out that Halo’s classmate had a new stepdaddy, which was the end of that. None of Halo’s cries—no matter how moving—could change his mind.

And so Halo—either through a precocious stroke of genius or unwitting childhood innocence—demanded to see me, which turned into her spending the night and having her sleepover here. 

Both Roc and I were powerless to say no, knowing it was the only way to stop Halo’s tears. 

It wasn’t unusual for Halo to stay overnight, but Roc’s reluctance to let her spend time with me certainly had been. He usually had no problem using his daughter to soften me toward him, but this time was different.  

He seemed…irritated.

I can’t imagine why. 

He didn’t have to cancel a date tonight to be there for Halo. In fact, Roc was probably out partying and finding his next fool at this very moment. 

I prayed his dirty dick fell off.

The movie ended an hour and a half later, and Halo demanded to see it again. 

“We just watched this, bestie. Don’t you want to watch something else?”

“No. Minions.”

I sighed and started the movie over. 

Atlas was still quiet, and I doubted it was because of the yellow, overalls-wearing henchman. She’d spent more time staring at her phone and grumbling. 

“You okay?” 

Slowly, she shook her head. “Owen isn’t texting me back.”

“When did you text him?”

She checked her phone. “Twelve minutes ago.”

I blinked rapidly in disbelief. “That’s it?”

“Yeah,” she returned with a roll of her eyes while I gaped. I honestly don’t know who’s more spoiled—Atlas or Halo. “But he always texts or calls me back within ten minutes or less,” she defended. “Even when he’s working.”

“All the time?” I asked skeptically.

“Yes.”

“And how do you know this?”

“Because it’s how long he said I have to respond before he comes to shoot up wherever I’m at.”

“Okay, that’s not cute, Atlas,” I said, genuinely concerned for my cousin. I knew Rowdy would never hurt her, but he could still ruin her very young life with his psycho ways. Their hold on each other gave me chills most days.

Atlas shrugged like she didn’t see the issue with his over-the-top possessiveness. “I told Owen I expected the same if that’s how it will be, and he said it was no problem.”

“But now it’s a problem.”

“Yup,” she confirmed with a pop of her lips. 

“So…what are you going to do? Go find him and shoot up wherever he’s at?” I retorted jokingly.

Atlas took way too long to respond—like she was actually thinking about it. “I might. If there are bitches around.”

“Oh, God,” I groaned while dropping my head and palming my forehead. “It’s only been a year and a half. How are you as crazy as him already?”

Atlas turned her head toward me with a troubled frown. “I’m not that bad, am I?”

I thought about how we met and the wild events that led to it. 

Atlas was my first cousin once removed. Jada, her birth mother, and my cousin had been forced to give her up for adoption when she was sixteen. Atlas and I never should have met, but her rash decision to move to Idlewild—because an anonymous note told her to—and then essentially stalk four of the most dangerous men in the city was the reason why we were even sitting here. Honestly, she’s lucky Rowdy’s crazy ass was the one to fall for her because she’d be on a milk carton right now. 

There was more than one type of crazy. Rowdy’s was explosive while Atlas’s snuck up on you. I couldn’t think of two people more perfect for each other. 

“Girl,” I finally answered like it should have been obvious, “you’re cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, and so is your man.” 

"Green isn't your color, cuz." Sticking her tongue out with a waggle, Atlas snatched up her phone, and I watched her dial Rowdy. It must have gone to voicemail because she huffed her frustration a moment later before a vindictive look entered her eyes and she powered off her phone.  

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head once the screen turned black. 

“Oh, hell no! Are you crazy?” I said, hopping up and rushing to the window overlooking my small but immaculate lawn. I made Roc mow it before he left. “Now he’s going to come shoot up my house!” 

“No, he won’t,” she denied, as if I was being dramatic—as if her man wasn't certified. “He knows Halo is here.”

True. 

That calmed me a little, but I still peered through the blinds, checking both ends of the street. I half expected to see the stunning blue Hellcat peeling around the corner and racing to turn my house into Swiss cheese just because he thinks something happened to his precious Dream. 

I swear those two liked to piss each other off just so they could fight. 

I couldn’t blame them. I knew well how much more intense hate sex could be. Mere memories had a shiver working its way through my body.

