“What’s your dream date? If you could have anything, what would you want?”
She looks at me pensively, chewing her lip. “Don’t laugh.” Her voice is stern, and she pokes my chest to get her point across.
“Why would I laugh?”
“Because it’s probably over the top and ridiculous, but… I’ve always wanted to take a helicopter ride over Chicago at night. I love the city lights, they put me at ease, and it’s been a dream since I was a little girl to fly over it at night.” She pauses.
“What?”
She shrugs. “I think my dream date would be with someone who is interested in what I have to say. About life, my goals, my dreams. Connecting with someone on a deeper level. Maybe a candlelight dinner at a fancy restaurant followed by a helicopter ride over Chicago."
“Hmm. And what happens after the helicopter ride?” I say.
Her gold-flecked eyes roll, “I think you already know, Briggs Wilson. Stop trying to make me say it.”
“I wanna hear it, babe. I want to know your dream date, tell me all the dirty, salacious details.”
“I want to have the best, most passionate, intense sex of my life.”
Her voice is raspy and low, and it shoots straight to my dick. Maddison knows exactly what her words do to me because she trails her hand down my chest to the flat, hard plane of my abs, and then fiddles with the waistband of my jeans until I groan, hardening beneath the stiff fabric. “I remember quite well how amazing your tongue is, Briggs.”
She leans closer until I can feel her lips move against mine as she speaks, “I can’t wait to feel that again.”
“That’s it, down you go. You are driving me fucking insane woman. God, I want you.”
Once her feet hit the ground, she stands on her tiptoes and laces her fingers through my hair before kissing me soft and sweet on my lips, her eyes dancing with amusement. She’s more than satisfied that she’s gotten this response out of me.
Vixen.
“Later, baby.”
With that, she pulls back, opens the door and strolls out like she hasn’t just given me the worst case of blue balls in my life.
We join everyone back outside, just as Reed is pulling the meat off the grill. All of the girls have gathered around the table with Olive, so Maddison joins them as I walk over and see if I can help Reed with anything.
“What can I do?”
Looking over his shoulder at the girls, he nods toward the house. “Can you just catch the door for me? Gonna bring this in so everyone can make their plates inside.”
Graham and Asher have joined the girls and are now having a very heated conversation about… menstrual cups, so I guess it’s just Reed, Hudson, Liam and I prepping to eat.
These guys.
Once I get the door and we’re inside the massive kitchen, Reed sets the pan of steaks, burgers, and chicken on the marble countertop and takes off the apron. The girls file through the door, just a few minutes later, and we all make our plates and decide to eat them inside.
There’s never a shortage of hands to hold Olive as Maddison and I make our plates. Because I’m driving, I pour Maddison a glass of wine, and she smiles when I hand it over.
“Thank you, Briggs.”
“No problem, baby.”
Emery gushes, “You two are so cute, it’s almost as sickening as my brother and Holland.”
“Shut up, Em,” Reed grumbles, finally sitting with us with a pile of food on his plate. The guy can eat.
Finally, I have my baby girl back in my arms, and using one hand, I take a bite of my burger as Maddison chats with the girls. Today went so much better than I planned, and fuck, it feels good.
To show Maddison off. For everyone to meet my baby girl.
“Oh Maddison, what’s your number? I’m going to text you tonight about dinner this weekend.”
Maddison rattles her number off, and my eyebrows rise. “Dinner?” I whisper against the shell of her ear.
“Yeah, Juliet and Holland asked me to go to dinner with them this weekend for a kind of girls’ dinner. I was going to see if either I could bring Olive or if Ty and Kyle were busy.”
I shake my head. “I can hang out with Olive, babe.” Looking toward the guys. “The girls are having a girls’ dinner Saturday. What do you guys say we have a guys’ day… with Olive juice here?”
Graham smiles bright and tickles Olive’s cheek. “Definitely.”
The rest of the guys chime in too, so there it is.
“Settled.” I drop my lips to Maddison’s head in a quick kiss, and she sinks into me for a moment. It feels right. So fucking right.
Having my girls here with me, surrounded by all of the other people that I love, it feels like for the first time in a long time, this is exactly where I’m meant to be.
With my family.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past few years, it’s that family isn’t just blood, family is the people who stand by you when you have nothing left.
Who pick you up when you can’t seem to lift yourself from the ground.
The people who love you even after you’ve given them every reason not to.
Twenty Three
A few days pass as I wait for dinner with Holland and Juliet. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it since they invited me. While I’ve been friends with Ty my entire life, and welcomed Kyle with open arms, whenever they got together, it’s still nice to spend time with two women who are also moms and in relationships with professional hockey players. Lots of common ground… and I’m sure they have advice that I desperately need when it comes to the man who turns my insides into a molten gooey mess when he’s around.
I’m just finishing curling my hair when I see Briggs in the mirror. He walks in and slides his hands around my waist then pulls me against his hard body. Moving my hair to the side, off my neck, he plants a wet, hot kiss against the sensitive skin of my shoulder, where it meets my neck. A spot that he knows sets me on fire, only for him.
“How about we cancel girls and guys’ day, and we stay home? Just me, you, and Olive?”
I roll my eyes before shaking my head no. “No can do, sorry love. I promised Holland and Juliet. Plus, I think Graham will be seriously disappointed if he doesn’t get to hang out with Olive. He loves her.”
I set the curling iron down on the counter, so I don’t burn myself or Briggs, then run my fingers through the still warm curls, making sure they’re more beach wavy instead of tight curled.
Briggs groans and drops his head onto my shoulder. “I can’t wait for alone time with you. I love my baby, so fucking much, but I also want to devour you on every damn surface of my house.”
Speaking of… we’ve been discussing Olive and I moving into his house, again. As much as I want to, the logical part of me says it’s too fast and that we haven’t explored our relationship enough or that we don’t know each other well enough for such a giant step.
Briggs promptly reminded me that we’ve basically done everything ass backwards, and this wouldn’t be any different.
My lease here is up at the end of the month, so the decision is weighing heavily on me.
I want to be with Briggs, in his space, together with Olive. And the fact that his house is ten times the size of my apartment and completely free of upstairs neighbors who like to have sex like obnoxious porn stars, and a shower that works without having to break out the tools in order to get it to turn on.