“What’s that look for?” he asks.
I shrug. “This is nice. Breakfast together, living together.”
And it has been. Sharing a space with Briggs has been even better than I imagined, and even though it’s only been a few days, I know that I want this for the long run.
Briggs joins me at the table, and after a quick breakfast, we prepare to leave. His black duffle bag is already by the back door. As he rolls Olive and my bags to the back door, I get her into a clean outfit and ready for the trip.
“Can you tell me now?” I ask, giving him my best impression of puppy dog eyes.
He shakes his head in a firm no. “Get your sweet ass in the car.”
Fine. Ugh. This man is not budging.
Once Olive is settled in her seat, I climb into the passenger seat next to Briggs and he pulls us out onto the highway. I try to pay attention to the street signs to get any indication of where we’re going, and it takes me a solid twenty minutes to realize that we’re leaving Chicago behind, and not in the direction of the airport.
“Are we going to the Brickside? To see Grams?” I ask excitedly.
A grin spreads on his lips. “I wanted to take you back to where it all started, and your grams may have strong armed me into coming up for the weekend, so she could spend time with Olive. I figured it was a chance for you to see her, and for us to have time together. I specifically remember how much you loved when I-”
I lean over and press my fingers against his lips to silence him, all while my cheeks flame with embarrassment.
The mouth on this man. A sin, I tell you.
We get to the Inn just after lunchtime. When we pull into the long, winding driveway to my favorite place, my grams meets us outside, wearing her signature apron and the biggest smile on her face.
I’m so happy I could cry. It’s been months since I was able to come here to visit her.
The second my feet hit the pavement; Grams is at my side.
“My darling girl! I have missed you so.” She pulls me into a tight, warm embrace that feels like home.
Home.
Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, even more now that my and Olive’s home is with Briggs.
“Hi Grams. We’ve missed you so much.”
She holds me for a moment longer, then turns back toward Briggs and pulls him into her arms too, further warming my insides.
“Hi there,” she says.
Briggs circles his big arms around her, holding her against him.
“Hi Grams.”
I think back to last night when Briggs and I talked about family being who you choose, and I realize that I hope…I hope after this trip, and after everything that happens, I hope he still chooses me.
Thirty
The first thing we did after Grams insisted on feeding all three of us, was hit the lake. The weather was perfect, unlike the first time we came, and let’s be honest… any chance to see my girl in that tiny hot pink bikini, I’m taking it.
Her and Olive are wearing matching swimsuits, and I never really thought much of it until seeing them both in pink floral bikinis. Then I realized how fucking cute it is. The little fluffy, frilly tutu on Olive is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
There’s no doubt about it, I’m a girl dad, and I’m wearing that title with pride.
Olive’s bow matches her swimsuit, and the entire time she’s on her tummy on her blanket on the sandy beach, she tries to eat the bow, causing her mother to fuss over it.
“Olive juice, you’re supposed to wear it, not eat it.” She laughs. Fuck, I love that sound. Even more when she’s in a bikini.
Down, Briggs. Christ.
We’ve been under the large beach umbrella most of the afternoon, aside from the few minutes that Maddison went for a swim. When she comes back, the tops of her shoulders are tinted pink to match her cheeks.
“You got some sun, babe. You wanna head in? I think your grams is going to spend the evening with Olive, so I was thinking we should go for a boat ride, just us?”
Maddison’s eyes light up at the mention of the boat. My girl loves the lake, and the boat even more. My mind drifts to the first time that we met, and more than anything, I want Maddison to look back on those days and think of them with nothing but fondness.
That’s why I wanted to come back this weekend, get away from the city, and after the situation with my parents, I wanted to see my girls happy. I needed it.
I knew this was the perfect place for that to happen.
A place where Maddison calls home and anywhere that she’s at… well, that’s where I want to be. She and Olive are my home.
“I would love to take the boat out. It’s the prettiest day. I can bring her to Gram then take a quick shower?”
I nod then stand from my spot next to Olive under the shade of the umbrella, then walk over to Maddison and pull her to me, my hands sliding around the warm, sun-kissed skin of her back, pressing her firmly against me.
“I have plans for the bed in that houseboat.” I smirk.
Her brow lifts. “Do you? Well… better make that shower quick then.”
Her eyes twinkle with mirth.
I almost groan aloud when she sashays back over to Olive, swinging her hips, and with each step she takes, her sweet ass shakes. She knows exactly what she’s doing.
We pack up our bag and make our way back to the Inn. While Maddison goes to meet Grams and get Olive ready for her sleepover, which she insisted on so Maddison and I could have some alone time, I take a quick shower and wash off all of the sand. Then, I throw on a pair of khaki shorts and a polo shirt.
I love my Olive girl more than anything, but I love having her mama alone too. I can’t wait to have an entire night with her all to myself.
Maddison lets herself into the room a few minutes later and smiles when she sees me scrolling on my phone.
“Hi handsome. Gonna take a shower really quick. I feel like I have sand… everywhere.” She squinches her nose. “In every crevice.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Probably a waste of time since I’m going to dirty you up…”
Rolling her eyes, she drops a quick kiss to my lips then she disappears into the bathroom, and I hear the water turn on.
My phone chimes with an alert and I glance back down at the screen and see an email notification. The other day at the rink Coach said there’s an event coming up that he needed us at, and Samantha, the public relations girl, would be sending us an email with all the details.
When I open it up and see an email sitting in my inbox from her, I click it open and then my screen goes black.
Fuck, of course my phone dies right when I go to check it. I fell asleep last night before I set it on the charger and using the GPS to the lake today must have drained it. Damn it.
“Babe, gonna use your phone really quick to respond to Samantha’s email,” I call to Maddison over the sound of the shower.
“Okay.”
I grab Maddison’s phone from the nightstand. Her passcode is the easiest thing for me to remember, Olive’s birthday, so I quickly type it in and unlock the phone. Everything seems to be color-coded, so I quickly find the pink “emails” folder and open it.
Before I can even log out to input my information to log into my email account, what I see stops me in my tracks.
Stops my heart in my fucking chest.