When all remained quiet, I took a deep breath and returned to my makeshift bed. There was no way I was sleeping on this uncomfortable floor all night. Once Halo fell asleep, I’d take her to my room to sleep with me. Atlas could take the guest bed. 

Huffing, Atlas turned on one of the lamps and pulled out the stuff to make the fake mud masks for kids. 

I think she needed the distraction. 

It caught Halo’s attention, and the Minion movie was quickly forgotten as she grabbed the nail polish and asked me to paint her toes. 

Halo basked in the attention for the next thirty minutes, giggling and smiling uncontrollably as I covered her toenails in bright green glitter polish while Atlas covered her face in mud. 

Once we were done, I helped Atlas with her mud mask, and then Halo demanded I let her do mine. 

“You look like a monster,” she told me with a giggle that turned into a terrified squeal when I snapped my teeth like I was going to bite her. 

“Am I a pretty monster?”

“Yes. My daddy said you’re the prettiest girl he’d ever seen.”

“Oh, yeah?” I answered dryly, not the least bit interested in what that liar had to say.

Halo nodded proudly. “Uh-huh.”

Atlas smirked at me over Halo’s head before asking, “What else did he say?”

“Um…she got a big butt!”

I rolled my eyes, releasing my own reluctant laugh while Atlas laughed so hard she fell onto her side. I kicked that bitch right in the cooch. 

“Dem Dem, can we take a picture?” Halo asked the moment she finished covering my face in the blue mask. 

“Sure, but don’t you want to wait until we wash this gunk off our face?”

“No. I want to show my daddy.”

I just barely sustained my eye roll. Halo was obsessed with her dad, and while it was adorable and perfect how close they were, sometimes it was hard to reconcile my version of him—the one that used and hurt me so deeply—with hers. He was her hero.

“Where’s your phone?”

“I lost it.”

“Again, Halo?”

Nodding somberly, Halo pouted on cue so she wouldn’t get in trouble.

I’d told her dad it was completely ridiculous for a child her age to have a cell phone, but every time she lost it, he would just buy her another one. 

Shaking my head, I unlocked my phone. 

Once Halo, Atlas, and I took a bunch of silly group and solo selfies pretending to be mud monsters, I pulled up my message thread with Halo’s bitch-ass father, read the last few exchanges to make sure he hadn’t texted me some unsolicited freaky shit or another goddamn dick pic and then handed her my phone. 

“Why it don’t say my daddy name?” Halo inquired innocently when she noticed his number at the top of the thread instead of a saved contact.

Because he’s a whore, and I wish I never met him.

“Little girl, just text your daddy,” I instructed impatiently.

Halo frowned at me like I'd hurt her feelings but quickly became enthralled with typing on my phone. Like most things Halo enjoyed, I knew it made her feel grown. She’d be six in a couple of weeks, going on sixty.

“What do you know about texting anyway?” Atlas teased.

“A lot.”

“Mhmm. Who do you text?”

“My daddy.”

Atlas and I cackled at her expense while Halo paid us no mind, typing slowly while she spelled out the words she knew out loud. 

I knew for a fact that half the time his phone was blowing up, it was because Halo was texting him one-word texts instead of full sentences and pictures of her out of focus or frame.

“So…” I said casually while letting my gaze run slowly and meaningfully over Atlas’s flat stomach. “You pregnant yet?” 

She gasped a little and looked down before her panicked gaze met mine. Seeing that I was fucking with her, she exhaled. “Girl, don’t play like that. I will knock Rowdy’s head off.” 

It was my turn to guffaw at her expense. “I heard you already tried that with a golf club.” 

Atlas and I traded insults for a while until I noticed that Halo was still typing on my phone. 

“Halo, what are you doing?”

“Noooothing.”

“Mhmm,” I said, knowing better. “Give me my phone.” 

I held out my hand, and Halo obediently placed it in my palm before picking up her cup of juice with the reusable swirly straw and going back to watching the movie. 

After a quick check of the thread she’d left open and confirming she’d only sent her dad our mud monster selfies along with a few incoherent texts, I exhaled. Roc hadn’t responded yet, but I knew he’d get a kick out of it once he saw them. 

Feeling the need to explain, so he didn't worry, I wrestled with indecision for a few seconds before texting him. 

Sorry about that, I texted. Halo wanted to show you her facial. She’s having a great time. Thanks for letting us have girl’s night.

Hitting send, I waited. 

Five minutes go by, and then ten. 

