Chapter 36
36
Ezra
I was true to my word and kept Millie up all night long. The sun was awake before we were asleep, and I kept her snug (and naked) in my arms until Kane called, wondering where I was. Apparently he didn’t realize the tracking app goes both ways. When I woke Millie, she whispered “five more minutes,” then sat on my face before I was allowed to go home.
Home .
“ Let’s go home ,” I’d said to her last night. Technically it was her home , but that phrase feels inclusive somehow, like it’s our home .
While I didn’t grow up with a sibling and have never shared a bedroom, I love having Millie in my space and I love being in hers. It isn’t the least bit awkward. When she’s not in my bed, I crave her like a drug. I’m consumed by thoughts of when I’ll get my next hit.
The remainder of my weekend is spent hanging out with my brother, reading over endless documents, and watching videos in preparation for my new position as principal. On Sunday evening, when I settle into bed, I pull up the picture Millie texted earlier. Suited from head to toe in silver sequins, she looks like a walking disco ball. She’s posed with her hip cocked to the side and one hand thrown in the air. The grin she’s sporting is bright, much like the one she wore a couple of days ago when she modeled the outfit for me in her bedroom. It was nearly four a.m. and we were both exhausted, but I pouted and threatened to throw her toys away unless she showed me.
I’m still drooling over the photo when a text notification appears at the top of the screen.
Millie
What are you doing next weekend?
Me
That depends
Will you be naked?
Millie
Not at my brother’s house
I laugh out loud as another text comes through.
Millie
Asher invited us to his camp. Kane too
Me
For the day?
Millie
Friday to Sunday, if you want. There are spare cabins
I toggle to my calendar app, where I’ve input Kane’s schedule along with mine.
Me
Kane works until two on Friday. We could leave after?
Millie
Sounds good
Good night
Me
One nude before you go? Maybe something from that “hidden” folder?
A photo appears right away, making my breath hitch. But when the image registers, I deflate.
Me
That’s a closeup of your elbow, you brat
Millie
No it’s not
Me
You’re not fooling me. I know what your body looks like. It’s ingrained in my brain
When she doesn’t respond right away, I fire off another text.
Me
You better not be ghosting me. I know where you live
Three little dots appear and disappear a handful of times before she finally replies.
Millie
I don’t have any recent pics
Me
Then we’ll have to change that
Kane rambles on and on during the drive to Daisy Lake Retreat & Camp, clearly ecstatic about the break from city life. While he’s allowed to roam around the city within safe parameters, it’s got to be stifling in comparison to the free rein he had in Hawaii.
According to Rachel and Ethan, the camp in upstate New York, which Asher and his late wife, Daisy, ran alongside her parents, was originally used for team-building activities for corporate organizations. Several years ago, Daisy and Asher expanded and began hosting family reunions and yoga and wellness retreats. But it was Daisy’s dream to create a family summer camp, so that’s what Asher did to honor her after she passed away.
The dry earth and gravel crunch beneath the soles of my sneakers as I step out and turn to help Millie out of her parents’ SUV. Her father surreptitiously eyes our clasped hands and scrutinizes me when I plant a kiss on the side of her head. If he thinks I won’t be showing his daughter affection in front of him, he’s got another thing coming. I’m a grown man, and I will kiss my woman whenever I damn well please. With her consent, of course.
“Uncle Ezra,” a tiny voice squeals from the door of the cabin.
Heart stuttering, I turn to Millie. Uncle?
“Looks like you’re not just Daddy anymore,” she whispers.
Without bothering to hide from Ethan, I swat her on the behind.
I’ve barely turned toward the house again when a little body crashes into my thighs, halting me in place. With her head tipped back, Bea holds her arms up. Unable to resist, I awkwardly scoop her up, realizing in this moment that I can’t remember ever picking up a small human like this.
The second she’s situated on my hip, she buries her hands in my hair, wiping a sticky substance on my neck in the process. She smells like jam and peanut butter, so I hope that’s all it is.
“Where’s your man bun?” She pouts, pulling the flat bill from my head and dropping it onto the ground. “I asked Daddy for a man bun so we could match, but…” She taps her head, gesturing to the lopsided pigtails Asher must have insisted on instead.
I barely know her, but my chest warms with affection for the precocious girl.
