Chapter 10
As an athlete, I’ve travelled the world twenty times over.
I’ve stayed in the best hotels, ate at fine restaurants, been given VIP status at the most lavish clubs.
But I’ve never been on a proper family holiday.
And seeing my dad wearing bloody shorts and sandals for the first time in my entire life while he carried Rocky like a doting granddad shouldn’t have put me on edge, but it did.
Then he referred to our mum as grandma and hugged Sloan.
Hugged her! My dad isn’t a hugger. He’s stiff and emotionless.
British. And what the fuck did he say out there?
Family time? What in the bloody hell does that even mean?
I was quiet when Sloan and I checked into our room. My dad fucked with my head properly, so I went for a quick run on the beach when Sloan hopped into the shower to get ready for dinner. I hoped it might clear my mind and help me not be a moody sod all evening.
When I return to the room, Sloan is out on the balcony, curled up in a bathrobe with her mobile in hand. She’s laughing happily and I see her daughter’s face illuminating the screen. It’s a private moment, so I pop into the loo and set about getting myself ready for dinner.
Twenty minutes later, I’m dressed in a pair of soft navy shorts and a white T-shirt. I see that Sloan is off the phone now and is leaning over the railing of the balcony, watching the sun set.
I inhale slowly as I get a full view of her body.
Her creamy back is almost entirely exposed in a long, black and white striped beach dress.
There’s a single horizontal strand of ribbon tied in a bow across her shoulder blades, holding the dress closed.
Other than that, I can see every beauty mark on her flesh.
The outline of her legs shows through the fabric of her dress as it blows in the wind.
Her chestnut hair is wavy over her shoulders.
She’s any man’s fantasy come to life. If I wasn’t so desperate to touch her, I’d stay where I am and continue watching her like a creepy voyeur because the sight is spectacular.
I stride out onto the balcony and move past the small plunge pool to stand behind her. She turns her head when she feels my presence, but freezes when my fingertips trace along the line of her dress that rests above the swells of her arse.
“If your back looks this good, I can only imagine how the front looks,” I murmur into her ear, splaying my hand flat along the flesh of her lower back and snaking my fingers inside the dress.
I squeeze her hip and pull her back against me.
Her entire body shudders beneath my touch.
“I have so many plans for you, Treacle.”
She peeks over her shoulder, her eyes gazing up at my face. “When are you going to be putting those plans into action?” Her lips remain parted, her breaths coming out quicker than normal. “That six-hour plane ride was freaking torture.”
I smile a wicked smile and pull my hand out from inside her dress. “Later. Vi will kill me if we’re late.”
I drop a kiss to her temple, then watch her deflate and shake her head with a cheeky smile. She turns to eye me up and down. “Well, I have to say, the casual vacation look really suits you.”
I quirk a brow. “I have a really great stylist I can put you in touch with.”
She giggles. “How was your run?”
“Great.” I move to stand beside her and prop an arm on the railing while placing one hand on the small of her back. “How is Little Minnow?”
“Little Minnow?” she asks, her brows knit together in confusion.
“Sophia,” I correct with a smirk. “There’s a football game we played at camp called Sharks and Minnows. All the other kids were fighting to be sharks, but not Sophia.”
“That doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Sloan laughs, a look of pride washing over her face in response to my anecdote. “And Little Minnow is good. She had just gotten home from school, so she had to tell me about her day.”
“Does she call you every day after school?”
Sloan nods. “Yes. At least, I like her to. It’s nice to know she’s safe since I really have no control over what she does at Callum’s every other week.”
“Control.” I repeat the artfully chosen word with a smirk. “It’s a fleeting thing sometimes, isn’t it?”
“That it is,” she replies, exhaling heavily. “I’ve noticed that the more you try to control something, the more it controls you.”
My brows lift. “Perhaps it’s better to let things go down their own natural path?”
“I suppose we’ll see.” She pulls her lip into her mouth and chews nervously. “So, should I be afraid of this dinner with your family?”
I bark out a laugh. “Yes, Sloan. You should be very, very afraid.”
We make our way down the beach and find Vi’s bungalow nestled amongst an array of papaya and mango trees.
It smells of citrus as we walk past a natural pond situated in front of the stonewall cottage.
The entire property looks like it was plucked out of an ancient holiday catalogue.
That is until we walk into the three-ring circus that is the Harris family all gathered together in one place.
Tanner has Booker in a headlock in the foyer while Camden is full-on making out with his wife, Indie, against a nearby wall.