After thirty minutes of checking my phone with no response, I scolded myself for being a dummy yet again and darkened my phone screen.

* * *

Hours later, I stepped out of the shower when my phone rang. It was two in the morning, so I had no idea who would call me at this hour. Wrapping a towel around my body, I tiptoed to the sink where my phone rested on the counter. 

Reading the name on the caller ID, I rushed to answer.

“Hey, Daddy!” I greeted sweetly and with a big smile like he could see me. And then I remembered the time and sobered. My dad wouldn’t be calling me at this time of night unless it was an emergency. Oh, God. I hoped no one died. “Is everything okay?”

There was an astonished pause, and then…

“Damn,” a deep voice that did not belong to my father rumbled with pleasure. “You got my dick hard as a brick right now.”

What the fu…I placed my hand on my hip. “Excuse me? Who is this?”

“It’s Roc,” the voice snapped, making me grip the counter when I became lightheaded and swayed on my feet. “Who the fuck did you think it was?”

Snatching the phone away from my ear, I checked the caller ID again. 

I could have sworn it said…

Daddy.

Roc’s number was saved in my phone under ‘Daddy.’

“Oh, God.” I groaned in anguish as I stared into the partially foggy mirror, wishing I would die. I quickly realized how I'd ended up with egg on my face. 

I swore if Halo wasn’t five and my goddaughter, I’d turn her little ass every way but loose! 

And if I didn’t hate her father so much, I’d probably find it adorable how it never occurred to Halo to save his contact under his actual name since Roc wasn’t my daddy.

“Demetria, answer me. Who else you got calling you at this time of night?”

“Why are you calling me at this time of night?” I returned.

“I was calling to tell Halo good night.”

“It’s two in the morning, Rochendrix,” I reminded him as I placed the phone on speaker and set it on the counter to drop my towel and moisturize. I loved my voluptuous frame and usually spent an obnoxious amount of time admiring it whenever I could, but right now, my heart was beating too fast to focus on anything else but the man on the other end of the line. “Your daughter went to bed hours ago.”

“Oh,” he responded simply, not sounding at all surprised. He hadn’t called for his daughter, and we both knew it.

A second later, I heard a turn signal in the background and frowned. “Are you still out?”

“Heading home,” he replied. I could hear the exhaustion in his tone. 

As a single father and partial owner of a successful business—not to mention the real estate he invested in on the side—it wasn’t often he got to stay out all night, so I could tell the late hour was kicking his ass.

I hummed some response, and then Roc asked me about girl’s night. By the time I finished telling him how Halo made us watch the new Minions four damn times, I was finished with my nightly routine and pulling on a lavender lace-trimmed satin slip that stopped at the top of my thighs.

As soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, I started to tell Roc goodnight when the doorbell rang. Groaning out loud, I debated ignoring it while Roc demanded to know who was at my door this time of morning. 

“I don’t know,” I answered a little nervously. 

“Well, go see who it is,” he ordered gently. “Stay on the phone.” 

“Okay.” It didn’t even occur to me not to obey while I tiptoed out of my bedroom, down the short hall, and to the front door. 

I peered into the peephole, but the asshole must have covered it with their hand because all I saw was darkness.

“I can’t see who it is,” I whispered to Roc in case the visitor could hear me on the other side of the door. 

“Open it.”

“Are you crazy?”

There’s another knock—louder this time. It made me jump back with a terrified squeal. 

“It sounds like they’re not going away, so you might as well open it.”

“Are you forgetting your daughter is here?”

As if in answer, the third round of knocks were so loud and demanding it threatened to wake up Halo and frighten her. The thought pissed me off so much that I threw caution to the wind and unlocked the door to give the caller a piece of my mind. 

The raised fist, poised to knock again, fell as soon as I did, and Roc’s handsome face came into view. His smooth brown skin was glowing under the warm white of my porch light while the shirt he wore molded to his upper body. 

I…am such an idiot. 

He was smirking at me until his gaze fell, and he noticed what I was wearing. “So this is how you always answer the motherfucking door?” he immediately scolded.

I couldn’t tell if he was pissed or turned on. His scowl was frightening, but his brown gaze was heated as it settled on the thickness of my thighs. I was so busy struggling with his audacity to invite himself to my home like I was one of his booty calls that I didn’t notice the freakishly tall figure leaning against the porch railing like he could barely hold himself up.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Roc glanced over his shoulder at Rowdy and then back at me. “He’s drunk.”