“Maybe Uncle Ezra can do your hair later, Dolly.”
With a blinding smile, Bea throws herself into Millie’s arms, practically giving me a heart attack at the sudden move.
“Sorry about that.” Asher appears, picking up my hat on the way to greet us. “I hope you don’t mind the uncle thing. She learned about family trees this week and assumed that since Millie is her aunt, that you must be her uncle.”
“Totally fine,” I assure him, secretly honored by the distinction.
Rachel and Ethan make their way to one of the cabins lining the gravel drive while Asher leads us to ours. The structure is small but airy, with an open-concept kitchen and main living space flanked by a bedroom on each side. Duffel bags in tow, Millie and I claim the larger one with the en suite bathroom, and Kane retreats to the other.
Once we’ve abandoned our things, Bea drags me to the sliding glass door, and I follow her out onto the deck.
“This is my mommy’s lake,” she says, lifting her arms up again.
Holding her in the crook of my arm, I follow her petite finger to the calm water about fifty yards away.
Confused, I frown at Millie and Asher.
“Daisy Lake,” Asher says. “It’s the lake my wife was named after.”
“It’s very pretty,” I tell Bea, and she beams with pride .
“Okay.” Asher claps. “Let’s go see what Mimi and Papa are up to next door.” He scoops his daughter from my arms despite her protests and takes the path in the back. “Dinner’s at six,” he calls over his shoulder.
“Last night was fun.” Yawning, Millie wraps an arm around me.
Eyes closed, I soak in her warmth. Waking up to a naked Millie will always be my favorite way to start the day.
“I think I still have marshmallows in my hair.” I pull on the strands stuck together on one side of my face.
Unsurprisingly, Bea was glued to my lap while we sat around the bonfire last night.
“She’s really claimed ownership of you, hasn’t she? Should I be worried?” she teases.
I roll and pin her onto her back. Sucking on her neck, I inhale the scent of her coconut shampoo mixed with a hint of sweat and a touch of campfire smoke. “The only one who can claim me is you, honey.” With a grunt, I grind my hard cock against her thigh.
Just as she digs her nails into my ass, there’s a knock at the door.
“Are you guys coming to breakfast?” Kane calls from the other side.
“Coming,” Millie shouts.
“Not yet, you’re not,” I growl against the shell of her ear. “But it won’t take me long.”
“Ezra,” she whisper-yells. “Your brother is on the other side of the door, you horndog.” She tries to push me off, but I’ve unleashed my dead weight, and she’s struggling. “Knock it off,” she laughs beneath me .
I tickle her until she cries “safe word.”
“Fine.” I hop off the bed, my cock still eager.
Millie takes notice of my length and breaks out in a wicked smirk. “Later, okay? Promise.”
A cold shower and a quick hair wash to get rid of leftover marshmallows is all I need to sober up. Fifteen minutes later, the three of us take a golf cart to the cafeteria, where breakfast is being served. Bea is seated between her grandparents, and Ethan is cutting up her Belgian waffle. When Bea spots us, she stands, unintentionally dipping her little fingers in syrup in the process. Asher intercepts like a ninja with a wet wipe seconds before she reaches us.
Damn. Kids are sticky. I didn’t get the privilege of knowing Kane when he was little, but even at fifteen, things are still… sticky . At least when it comes to laundry.
Over breakfast, I sit back and listen as Bea and Kane plot our day. Since we couldn’t possibly fit all their plans into a twenty-four-hour period, we help them narrow down the activities, paddle boarding being first on the agenda. An activity where Millie must wear a bathing suit? Sign me up.
“Can you swim?” I ask Bea once she has her life jacket on.
Asher got called into the office, so he left his daughter with us.
“Uh, can fish swim?” She puts her hands on her hips and cocks her head to the side.
“Yes? But you’re not a?—”
“I’m a fish.” With that, she skips off to the end of the dock where Kane is waiting. Asher wouldn’t leave his daughter if she didn’t know how to swim, right ?
Bea insists on riding on my board, and I nearly have a heart attack when, about halfway across the lake, she screams “cannon ball” and jumps off. I leap in after her, but it’s unnecessary. Bea may actually be a fish after all. That kid is fearless.
