Chapter Twenty-One
Amiya
I wake up with a pint-sized foot lodged in my back.
I roll over to see Lennon has been pushed to the edge of the blankets with his chest against the hearth and his arm slung over the brick.
Leia talked us into moving the coffee table and making a pallet on the floor so we could all sleep together last night. I know we could have all slept in the king-size bed in my room, but that felt too intimate and extremely inappropriate, so here we are, on the hard floor, between the couch and fireplace. With a tiny human wedged between us.
How she always manages to end up sideways is a mystery, but it’s been the same since she was a baby.
I lean over and inhale the sweet strawberry scent of her hair and kiss her temple before I shimmy from under the covers and stand to stretch my aching back. Then, I tiptoe to the kitchen island to grab my phone and snap a photo of the two of them and shoot it to Avie.
She responds immediately.
Avie: Is Lennon spooning the fireplace?
Me: Yes.
Avie: Why?
Me: Leia kicked him off of her blanket pallet.
Avie: Ah, that makes sense. Poor guy is getting the full uncle-niece experience this trip.
Me: I’d say so. Face masks. Painted nails, Frozen, Frozen II, and a concert.
Avie: He let her paint his nails again?
Me: Yep. Hot pink.
Avie: God love him. I’m on my way with doughnuts and bagels.
Me: See you soon.
I walk over and tap him on the shoulder. He grunts and rolls onto his back and blinks up at me.
“Good morning,” I whisper. “You can go climb in your bed now if you want.”
He looks over at Leia, who is now spread-eagle on her belly, then back at me.
“What time is it?” he asks.
“Almost eight. Avie’s on her way. She’s bringing breakfast.”
He sits up and brings his hand up to rub the back of his neck.
“Sleeping on the floor’s not that much fun when you’re an adult, huh?” I muse.
“You’ve never crammed yourself in a stiff rack in the berthing area of a ship. This is nothing.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” I say as I offer him my hand and help pull him to his feet.
Leia stirs as he carefully steps over her, but she doesn’t open her eyes.
“I’ll make coffee,” he says.
“In that case, I’m going to hop in the shower.”
“Go ahead. I’ll listen for Avie,” he says.
I hurry to my bathroom and start the shower. The hot water feels amazing on my stiff limbs. Then, I slip on my red bikini and gauzy white cover-up and pull my damp hair into a knot on top of my head.
I hear Avie’s voice and follow it to find her and Lennon seated on the island, chatting over coffee and bagels.
“I hope you brought your bathing suit because after a day shut in because of rain, I’m ready for some vitamin D,” I say as I snatch a chocolate glaze from the doughnut box on the counter.
“I didn’t, but I think Leia and I both have one in the closet here,” she says.
“Perfect.”
“What are your plans today?” she asks Lennon.
“No idea. I usually just wait to see who calls me first and tells me where I need to be and who’s picking me up,” he says.
“Well, Sebastian only has one charter today, so I’ll send him and message and tell him to come play in the ocean with his brother and daughter,” she suggests.
“Sounds good to me.”
When Leia wakes, she sits in Avie’s lap and recounts our night in vivid detail as she eats a pink-frosted doughnut covered in sprinkles.
“It was like camping,” she says, describing the three of us sleeping on the living room floor.
“Not quite like camping,” Lennon muses.
“That’s right. It was way better than nasty camping,” I quip.
His eyes come to me.
“Nasty?”
“Camping? Yeah, no, thank you,” I say as I wrinkle my nose.
“Not a fan of adventure, Legs?”
“Adventure? Yes. Bugs, wild animals, peeing outside, and sleeping on the ground? Not so much,” I declare.
He leans his elbows onto the island and studies me as I tear into my second sugary confection of the morning.
“I bet I could change your mind.”
“About camping? Doubtful,” I say.
“Hiking in the Smokies, seeing the beautiful mountains, skinny-dipping in a crystal-clear river, showering under a waterfall,” he says, then lowers his voice so Leia doesn’t hear. “And making love under a blanket of stars.”
I meet his heated stare as I pop a piece of doughnut into my mouth and answer.
“Mmm, you lost me at hiking, Sailor,” I purr.
He reaches up and wipes powdered sugar from the corner of my mouth with his thumb.
“You don’t know what you’re missing, Legs.” He sucks the thumb into his mouth and winks before standing and making his way toward his room.
“Big talk for a man with hot-pink fingernails,” I shout after him. “And I do know what I’d miss. Electricity, air-conditioning, and indoor plumbing.”