I sighed. “Lucky for him, so is Atlas. She’s pissed but passed out in the guest room.” After Halo went to bed, Atlas and I made margaritas, but since her ass couldn’t hang, she tapped out before I could get past the tipsy stage. 

Hearing his girl’s name, Rowdy pushed away from the railing, and I barely had time to move out of the way before he barged past me and into my house without invitation. 

“Um…come right in?”

“Thanks, D,” the asshole mumbled as he staggered down the hall in search of his girl. 

“And don’t even think about fucking!” I dictated to Rowdy’s back right before the guest bedroom door closed behind him with no reply. 

As soon as I turned away to slam the door in Roc’s face, he stepped inside before I could and towered over me. He somehow closed the front door and locked it without turning away from me. 

“I didn’t invite you in.”

“Does it look like I give a fuck?”

“Leave, Roc.”

Shaking his head, he studied me while his tongue absently swept his bottom lip. It wasn’t a salacious move but rather a contemplative one. He forced himself to look away a moment later, and I could see the muscle in his cheek ticking. 

Yup. He’s pissed at me.

What the hell did I do?

Nope, not going there. 

Roc had no business thinking of me at all, much less being upset.

Folding my arms, I asked, “So, are you drunk too?”

I supposed for Halo, I could let her father sleep it off here so that he didn’t wrap himself around a goddamn tree and leave her without a parent at all. Clearly, he was not going to leave either way, so…

“Nah. Designated driver. I would have been here earlier, but I had to drop Golden and Joren’s dumb ass off.”

My brows rose at that. “Did something happen?”

Roc blew out a breath and then ran both hands over his close-cut in agitation. “They got into it again.”

Understanding dawned, but I still asked, “Rowdy and Joren?”

“Yeah.” Shaking his head, he mumbled, “I’m getting sick of this shit.”

“I really don’t know what Joren is thinking. It’s only been a few months since they got the DNA results. Rowdy and Atlas are still in therapy behind Jada and Joren’s drama. He has to give them time.”

Roc scratched his chin, and then his gaze traveled to the dark hallway and back to me. “Aye, between you and me,” he whispered, “I don’t think those results would have mattered.”

My grimace matched the turning in my stomach. “What do you mean?”

“I think Rowdy and Atlas would have still been fucking around even if it came back a match.”

“What? Boy, are you crazy? If it had been a match, he would have been her biological father.” My nose wrinkled. “That’s nasty.”

“I’m with you there, but I’m just telling you what I think. Take it with a grain of salt, but I think that’s the main reason Rowdy is making them go to therapy.” Roc raised his brows at me—as if daring me to argue.

My mouth falling open was my only response. 

If Roc’s gossiping ass was right, it meant Rowdy and Atlas’s relationship wasn’t the only thing to survive by the skin of its teeth. 

Their sanity had, too. 

That fucked up leap they were prepared to take just to be together would probably haunt them for the rest of their days.

“This is too much,” I moaned as I palmed my forehead. 

I wish I’d had more of those margaritas so I could forget this bomb Roc dropped in my lap in the morning. I was already uneasy about my baby cousin dating a man fifteen years older—worried that Rowdy would take advantage of Atlas being so young and green—and now I was wishing that was all I had to worry about. 

I’d definitely be keeping a closer eye on Atlas. I don’t know why I felt so responsible for her when I hadn’t known her long, but it felt right as her big cousin. 

I’d already told Rowdy I would kill him if he hurt her. All his crazy ass said was, “I appreciate that,” before kicking me out of his office.

I knew the lion of Idlewild was a fool for my baby cousin, but daaaamn. 

It sent a longing in my belly for my own soul mate—one who’d rather die than hurt me. 

“Where’s my baby?” Roc inquired, pulling me out of my depressing thoughts. I hadn’t even realized he’d moved away and into the kitchen.  

My response died on my lips as I stared at him, remembering how the only times he’d made me feel good was when he was inside of me.

Okay, that wasn’t true, but it’d all been a lie when it truly mattered, so who cared?

Roc didn’t even notice me glaring daggers because his rude ass was too busy rifling through my fridge. 

“She’s in my bed sleeping where I should be,” I finally answered. “Good night.”

There was no response as I turned to go. 

