Chapter 15
JULIET
The morning light felt different today, softer somehow, as if the lake itself was giving us a small break, like it was telling us everything would be okay with our family. I woke up slowly in the cabin, Bastian’s arm heavy around my waist, his breath warm against the back of my neck.
For a few minutes, I just lay there listening to the quiet only broken by the beautiful sound of birds outside and the distant lap of water at the shore. I closed my eyes and focused on his steady heartbeat right beneath my ear.
Bastian stirred behind me, pressing a slow kiss to my shoulder. “Morning, beautiful,” he murmured, voice gravelly.
“Morning,” I said sleepily, turning in his arms. We stayed like that for a while, trading lazy kisses and quiet touches, the kind that didn’t always lead to more but still made everything feel okay.
Eventually, we got up and made breakfast together, and I couldn’t help but smile at our mismatched mugs that we claimed as ours on the first morning. We ate on the porch, the weather not too hot, and the breeze from the lake cooling the air down even more.
I closed my eyes and rested my head on the back of the chair, but that peace was short-lived when Bastian’s phone rang.
He glanced at the screen, and instantly, his body tensed. “It’s Landon.”
My stomach tightened knowing my father was calling. “You should answer.”
He hesitated, then picked it up. “Hey.” His voice was husky, and although he tried to hide it, I heard the pent-up emotion laced in that single word.
I was about to get up and give him privacy, but he sensed what I was about to do and reached out, his hand gently landing on my thigh.
I couldn’t hear everything my dad said, but Bastian’s shoulders relaxed just a fraction.
“The boat again? Yeah, I can come look at it. This afternoon work?” He listened for a moment then ended the call.
When he looked at me, there was cautious hope in his eyes.
“He wants me to take a look at the engine. Said it’s acting up again. ”
“That’s good, right?” I asked, reaching for his hand.
He squeezed my fingers, thumb brushing over my knuckles. “It’s something. I’ll head over after lunch if that’s okay with you.”
I nodded. “Of course. I’ll come, too. I want to see Mom.”
I swore by the time lunch came around, I’d aged a good five years just from my nerves.
The drive back toward the main lake house felt different this time. Less like running away and more like testing the waters. When we pulled up, my dad was already down at the dock waiting. He didn’t smile when he saw us, but he didn’t turn away, either. Bastian parked and looked at me.
“You okay if I go help him?”
“Yeah. I’ll find Mom.”
I watched them for a moment as Bastian walked down the dock.
They stood a few feet apart at first, awkward and stiff.
Then Dad handed him a wrench without a word.
They bent over the engine together, not talking much, but they were there, working side by side.
I didn’t know if this was the first step to healing, but it was the first time in weeks they were choosing to be in the same space without it turning ugly.
I turned away before the sight made me cry and headed toward the house. Mom was in the kitchen wiping down the counters even though they already looked clean. When she saw me in the doorway, she paused then gave me a small, tired smile.
“You’re back,” she said.
“Just for the day,” I replied, stepping closer. My voice came out shaky. “Dad called and asked for Bastian’s help. I also wanted to see you.”
She came up and gave me a long hug, and I sighed as everything I missed the last couple weeks filled me. When she pulled back, we both sat at the table across from each other. After a moment, she reached over and covered my hand with hers.
“I’ve missed you,” she said quietly. “This house feels too big without you in it.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” My throat tightened. “I know this has been hard on you and Dad. I never wanted to hurt either of you. I just… I love him, Mom. I love him in a way I can’t walk away from.”
Mom’s eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t let them fall.
She squeezed my hand tighter. “I know you do. And I’m trying to understand.
It’s just… he’s family, Juliet. Your father’s step-brother.
It’s going to take time for him to wrap his head around it.
For all of us.” She let out a shaky breath.
“But you’re still my daughter. That hasn’t changed.
I love you even when I don’t understand everything that goes on in your life.
You’re an adult, and you can decide how you live it. ”
We talked for a long time after that, not about fixing everything but about how we were doing. I told her how scared I felt sometimes. She told me how worried she was. My mom didn’t agree with my choices, but she listened. When I finally stood up to leave, she pulled me into another tight hug.
“Be safe,” she whispered. “And come home when you’re ready. Both of you.”
I was on the verge of tears—happy ones—when I stepped off the porch and saw Bastian and my dad still on the dock.
They weren’t laughing or joking, but they were working side by side.
When Bastian saw me, he straightened up and wiped his hand on a rag.
Dad glanced over, his expression complicated, but he didn’t look away.
In fact, he smiled softly and lifted his hand to give me a little wave.
That gave me the courage to head down there. My hands shook, and my knees felt like they were filled with pudding, but I felt stronger than ever.
“The engine should be good now,” Bastian said to my dad, his voice careful. “Let me know if it acts up again.”
Dad gave a short nod. “Thanks.” His voice wasn’t exactly warm, but it wasn't hostile, either. It was a tiny crack in the wall that had felt impossible to move.