Millie is cackling on her board nearby, clearly already aware that her niece can swim. With Bea safely bobbing above the surface in her extra-small life jacket, I sink into the water. I count to thirty, then push the bottom of Millie’s board up and knock her into the water.
She surfaces quickly, sputtering and with her hair stuck to her face. “You mother?—”
“Ah-ah.” I cock a brow and nod at the four-year-old.
She splashes me instead of cussing me out. Bea finds this hilarious and mimics the move. Pretty soon, Kane jumps into the lake and joins us in our shenanigans. After we’re all thoroughly waterlogged, we paddle back to shore and engage in a mud castle–building contest.
In the stables after lunch, I hand Millie a helmet.
Rather than take it, she crosses her arms and steps back. “No thanks. Horses freak me out.” She wanders to the other side of the fence and props herself up on one of the posts as Rachel helps Bea onto a pony.
“Seriously? But don’t you read all those country cowboy rodeo books?” I specifically remember her going into detail about a very steamy stable scene recently.
Nose scrunched, she huffs. “There’s a reason it’s called fiction .”
Damn, she’s cute when she’s riled up.
Straightening, she peers over her shoulder. “Where’s Kane?”
“He went on the trail with your dad.”
She smiles at that, the expression soft.
Fuck, is she thinking what I’m thinking? Our families mesh so well.
I join her on her side of the fence and pull her in by her hip so she’s flush against me, and every time Bea rides by, we wave and snap pictures.
Not only are kids sticky, but they also don’t come with off buttons. Kane and Ethan are gone for quite a while, and during that time, we’ve taken Bea to pottery and swimming in the lake again.
At dinner, Bea ends up wearing more spaghetti than she consumes, and when she can’t eat her ice cream without yawning, Millie’s parents offer to put her to bed.
Rather than go quietly like I expect, she throws a fit and begs to stay up with us.
“What if Uncle Ezra puts you to bed?” Millie suggests.
Me?
“Yay!” Bea catapults out of Ethan’s arms.
I catch her at the last second, then wander to the cabins. Rachel, thankfully, accompanies us and directs me to pick out a book while she helps Bea change into her pajamas and brush her teeth.
Once she’s in bed, she pats the mattress. “Sit.”
Beside her, I stretch out my legs on top of her pastel rainbow comforter and begin reading.
“No, no, no,” she says two sentences into the story. “You have to do the funny voices.”
My chest tightens. “I don’t?—”
“You heard her.” Millie stands in the doorway, as if she’s appeared out of nowhere.
I raise a brow, silently conveying that I know what she’s doing and that she’ll pay for it later.
After a full day with the little girl, I understand why Asher is the way he is. It’s impossible to say no to that puppy dog face.
Bolstering my nerve, I clear my throat and attempt my best toad voice .
Immediately, the girls fall into a fit of giggles.
“Why do you sound like an Irish Jamaican?” Millie gasps.
Rachel sidles up next to her daughter, her hands on her hips. “What’s going on here?”
“Uncle Ezra is funny.” Bea climbs to her knees and wraps her arms around my neck.
I return the embrace, realizing that the room has fallen silent. Still in the doorway, Millie leans into Rachel, and the two of them share a sentimental look.
“Okay,” Bea says far too loudly when she’s so close to my ear. She flops back onto the bed and burrows under the covers. “I need my booty sleep now. Good night.”
I chuckle. “ Booty sleep? I think you mean beauty sleep.”
She tilts her head, her messy hair dragging across her pillow. “Then what’s booty ?”
Across the room, Millie gives me a soft smile and nods in approval.
“Uh, well”—I scratch at the back of my neck, suddenly worried Asher may murder me—“your booty is your butt.”
Her eyes widen, then she breaks into another fit of laughter, kicking her feet under the covers.
“All right, you two.” Rachel flips the light off and steps into the room. “It’s time for bed, little one. You’ll see Ezra in the morning.”
“Uncle Ezra,” she corrects her grandmother.
I ruffle her hair. “Good night, Bea.”
“Night, Dolly.” Millie blows her a kiss from the door.
“Hey, Uncle Ezra?”
“Yes?”
“Are you going to marry Lee Lee?”
I choke on my saliva in response to her unexpected question. Millie and her mother watch me, their eyes scorching me.