Ten minutes later, I was tucked inside my bed with Halo sleeping next to me—arms and legs spread wide because she was a bed hog, among other things—when the door creaked open, revealing the tall shadow at the threshold. 

“You cannot be serious,” I spoke to the ceiling when Roc ambled in and quietly emptied his pockets on my dresser. My mouth watered a little as I watched him grip the collar at his nape next and remove his shirt before toeing off his shoes and dropping his jeans. He then yanked open the top drawer to remove the basketball shorts he’d left the last time I was stupid enough to let him fuck me again. “I have a perfectly good couch, Rochendrix.”

“I don’t know who told you that lie,” he griped. “That shit is hard as hell. I’m not fucking up my back again because you want to act brand new. Now, be quiet before you wake our baby up.”

At that moment, Halo whined and rolled toward me in her sleep, which made me swallow the reminder that Halo was not my daughter. 

She belonged to Harper—my best friend, who I’d betrayed repeatedly because I thought I was in love. I’d let Roc use me, lie to me, and saddle me with so much guilt and self-loathing while he saddled my best friend with his baby.

I curled my fingers into my duvet to keep from grabbing the lamp on my nightstand and chucking it at his head. 

I hated him!

“I hate you,” I echoed out loud as he slid into my bed on the other side of Halo like he belonged. I could feel him pause in response and then the anger rolling off him in waves.

“Keeping it real,” he answered coldly and a little sadly. “I swear I hate you too sometimes.”

Inhaling deeply when I felt my hurt rising to the surface, I rolled away onto my side and willed my tears away while the heavy silence fell around us instead.

“Aye…”

“What?” I snapped, assuming Roc was going to apologize. I really didn’t care to hear that shit.

Feeling his hand slide over my hip, he whispered in the dark, “When are you going to let me feel that pussy again?” 

Growling my frustration at his dogacity, I sat up, reached over Halo, and punched her stupid dad in the stomach, making him grunt and then laugh. “Good night!”

Halo whined again. 

Quieting, I laid back down on my side, but I didn’t turn away again. Instead, I met Roc’s gaze in the dark, and we stayed like that for a while. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t close my eyes to sleep, and I didn’t understand why until he spoke. 

“Aside from Halo, you know you’re my favorite person in the world. Go to sleep, baby. I’m sorry for what I said.”

Grateful it was dark, so he couldn’t see my traitorous blush, I didn't bother responding as I did what he said.

I’d kick him out in the morning. 

Friday Night Lights (When Rivals Play Bonus Scene)

Scene originally written and published Dec 2021.

The Punk and the Plaything turns two today! As promised, here is a post epilogue bonus scene to celebrate. If you have not read The Prince and the Pawn, beware of spoilers.

 JAMESON

Checking my watch—an 18-carat white gold and blue reminder from my wife to be on time—I cursed when I realized I was fifteen minutes late. I scrubbed my hand down my face before exhaling and climbing from the car.

Ignoring the exhaustion in my bones, I stepped onto the sidewalk, still dressed in my three-piece suit. With no time to spare, I’d driven here straight from the office. There were only a few stragglers in the lot since the game had already started, so I made it to the ticket booth in no time.

Feeling my phone vibrating like crazy, I checked it and saw my friends texting me all at once.

Ty Baby: You’re late.

Ever: Tell me you’re on your way.

Vaughn: Hurry the hell up!

Four: Drive safe. Speeding’s my thing. :)

Old Flame: Some young dude’s hitting on your wife. Better hurryyyy.

Old Flame’s New Flame: All good, Buchanan?

Shit.

I bypassed the line and the guard standing by to make sure people paid. As Brynwood’s highest paying benefactor, no one stopped me as I pushed through the crowd and rushed toward the stands.

Tonight was the first game of the season, and it seemed the entire town had shown up.

The stands were already full on both sides of the field, leaving most people attending standing around—not that they minded.

My phone vibrated again with another text from Lou. Opening our thread, I saw a text that read ‘we need to talk’ and a picture of a cute kid with hair so blonde it was almost white attached.

Aww, Cici’s so cute, I texted back as I climbed the stairs to the stand.

I received no less than thirty new pictures of Lucy and Luke every week, and I was just as bad, if not worse.

I didn’t get to see Wren and Lou or their kids as often since they lived two hours away. Vaughn had only recently moved his family back to Blackwood Keep two years ago while Wren and Lou remained content in Sunset Bay.

