Chapter Twenty-Six #2
"How is seeing him at the store every day?" I asked, then immediately added, "I'm so sorry. I don't know why I asked that. I don't want to pry."
"No, it's fine. Honestly, that's the question on everyone's lips when they find out about it.
It's surprisingly easy. We’re living the life we always hoped we would.
Each doing our own thing without much monetary pressure.
" Her eyes clouded as she looked at the pool.
"But I will forever be sorry that my boys had to go through our shit-show years with us when they were so young. "
"Raising kids is hard.”
She nodded. "We were overwhelmed. Neither of us is originally from California, so our parents couldn’t help with the little ones. That's why I'm so adamant about helping my kids with theirs."
"Oh, that's something my mom would say," I said, putting a hand on my chest.
"Jeremy said she doesn't live nearby, right?"
I shook my head. "Not as close as I want her to. I have big plans, once I start my job, to look after her and my sister."
She snapped her fingers. "That’s right. She’s here."
I nodded. "Yes, she's in college."
"You know, I don't think anyone would mind if she joined our family events," Susan said, winking at me.
"Oh, wow. Th-Thank you," I stammered, because that was a truly lovely offer. Only it seemed like far too much. Duncan had already done a lot to help Paula. That moron of a boss hadn’t bothered her again.
But her joining us at things like this… well, Duncan and I weren't there just yet, but I didn't have the heart to tell Susan that.
"All right, I need to put some more sunscreen lotion on," I said because it was blistering hot.
She nodded. "Yeah, me too. I always forget and end up having a sunburn."
I went to the bag of supplies I’d put under an umbrella, and after spreading on lotion, I checked my phone to see if my sister wrote anything.
Christine: We got the results. We passed the bar, how about you?
I gasped, biting the inside of my cheek as I stumbled backward. Way to spring it on me.
I immediately got jittery. My hands were trembling as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other.
I had to check right now. Of course, that's when the internet decided to be extremely slow.
Or maybe it was just that everyone was trying to access the results page right now. That was probably more likely.
Finally , the page loaded. I'd passed! I threw my fist in the air, jumping up and down with joy.
"What's happening?" Duncan asked.
I realized the guys had stopped the game. Even Jeremy was looking my way.
"I passed the bar exam. They just posted the results, and I passed!" I hadn't realized that all these months, I had still feared I might have flunked it.
There was a chorus of congratulations. Duncan was looking straight at me with a huge smile, then mouthed, "I'm proud of you."
Then he clapped his hands together. "All right, let's take a break," he said as he got out of the water.
Jeremy was faster than anyone else. He ran straight to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. They were cold from the water, cooling me down.
He looked up at me. "You are the best, Riley.”
“Thanks, Jeremy.”
Then everyone came over and shook my hand.
"How long is the break for?" I asked.
"Just two minutes, give or take. We need to hydrate," Wyatt said.
"Does alcohol count as hydrating?" Griffin asked.
Wyatt cocked a brow at him. "Unless you want to lose, in which case, yes, please."
I grinned, looking from Wyatt to Griffin. I liked this dynamic between them. How Wyatt seemed to instantly flip into the role of a concerned brother when Griffin was messing around.
"Come on, let's all get drinks," Knox said as they went to the coolers they'd brought.
Duncan was looking straight at the sunscreen I'd started to rub onto my chest before I’d checked the results. There was hunger in his eyes as he cleared his throat.
"Riley, want to help me bring some towels?" he said.
I nodded feverishly.
"Yeah, sure. We need more," I said, glad he’d thought up an excuse. Whenever he pinned me with that gaze, my thoughts were a useless jumble.
We walked side by side, and once we rounded the corner and were out of sight, he immediately pulled me to him.
"Congratulations," he said.
I smiled, resting my hands on his shoulders. "Thank you. I'm so excited. I think part of me was afraid I was going to fail."
He put two fingers under my jaw and then kissed one corner of my mouth.
"I wasn’t. I was sure you’d pass. I’m so fucking happy for you. If I’d known that they'd give the results today…"
"Then what?" I asked apprehensively.
"I don't know, but I sure as hell wouldn't have had all my family here. I’d have taken you somewhere so the two of us could be all alone and we could celebrate properly."
"But this is fun," I said. "I like being with your family."
He captured my mouth, kissing me desperately. How could he need me so much? And how could I need him even more?