Once I’ve collected my wits, I lean in and whisper in Bea’s ear. When I pull away, she grins and presses her pointer finger to her lips in silent confirmation that she’ll keep my surprise.
On the short walk over to our cabin, Millie asks, “What did you tell her?”
I drape an arm over her shoulders and tug her into my side. “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
We find Kane passed out face-first in his bed, still fully dressed. Once I’ve plugged in his phone on his nightstand, I close his door and head to the bathroom, where Millie is brushing her teeth, her brow furrowed and her shoulders sagging.
My chest pinches at the sight of her. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m way too tired to have sex,” she mumbles around her toothbrush.
The tension behind my rib cage eases as I step up beside her. “Oh, okay.”
“Sorry.” She spits into the sink, then wipes her mouth, keeping her gaze averted. “I feel bad. I promised you earlier, but?—”
“Amelia.” I lift her chin with my thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look at me. “Don’t ever feel bad about listening to your body. It’s really okay.” I rub her arms. “We can be intimate in other ways. Why don’t I draw you a bath?”
She leans in for a hug. “I’d like that,” she says into my chest.
We soak without saying a word for the first several minutes, the spa music playing from my phone the only sound.
“Can I wash your hair?” Millie asks, turning to face me. The move causes bubbles to slide down her flushed chest, drawing my attention to her half-hidden nipples.
“But I washed it before dinner. ”
“Please?”
Damn. It looks like the puppy dog face Bea is so good at wielding is hereditary. That look is all it takes to convince me to pass over the shampoo bottle.
While she squirts a dollop into her pruny palm, I wet my hair. With my legs spread wide and my knees bent, I make room for her to kneel between them. Her face is inches from mine. I can practically taste the mint on her breath as her fingers make contact with my scalp and goose bumps erupt along my arms.
I sigh into her touch and close my eyes, breathing in the scent of eucalyptus and tea tree oil while she lathers my curls.
“How long have you had a beard?” she asks.
“Most of my adult life, why? Do you want me to shave it?”
“No.” She rubs at my jaw, a lazy smile pulling at her lips. “I like the feel of it between my legs too much.”
My cock twitches at the image her words create in my mind. “I thought you said you were tired.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t flirt.”
“ Hmph .” I shut my eyes again and savor the sensations as she massages behind my ears and at my nape.
“I love when you moan,” she whispers.
I crack an eye open. “I didn’t realize I did.”
The soft sparkle in her eyes has me curious about where this is going.
“Again, I thought you said you were tired.”
“I am,” she yawns. “Sorry.”
Grasping her wrists, I pull her hands into my chest. “What did I tell you? Don’t apologize.” I hold her attention until she nods, then kiss her chastely on the lips. While I have her this close, my stomach clenches with the need to tell her more. “I love…” Her hands go rigid beneath my touch, and all my courage flees. “I loved spending time with your family today.”
“Uh, yeah.” She reaches around me to grab the shower hose. “ It was fun watching Bea on those evil giant dogs.” Chuckling, she guides my head back and rinses my hair. “And Kane looked like he had a good time with my dad.”
“Yeah. He invited us to go golfing with him.”
She replaces the hose and sits back. “You golf?”
“No. But how hard could it be?”
A too-loud laugh escapes her, and without another word, she kisses me on the nose and rises from the tub.
With my hands behind my head, I enjoy the view. The bubbles have mostly dissolved, but a few cling to her hips and ass for dear life. Damn, I now identify as soap bubbles.
After we’ve rinsed off, I wrap Millie in a towel, then grab one for myself. When I join her in the bedroom a few minutes later, the lamp on my side of the bed is lit, casting just enough light to reveal that her eyes are closed. I stand in the doorway, watching her breathe for a moment, then climb under the covers, turn off the lamp, and pull her in close.
With her back securely against my front, she doesn’t stir, clearly as exhausted as she said she was.
The pillows aren’t as comfortable as the ones at Millie’s, so it takes a bit to get settled. When I do, I realize how quiet it is outside the city. For a second, I contemplate pulling up a New York City Soundscapes playlist on my phone in hopes that it will help me fall asleep. Instead, I focus on her breathing, letting the rhythmic pattern lull me into a relaxed state.
Just as I’m about to slip into a slumber, I whisper, “I love you.”