Blackwood Keep was too white collar for them—or so Lou says.

I’d just finished climbing the stairs when I felt my phone vibrate. Rather than searching the stands for my family, I checked the message.

Old Flame: That’s not my daughter, asshole.

What are you talking about? I texted back. She looks just like you.

I was lying, of course.

I’d barely glanced at the picture.

I pocketed my phone without waiting for her response, and a moment later, some kid bumped me. She was a blur of brown pigtails and pink bows as she ran in the opposite direction.

Not a moment later, another kid wielding a water gun attempted to dash past me as he chased her toward the other end of the stands.

Recognizing that evil grin and mop of mahogany hair, I quickly yanked the boy off his feet with a fist full of his shirt.

“Aw, dad!”

“Junior, what did I tell you about terrorizing girls?”

“But she started it!” he yelled while glaring at the retreating back of his victim.

“And I’m finishing it.” My son was a bully so I already knew the girl had done nothing to deserve his attention. “We’re going to talk about this when we get home.”

Jameson grumbled as I set him on his feet and turned him around to face me. I kept a firm hand on his shoulder, knowing he’d run away the moment I let him go. My youngest four were fucking demons. The only one who seemed to behave was Lyric.

“Where’s your mother?”

With my hand locked around his nape, I followed my son back down the stands and through the metal gate to the sidelines where the players and coaches watched the field, and the cheerleaders hyped up the crowd.

My confusion disappeared the moment I spotted my wife’s strawberry blonde mane. She didn’t notice me yet since Four had her attention, but my Calla Lily was a different story.

The grumpy look on my daughter’s face disappeared the moment she spotted me.

“Dada!”

 “Shortcake!”

Dropping Barbette’s hand, Summer ran toward me as fast as her little legs in those striped leggings would allow.

“Summer, no!” Bee yelled after her. Spotting me, the panic on her face disappeared, and she smiled and blushed when I took my time checking her out from afar.

After eighteen years of fucking, making love, whatever you wanted to call it, she hadn’t entirely stopped being shy because I never stopped pushing her limits.

I was her first, her only, and I wasn't leaving any room for regrets.

Taking advantage of my temporary distraction, Junior broke free of my hold and disappeared back the way we came. 

Catching my eldest’s eye, I silently sent Lyric after his brother before he could find fresh prey and make trouble.

As he walked away, Summer reached me, so I scooped her up and tossed her small body in the air, which sent her into a fit of giggles.

Turns out, it was all a ruse.

The moment I held my daughter against my chest, she laid her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes.

I groaned under my breath because I knew what that meant.

I’d be holding her for the rest of the night.

She’d scream this entire place down if I tried to put her down now.

“Look who finally decided to show his face.”

My gaze followed the voice as I made my way over to the group. Tyra stood next to Vaughn while their daughter, Raven, clung to her leg and stared at me like I was a stranger even though I saw her almost every day.

It was easy to guess why they’d chosen her name. She had coal-black hair and midnight eyes that stood out against her supple brown skin. She looked nothing like either of them, but she bared an awfully close resemblance to Vaughn's aunt.

“I know you still carry a torch for me, Ty Baby, but this has got to stop. I’m a married man.”

She stuck her tongue out at me, and I responded with a kiss on her cheek. I flashed an innocent smile at Vaughn when he glanced over his shoulder and dragged his woman closer to him before turning back to watch the game.

River was on that field.

He was a senior now, and that meant college scouts.

“How long has superstar been like this?”

Vaughn’s tunnel vision took me back twenty years when he was the quarterback and football was all he cared about.

“Oh, only since Riv announced he was trying out for the team,” Tyra quipped.

I had the feeling she wasn’t exaggerating.

River hadn’t shown any interest in the sport until they moved back to Blackwood Keep. It must have taken them both by surprise, and knowing Vaughn, he hadn’t stopped to question his son’s reasons.

After hugging Four, I turned to my baby and kissed her painted lips. “Sorry, I’m late.”

At this point, my apologies were long past believable but no less sincere. If I had a time machine, I’d go back in time and cut my uncle some fucking slack—maybe even tell him to find someone else to take over the family business.

“It’s okay,” Barbette told me breathlessly between me tonguing her down. “You make the wait worth it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I smiled against her lips and leaned in for another kiss, but then Summer whined with her eyes still closed at me moving around too much.