Around the corner, I see Vi in the kitchen, pulling a large roasting pan out of the oven while Hayden dips his finger into something that looks like a chocolate mousse.
Through the living area, Booker’s girlfriend, Poppy, is propped on the couch while Tanner’s wife, Belle, holds something up to her protruding belly. It’s a bloody disaster zone.
“Let go of me, Tanner. I’m going to miss it!” Booker cries, his entire body bent in half as Tanner tightens his grip around his neck.
“I’ll let you go as soon as you tell me your boy will be a striker and not a keeper. It’s that simple!” Tanner rolls his eyes like this is the most normal conversation he’s ever had.
“You’re bloody mental!” Booker howls as he tries and fails to slip out of Tanner’s arm.
Tanner’s man bun suddenly pops up as he realises he has an audience. “Oh, hiya, guys. Don’t mind us.”
“No!” Booker squeals, his voice sounding almost girlie as his face turns a deep shade of purple. “Mind us, Gareth! Please, mind us. Belle is about to find my baby’s heart rate with some Doppler thing she brought, and Tanner is being an exceptional brand of arsehole.”
I feel Sloan trembling next to me and look over to see that she’s covering her mouth to hide her laugh. She looks as if she’s staring at a couple of naughty children instead of two full-grown men.
“Don’t encourage them,” I murmur into her ear and slip a hand around her waist to give her a warning squeeze. “Tanner,” I grumble, shaking my head. “Let Booker go. You’re being stupid.”
“No, Gareth! It’s my wife’s machine. I get to call the shots.”
“God, you’re an idiot!” Booker bellows. “That’s not how basic human decency works. Bloody hell! What if I, erm, make you the godfather?”
Tanner’s eyes alight and he instantly releases Booker, who shoots up straight and rubs the angry red skin around his neck. His face is a deep shade of red and the veins in his neck are protruding angrily. “Fucking hell, you prat. We have a match on Saturday. What if you buggered up my neck?”
“Oh, stop crying, you baby,” Tanner muses, stroking his beard like a creep. “This worked out for the best because the first thing I’ll do as your son’s godfather is teach him how to fight like a man.”
“Godfather?” Camden’s voice exclaims now that he’s wrenched himself off of his wife and joined the scene in front of me.
He drags poor Indie along behind him, and she adjusts her glasses sheepishly as she spots me and Sloan.
“You can’t make him the godfather before the baby is born.
Can he?” Camden looks at me like I have the answer to his absurd question.
Indie grabs Cam’s arm and attempts to pull him away. “Don’t throw a fit over this, all right? You’re going to ruin this moment for Booker.”
“Specs,” Camden argues with a wounded expression on his face. “Vi at least had the decency to make us all godfathers. This is total bollocks!”
Booker ignores Camden’s whining and turns to me and Sloan. “It’s nice to see you again, Sloan, but I really need to get over there to Poppy.” Without another word, he turns on his heel and jogs into the living room, leaving me with our idiot twin brothers and Indie.
Indie shakes her head and looks at Sloan. “Who would have thought one little foetal Doppler would create such a fuss? By the way, hi. I’m Indie.”
“I’m Sloan,” Sloan replies with a smile and they shake hands.
“What is going on exactly?” I ask, frowning over to where I see Booker kneeling down beside Poppy, who’s on the sofa.
Indie rolls her eyes. “Belle brought a foetal Doppler to keep an eye on Booker and Poppy’s baby this week. Poppy isn’t due for another couple of months, but she was nervous to come on the trip. This is helping to calm her down.”
“Oh, how cool,” Sloan replies with a smile. “You and Belle are both doctors, right? I think Gareth mentioned that once.”
Indie nods. “We met in med school, and it was love at first tequila shot.”
Sloan chuckles. “That’s so cute that two friends married two brothers.”
“Cute or mental?” I retort and Indie laughs.
“It’s cute,” Camden and Tanner both growl in unison, then smile stupid smiles at each other.
Indie scoffs, “I like to claim that I met Camden before Belle met Tanner and crazy follows crazy, so I guess we’re both gluttons for punishment.”
“I love my wife’s crazy. It’s her best feature.” Tanner waggles his brows suggestively at Sloan, and I give him a shove.
“Let’s not act like you two didn’t plan to marry brothers all along,” Camden says, wrapping his arms around Indie’s waist and pulling her back to his front. “You told me all about your plans for us when we got married in Scotland, Specs.”