Rose #2
“Lina told me about your parents,” I say, voice low. “She said you usually tell people about it and she looked kind of guilty for mentioning it after.”
He lets out a sigh. “Ah, she’s right. It’s not something I hide. Usually.”
But he didn’t want me to know.
“Why didn’t you? I’m not demanding or—”
“I know," he interjects. “It’s something that happened a long time ago. Losing my parents, foster care, moving to Rios, and starting fresh in a smaller town—it's all in the past. I didn’t want you to feel sorry for me.”
“I wouldn’t have felt sorry for you, Win,” I say, squeezing his hand. “I’m a little in awe of your strength. After Simon died, I was angry and hurting and in so much pain. I look at you, and you give me hope that I’ll get back to smiling and laughing when I thought I never would again.”
He kisses my forehead. “You will. Just takes time. It helps to have people around you who love you unconditionally. I did a lot of leaning on people when I came to Rios, and I wasn’t always smiling and laughing. Who you surround yourself with after life knocks you down is important.”
“You surrounded yourself with Nico and Lina?”
“Nico and his wife, Alexandria, gave me chances no one else ever did. They helped me find an apartment and paid the security deposit when they barely knew me. They, and Lina, made it easier to smile, to laugh, to not care about singing badly because as long as I was happy, it didn’t matter that I couldn’t sing for shit. ”
“Sounds like you lost a family, came to Rios, and gained another one,” I say quietly.
He hums. “It does sound like that, huh?”
I smile with tears in my eyes, glad he found the fresh start he was looking for. “You’re not the worst singer I’ve ever heard, Win.”
“Really?” he snorts. “I sound like a feral cat in heat.”
There’s no way I can’t laugh at that, and I do, lifting my head to meet his gaze to find him grinning at me.
Slowly, as if afraid I’ll pull away if he moves too fast, he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. One touch and my body ignites, reliving the heat of our kiss in my room. I’m not the only one thinking of a repeat from the heat filling his gaze.
"I don't regret it," I admit, voice low.
He cocks his head.
"Our kiss." I clear my throat, cheeks hot. "You ran out of my room pretty quick and I..."
"You..." He goes from confused to breathing too fast to be calm.
"I forgot my son was sitting next to me. I didn't want you to think that I didn't like it."
His eyes soften. "I liked it too. Enough that I ran out of your room and right into a wall."
I laugh. "I'm sorry. Did you hurt yourself?"
"Didn't feel a thing. My mind was still back on that kiss."
"So..." My gaze drops to his mouth, conscious that he's looking at mine.
"So..." he murmurs, leaning closer.
Our lips brush as a door slams, and we break away, breathing fast.
I hear a door open, hurried footsteps, and a man’s slightly panicked voice say, “There are so many of them. Tell me why I’m here again?”
Murph.
What’s he doing here? And what has him so panicked?
Joel’s exasperated voice follows his, “You told me to come pick you up. And they’re little kids. What’s the worst they can do to you?”
“You say that like we don’t both know what happened to Win last year,” Murph says in a tone of disbelief, as if he can’t believe he has to remind Joel of this.
Win and I grin at each other.
“Ready to save Murph from those terrifying kids?” he asks me, eyes sparkling.
My nausea has passed, so I nod. “Let’s go.”
When we return to the party, Joel and Murph are standing by the snack table, talking. Joel is relaxed. Murph is radiating so much tension that I can feel it as Win and I walk over to join them.
On our way, I look for Ben, relieved he’s happily playing with the kids. I doubt he even noticed I’d gone inside. Nico must be getting ready to bring out the cake. There’s a place cleared at the table that wasn’t there before I rushed to the bathroom.
Murph doesn’t notice us walking over, jumping when I brush up against him. He’s over six-three, stacked with muscles, yet he reacted like someone just whispered boo in his ear.
I blink at him. “Are you okay?”
Russet sweeps over the apples of his cheeks, and he scrubs a hand over his jaw. “Just a little on edge.”
“The kids swarmed him,” Joel says, grinning at me.
Murph glares at Joel. “He told them I build houses, and they rushed me.”
"All the sugar from the cotton candy machine probably has them overexcited,” I say with a reassuring smile, wrapping my arm around his waist. “Are you all right?"
A soft purr of contentment rumbles from his throat. “Not really.” He leans into my touch.
Joel rolls his eyes at Murph. He knows Murph is bullshitting to get me to keep touching him. I know it too, but I leave my arm where it is.
Joel asks me, “Are you okay? Lina said you were green.”
“I’m okay now,” I say, turning to Murph, who's studying me closely. “Promise. I just needed a little time for my stomach to settle somewhere quiet.”
After another searching look, Murph nods.
“I thought you were painting the spare bedroom today,” I say to Murph.
“You and me both,” Win adds, grabbing a juice box from the snack table, comfortable in his horse costume. It has to be hot in it, but you wouldn’t think it to look at him.
I don’t know what happened to the horse’s head part of his costume, but he doesn’t seem concerned about it. Lina or her husband probably took it inside and put it away before the kids could use it as a toy.
Murph shrugs. “I wanted to be here for Ben. And I can work on the house whenever. Though I can’t say I’m relaxed after the incident last year.”
Win stops sipping from the juice box. “The incident?”
Joel grins. “You know the one he means.”
Win shakes his head. “Jesus. No need to make it sound like an extinction-level event,” he mutters, though his eyes are sparkling with ever-present humor.
Joel bumps his shoulder against Win’s. “We brought a change of clothes in case those feral kids went crazy.” He winks at me as he says it.
“Hey! One of those kids is mine.” Even knowing that Joel is joking, I need to defend my son. He does have a point, though. I glance at Ben, then turn to Win. “Don’t let Ben get on your back now. When he’s this excited, he loses control of his body parts. That includes his bladder.”
Murph watches the kids sprint around the backyard through narrowed eyes. “Yeah, I wouldn’t be letting any of them on your back, Win. These are danger levels of excitement. You are not safe.”
I laugh. His protectiveness toward Win, delivered so gruffly, is as endearing as it is hilarious.
Joel raises his eyebrow. “Don’t you think you’re being a touch overdramatic?”
Ben runs toward us, shouting, “Mommy, I need to go potty!”
As I bend to pick him up, Murph looks at Joel and doesn’t say a word. His pointed stare is the biggest "I told you so" I’ve ever seen.
“What’s so funny, Mommy?” Ben asks, scrunching his nose.
I shake my head and stop laughing. “Nothing, baby. Let’s get you to the bathroom and back to having fun, huh?”
Over the next hour, Murph relaxes and eventually starts to enjoy himself, even joining in with some of the games.
We sing happy birthday to Harry, watch him open his presents, and eat too much food. Except me. I do not eat too much food. I focus on taking pictures and enjoying this party because one wrong bite, and this party is over for me.
It’s a day full of sun, fun, and lots of happy, hilarious moments, but it’s so exhausting that I’m not the only one walking through the front door yawning hours later.
We nap when we get home, then spend the rest of our weekend relaxing and doing housework, though Win, Joel, and Murph make it their mission to have me do as little as possible. After dinner, we wind down each night with a movie in the living room before bed.
It’s as close to perfect as any weekend can be, and I’d happily sign up for more of the same.