I was just a human pillow to her, wasn’t I?

Stepping back to stand next to Bee, I scanned the immediate area for Saint and Justus. “Where are the twins?”

“They went with Luke and Lucy to get nachos.”

I nodded before my gaze connected with Lou’s. She was walking from the direction of the bathrooms with the same platinum-haired kid from the picture at her side and some couple I didn’t recognize closely trailing them.

 Now that I saw the kid in person, I could admit she looked nothing like Lou. The sadness and distrust swimming in her dark eyes whenever she peeked from beneath the hood of the too-large pullover was not something I could ever mistake.

Lou said something I couldn’t hear to the couple and the kid before coming to stand next to me.

“The fuck?” I whispered as soon as they were out of earshot. They didn’t go far though. The trio sat down in the folding chairs next to the orange Gatorade coolers to watch the game. I dragged my gaze away when I realized I was still staring like a creep and turned to Lou. “Who was that?”

Even with the grave expression Lou wore, I wasn’t prepared for her answer. “Your daughter.”

My heart immediately felt like it was caught in my throat as my gaze frantically darted back and forth between Lou and the little girl.

“What?” I choked out even as logic told me it couldn’t be true. The kid couldn’t have been older than eight or nine—the same age as Jameson. I hadn’t fucked anyone but my wife in twice that time.

I kept waiting for the punch line, but as the seconds stretched, I started to wonder if maybe she was serious.

Not possible.

It was not fucking possible.

“Lou,” my wife warned before moving away to keep Tyra company while Vaughn and the coach went back and forth.

Lou’s poker face fell, and she cackled at my expense. “My God, you’re gullible. You should see your face! You totally deserved that for mistaking her for Lucy.”

“Hilarious,” I retorted dryly.

Lou shrugged before falling silent while watching the game. I kept stealing glances at the silent kid keeping a vigilant eye on everyone around her.

Our gazes met during one of her sweeps, and despite her unease, she boldly refused to break the stare first. The kid had some balls to go with that huge chip and trust issues. 

“What’s her name?” I’d blurted the question before I was even aware it had formed in my head.

“Genesis,” Lou answered without looking away from the game.

I ignored that prickly feeling in my chest. “Those people with her…they’re her parents?” I desperately wanted to put a face and name to whoever had done this to her. Whatever it was.

Lou finally tore her gaze away from the field. “Huh?” I nodded my head toward Mr. and Mrs. Smith. “Oh, no. The Fairharts are her foster parents, but they won’t be for much longer. They’re moving to Minnesota.” She rolled her eyes.

“Bummer.” A few seconds passed in silence as I watched Riv execute a play, but then I felt Lou’s attention burning a hole in the side of my face and turned to her. “What?”

“So, are you and Bee still trying, or has the baby factory closed for good?”

I perked a brow. “Why? You working me, Valentine?”

“Maybe. And it’s Harlan now, remember? You planned our wedding.”

“Whatever. Why’d you send me her picture? Doesn’t that break some kind of social work rules?”

I was squinting now as I peered down at my “ex-girlfriend.”

As if he could read my thoughts, the jealous asshole she married appeared in the distance with my cousin at his side. They were making their way over with the rest of my brood and both of theirs in tow.

“What can I say? I’m a rule breaker.” She paused and then added lowly, “And because I remember once upon a time, you wanted a large family.”

Feeling my arms slacken, I tightened my hold on Summer before my wife divorced me for dropping our daughter. She stopped giving me passes after dropping Junior one too many times.

Letting Lou’s statement hang in the air, I stalked over to the row of portable folding chairs and carefully laid my daughter down in the empty one next to Genesis.

Once I was sure she wouldn’t wake her ass up, I returned to Lou’s side, out of hearing distance of the Fairharts. 

“No.”

“I haven’t asked you anything.”

I cocked my head. “Now you’re just insulting me, Valentine.”

She sighed. “You built that big house,” she argued. I’d guess she’d given up on being coy. “You have all those empty rooms, the means, you love kids—”

“I have kids. Five of them, in case you forgot.”

“Summer could have a sister.”

“No.”

“It wouldn’t even be permanent. It’s just until I can find Genesis a forever home.”

“No.”