I lost myself in the kiss and the feel of his cold skin beneath my fingers. His body got mine wet too. As I pressed myself against him, I realized he was getting semihard. Heat coursed through me at the sensation.
I jumped back and said, "No, no, no." Pointing directly to his swim trunks, I added, "That needs to stay under control."
Duncan threw his head back, laughing. "That ship has sailed when it comes to you, Riley. I have zero control over myself when we're alone."
"Then let's get back to the group before everyone realizes what's going on."
"Yeah, you’re right," he said.
We walked back to the pool side by side. Finn was smirking from ear to ear. Knox laughed. I wondered why Griffin was staring at us.
"How about those towels?" he asked lazily.
Holy shit. I'd completely forgotten that we’d used that as an excuse. We wouldn't have been able to go up to the condo even if we’d wanted to, though, because neither of us had taken a key.
"All of them are, uh, in the washing machine or the dryer," I stammered.
"No, they're not," Jeremy said. "I had some in my changing room."
Crap.
"Yeah, buddy. Those are a bit small. I'll go later and bring some after the drying cycle is over," Duncan said.
"All right, everyone," Knox said. "Let's resume the game. We can come back to making things awkward later."
Jeremy blinked. "What's awkward?"
Duncan glared at his brother.
Knox winked. "Oh, this is fun."
As Finn had predicted, the pool filled soon after. And what do you know, it was mostly with female neighbors. Hannah and I exchanged a glance and laughed.
"They do like an audience, don't they?" I asked.
The second they noticed they had a gathering, their attitude changed. Before, they were playing to win. Now, they were playing to show off their muscles. Griffin, Knox, and Finn were especially obvious—which was also probably why they lost spectacularly.
"Dad, Uncle Chase, and Uncle Wyatt won," Jeremy declared. His voice was incredulous.
"Buddy, you don't have to sound so disappointed," Duncan said. "That's what your other uncles get for not paying attention." The corners of his mouth twitched as he walked to the edge of the pool.
Wyatt was shaking his head, laughing.
The losing team absolutely didn't seem to give a shit about it. I liked that they didn't let their egos get in the way of having fun with the family.
As the others got out of the pool, Jeremy yawned. He’d spent a lot of time in the water without any breaks. He was probably exhausted.
"Jeremy," I started tentatively, thinking how to best phrase this. If I suggested that he needed a nap, he’d feel humiliated. "Want to go upstairs with me? I want to get a new bottle of sunscreen.”
Once inside, I’d talk him into lying down.
"What a coincidence," Susan said, rising to her feet. "I was going to do just that. You can stay down here, Riley, and I’ll bring it back down."
"I’ll go up with you, Grandma," Jeremy said excitedly, wrapping a towel around himself.
“I’ll come up too,” Bruce said. “These old bones have been in the sun for too long.”
As the three of them walked toward the entrance, I sat back down again.
"You know, Mom has a sixth sense," Griffin said.
Knox smirked. "I think she knew we couldn't behave for too long. Thought it would be safest to get Jeremy out of the way."
"You read my mind, brother," Finn said.
"I mean, we were on our best behavior until now. We do deserve credit," Griffin said.
"My God, Duncan didn't do you justice," I said loudly.
Knox jerked his head back. "What do you mean?”
"He did say you're a handful, but this is far more than I imagined."
"Oh, we're just getting started," Griffin said.
Wyatt laughed and said, "You know, usually I try to back up Duncan and keep everyone in check, but I can't make any promises today."
"Finally, you’re joining the dark side," Griffin said. "For a moment there, I was starting to think that you wanted to be part of the older group."
Wyatt jerked his head back. "Low blow, man. Low blow."
I started to laugh, and so did Hannah.
"Oh, Riley, word of warning,” she said. “You won't get used to it. I know I haven't, and I've been around a while."
My heart started beating faster. Should I want to get used to it? Duncan and I… well, we didn't really speak about what would happen once I wasn't Jeremy's nanny anymore.
"All right, Riley. We want to know everything about you ," Griffin said nonchalantly.
Holy shit. The group went silent. I hadn't realized that once Jeremy wasn't here, they were going to come at me like this.
"Sure," I replied. "But first, does anyone want drinks?"
"Got that covered," Knox said.
“It’s our designated role for today,” Finn added. “We get the drinks. You talk.”