Bastian glanced at me. He must have seen something in my face because he gave a small nod like he understood. “I’ll go check on that fuel filter in the shed,” he said quietly, already stepping back. “Take your time.”
He walked away without looking back, giving us the privacy I didn’t know how to ask for.
I stood there on the dock, the lake stretching out behind my dad like it had for my whole life. For a long moment, neither of us spoke, and the silence felt like a huge gap.
“Dad…” My voice cracked before I even got started. I swallowed hard and tried again. “I know you’re angry and upset. I just… I need you to know that I never did this to hurt anyone.”
He stared at the water, mouth tight, hands gripping the railing like he needed something solid to hold onto. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough and low, like every word cost him something.
“You’re my little girl, Juliet. I used to carry you on my shoulders right here on this dock.
I used to think my job was to keep you safe from the world.
” He let out a shaky breath. “I love my brother, but he’s the one person I never thought I needed to keep you away from.
And now… I don’t know how to look at you without seeing what he took from me. ”
Tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them.
“He didn’t take anything from you, Dad. I chose him, and I know that hurts you, but I’m not a little girl anymore.
I’m old enough to know who I love, and that’s Bastian.
It’s the kind of love that makes me want to build a life with him even if it’s hard for everyone else to understand. ”
Dad’s gaze finally met mine. They were glassy, full of pain and confusion and a love that hadn’t gone away even if it was buried under everything else.
“I keep asking myself where I went wrong,” he said, voice breaking.
“Did I not protect you enough? Did I not show you what a good man looks like? Because Bastian… he’s my step-brother, and I love him, but he’s also the guy who’s always leaving when things get hard.
He has a lot of darkness he buries from all the shit he’s seen in his life.
And now he’s with my daughter. How am I supposed to be okay with that? ”
“He’s a good man, Dad.”
My father exhaled and nodded. “I know he is. And even though I rag on him and I said some hateful shit, he’s always been there for the family when we needed him. He always has our backs and is willing to help anyone. It’s just… hard, sweetheart.”
I brushed a tear from my eye and nodded.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I said, answering his earlier question.
“You raised me to know what love feels like. And with him… it feels like home. Bastian makes me feel safe in a way no one else ever has. I know it’s complicated and a lot of people–maybe everyone–thinks it’s wrong, but I’ve never felt anything more right before.
It’s real, Dad, and I’m asking you to try to see that.
Not today or tomorrow or on some schedule.
But eventually, I hope you can be happy for us. ”
He looked at me, eyes still shining with unshed tears.
Then he reached out and pulled me into a hug that felt like it had been waiting for me my entire life.
It wasn’t perfect, and his arms were stiff at first like he was still fighting with himself.
But he held me, and I held him back just as tight.
We both needed this moment more than anything else right now.
“I love you, honey,” he said against my hair, voice thick. “That will never change even if I don’t know how to do this yet.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered, crying into his shirt.
“We’ll figure it out, honey. It’ll all be fine. I want you to be happy.”
We stood there on the dock for a long time, the lake quiet around us, neither of us ready to let go just yet. I knew all wasn’t right, and nothing was fully fixed. I knew things would never be back to “normal”. But it was a start, and right now, that was enough.
The drive back to the cabin was quiet, but it was a different kind of silence. It was one filled with hopefulness. When we got inside, Bastian pulled me into his arms and kissed me slow and deep, like he needed to remind himself we were still okay.
I slid down his body and dropped to me knees in front of him. Carefully, reverently, I removed his cock from his pants, my eyes locked on his.
“You don’t—”
“I want to.”
Taking one long lick from base to tip, my tongue found his head and swirled circles around it, wetting, priming, him for my mouth. I sucked him in, shallow at first then swallowing him down my throat.
Murmurs slipped between Bastian’s lips, incoherent words chanting a rhythm to my quick bobbing up and down his cock.
His hips twitched, pumping forward into my mouth, finding his pleasure with my tongue, my throat.
I couldn’t help but lightly scrap my teeth along his long, thick length when I pulled back with each stroke.
Bastian groaned in a surprised breath, gripping my hair with both hands. Emboldened, I cupped his balls in my hand and rolled them through my fingers. A tremor rolled through his body right before he came in my mouth. I sucked his cock back, keeping it there, ropes of cum shooting down my throat. I
stayed like that for as long as I could, drinking him. When he was finally spent, I popped him out of my mouth and gave his head a quick kiss. “Mmm...so good,” I said, smoothing my tongue along my lips, cleaning up the rest of his cum.
Bastian jerked me to my feet, not roughly but urgently, and kissed me like he couldn’t get enough. Enough of me. Enough of us.
“I’m so happy we’re in this together,” he said, pulling from our kiss. “There’s no place on the face of the earth I’d rather be. Right here with you,” Commitment and love shone in his eyes.
I wrapped my arms around him and hugged tight.
“Home,” I said with a catch in my breath. Because that’s what Bastian was to me.
We were still figuring it out, and maybe we always would be. But we were together, and for the first time neither of us was running.