His deep chuckle echoes down the hallway.
I glance at Avie who is watching his retreat. She turns back to me at the sound of his door closing behind him.
“Damn, now I kinda want Sebastian to take me camping.”
We both burst into laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Leia asks, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“Uncle Lennon,” I say.
She nods.
“He’s so fun.”
“I bet he is,” Avie mutters under her breath.
He definitely is.
“Oh my God, you’re falling for him,” Avie gasps.
I look from where Sebastian and Lennon are swinging Leia into the oncoming waves to Avie, who is perched on the blanket beside me.
“I most certainly am not,” I protest.
“Yes, you are. You have that same goofy look on your face that you did when you fell for … what’s his name? The geeky guy who used to take you to those moody poetry bars.”
“Thomas?”
“That’s it. Thomas. You used to look at him that way,” she points out.
Thomas was a guy I dated in college. He was a bit nerdy, but there was something about his dark, broody temperament that turned me on.
“What way?”
“Like you want to slice him open and crawl inside his chest.”
I wrinkle my nose. “You watch way too much Dateline —you know that?”
“Maybe, but you know I’m right,” she insists.
“I like his cock. That’s it,” I tell her.
“Yeah, well, that might be where it started, but that won’t be where it ends. He’s the one. Finally, my beautiful friend is going to fall in love,” Avie sings.
I ball my hand around a lump of sand and toss it at her. “Hush. He’s good in bed. I enjoy the things he does to my body, but no falling will be done,” I insist.
She sputters as she brushes the damp grains from the front of her suit. “Oh, why not? Just think. If you did, then one day, we could be sisters for real.”
“We are sisters. I don’t need to lose my mind to make it more real,” I state.
“True. But you like him,” she says, her playful tone turning sober.
I shake my head and glance away from her assessing eyes.
“Look at you. You’re glowing. Lennon Harraway has you glowing.”
She’s like a dog with a bone.
“What happened to this is a bad idea , stay away from my future brother-in-law , promise me things won’t get awkward ?” I ask.
She shrugs. “That’s before I knew you were falling in love,” she cries.
I roll my eyes. “You’re a hopeless romantic.”
“No. I’m a hopeful romantic. And you could use a dose of that. You don’t have to be logical and stoic all the time, suppressing that hopeful part of you. It’s okay to fall sometimes. Especially if there’s a big, strong, handsome, willing man to catch you when you do,” she says.
“Ugh, I don’t need a man to catch me. I can catch myself.”
“Who said anything about needing? Need and want are two very different things. I know you don’t need one. But it’s okay to want one. Especially that one,” she says, her finger coming up to wave in Lennon’s direction.
My eyes follow hers to where he is standing at the ocean’s edge. His swim trunks slung low on his hips, clinging to his athletic thighs as the surf laps at his feet. His sun-kissed skin glistens with a light sheen of salt water, accentuating the definition of the muscles in his shoulders. His dark, tousled hair is damp and he casually runs a hand through it, pushing it back from his handsome face. His gaze is fixed on Sebastian and Leia who are playing in the waves, a quiet strength in his expression as the sunlight reflects off the water, casting him in a golden glow.
“Why especially that one?” I ask, breathlessly.
“Because he’s the total package. Hot, handsome, and dependable.”
I cut my eyes back to her.
“Dependable? You’re right; that is hot,” I say with a laugh.
“You know what I mean. He’s the kind of man who could make life better.”
“I’m not looking for a hero to come along and save me. I can save myself. But if the right sexy deviant came along and wanted to ravage me on the regular, I guess I’d be open to that,” I divulge.
She grins.
“Don’t do that,” I say as I wave a finger at her goofy expression.
“I can’t help it. I’m just so happy. I want you to experience love on this level one day. You shouldn’t have to live your life in savage mode all the time. You should be with someone who makes you feel safe enough to bring out your soft side. Because I know you have one.”
I roll my eyes then because she starts to tear up.
“Are you pregnant again?”
She shakes her head as she swipes at her eyes. “No, I’m not. I’m being serious. I know you don’t need it, but damn if you don’t deserve it,” she whispers.
“Maybe …”
“Just answer me this: what do you feel when you’re with him?”
The corner of my mouth twitches.
“Not those feelings. These feelings,” she says, tapping my chest just above my heart.
I glance away from her as I contemplate the answer.
“It’s like my mind is always racing and there’s so much constant background noise, but when he opens his arms and I crawl into them, everything goes quiet,” I admit.
“There it is,” she declares.
“What?” I ask.
“Peace.”