“If you won’t do it for her, do it for me, your bestest friend. I lost my parents to violence just like she did. I was lost, just like she is. If it wasn’t for Wren, who knows where I’d be—if I’d be.” She stared up at me with her blue eyes pleading.

“Yes, that’s all very sad. I’m still not doing it.”

Her next argument died on her lips when Wren slowly wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist. He softly pecked her cheek over and over until the distressed look on her face faded, and a smile appeared.

“I’m guessing he said no?” I heard him whisper. “I told you.”

 Lou turned in his hold and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Do me a favor, hubby. Threaten to shoot his kneecaps again if he doesn’t do what I want.” She pouted, making Wren chuckle and me roll my eyes.

A heavy hand suddenly clapped my back, and then Ever was there.

I bucked my eyes at him in a plea for help.

His eyebrows rose when he looked at his sister-in-law, and then he slowly backed away. I guess he didn’t want to risk her coming for him next.

Asshole.

I had the most kids out of the crew, yet Lou had come to me.

I didn’t get the chance to ponder the reasons why.

A piercing scream had rent the air and, in the distance, I caught sight of my son chasing after the same girl from earlier. This time he was clutching a mud pie.

Fuck.

In her desperate attempt to get away, she ran through the gate, separating the field from the attendees and past the players' bench.

Junior was closing in fast, so I stalked forward to intercept.

She ran past the coolers and the folding chairs that only Genesis, her foster parents, and Summer currently occupied.

For a moment, it looked like she’d escape.

Junior had been forced to skirt a few of the players who’d gotten in his way. Clearing them, he sped up, quickly closing the lead she’d gained.

“Jameson!”

He didn’t hear me.

My voice had been drowned by the band playing after one of the players scored a touchdown. I quickened my stride when he reared his arm back and sped past the coolers and Genesis's foster parents.

What happened next unfolded too fast for me to see.

One moment, Junior was running, and the next, he was tipping forward and landing flat on his face.

My steps slowed as the girl he’d been chasing ran past me. My son groaned as he lifted his head, blinked, and then before I could register the blood now dripping from his brow, he whipped his head around to peer over his shoulder.

My gaze followed his in time to see Genesis slyly tucking her leg back underneath the chair.

“You should watch where you’re going,” I thought I heard her say.

She was still staring straight ahead with her hands tucked in the large pocket of her hoodie as if nothing had ever happened.

Maybe I’d imagined it?

My brows rose in speechless astonishment, but then I snapped out of it when my son slowly climbed to his feet. I recognized all too well that look in his eyes.

 “I don’t think so,” I said when he kneeled to remake his mud pie. Placing a firm hand on his shoulder, I pulled him into me.

“Is that blood?” Bee screeched as she and Tyra rushed over to inspect his face. The cut didn’t look deep, but I wouldn’t know for sure until we cleaned him up. “Junior, what happened?”

As if we rode the same wavelength, my son and I both glanced at Genesis who was now openly staring and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Jesus.

“I fell,” Jameson answered and only I knew it was a lie. Well, Genesis and me.

“He’ll be fine,” I told Barbette. “I have a first aid kit in the car. Let’s go.”

Realizing I was too tired for this shit, I quickly gathered my wife and kids and said goodbye to my friends before leading my family to the parking lot.

Some night.

LOUCHANA

“It’s not going to work,” Wren told me as he drove us home. River had successfully led Brynwood to victory, thirty-eight to zero. “Even if he does agree to it, Jamie will never do what you’re really after.”

“Yes, it will, and yes, he will. Jamie attaches himself to people. It’s in his nature. You’ll see.”

“I wasn’t talking about him. What makes you think Genesis wants another family? You didn’t.”

“But then I found you,” I flirted.

I saw the smirk he used to hide his blushing, so I checked the backseat to make sure our kids were sound asleep before sliding across Paula’s bench seat. Wren wasted no time curving his arm around me as I melted into him.

“You just wanted in my pants.”

“I still do,” I admitted as I slipped my hand underneath his T-shirt and caressed his abs. “So, get us home quick, okay?”

BOUND'S TOUR DATES!

Details are fun, right?

Below you'll find the cities and dates for North America and Europe if you want to follow Lilac's timeline...or for funsies. Obviously, I didn't do a scene in each city, but can you imagine the bonus scene potential?

The third leg (South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania) will remain a mystery for now just in case I want to do something special later.

Hope this helps! xoxo