“Isn’t that what I’m doin’, darlin’?” He smiled. “What time is it?”
“Past noon.” They were expecting us in Mclean in thirty minutes.
That wasn’t happening, considering we were picking up supplies on the way.
“Well, hell. We should probably go,” Colt said smartly. “We’ll continue this tomorrow, baby boy.”
“Okay! I’ll go get dressed.” Kit switched off his desk lamp and whooshed by me with a quick grin. “I’ll hurry, Daddy.”
He didn’t know how much I had to struggle to remain strict sometimes. He was just too adorable in his PJs and goofy smiles.
With Colt, it was easier. I lifted a brow at him, and he knew he was in trouble.
So, of course he turned up the charm and hugged me to him and kissed my neck. “I’ll make it up to you, love.”
“How?” I wrinkled my nose. The combination of his aftershave and the very strong glue they used was on another level.
“Tomorrow,” he murmured, kissing my jaw. “I’ll make sure Kit and I are here to meet you when you get home from work. I’ll cook your favorite dinner… We’ll decorate the tree together…”
I exhaled and closed my eyes.
Part of me was a little bit envious. Colt and Kit had been able to take the whole week off work to help out in Mclean. I had more work than I could handle, so I’d only been able to take today off.
The other days, I had to borrow my father’s car to join my friends after work—when I was already tired.
But it would be nice to have tomorrow night to ourselves. It would be our first Christmas together as a triad, and I was looking forward to every torturous Christmas song that would go on repeat.
“Okay, you’re forgiven, Captain.”
He growled playfully against my cheek. “Colonel.”
I smiled and kissed him. “Go get dressed, Captain.”
Our first and only stop was in Tysons Corner, where Colt went inside a store to pick up our order of paint, brushes, and rollers. In the meantime, I dropped the tailgate of the truck, and Kit darted into the arcade next door to try his luck. For the past couple of weeks, he’d been trying to win a stress ball in the shape of a baby shark as a gift for Colt.
My heart had about melted when he’d told me, “Daddy’s so stressy about work sometimes, and he fidgets and taps his knee and stuff, so I saw this baby shark stress ball and thought, he needs this.”
I’d been saving all my change for him since then.
He wasn’t inside the arcade as much as the entryway between the revolving doors where they had a row of gumball machines. It was in one of those he’d spotted the tiny stress ball. But so far, he’d only left the place with a whole lot of chewing gum. The toys he’d won—that he didn’t want—were left behind for kids.
Fifty cents for a spin—it was going to be an expensive stress ball.
We’d come here six or seven times since the fire, and he had—
I spotted him running out of the arcade with a huge grin, and that had to mean good news. Oh Christ, even I got nervous now. He’d been so sad the last couple of times.
“I did it! I did it!”
I felt my mouth stretch with a big smile, and the relief was absurd.
He hurried over to me, one cheek puffed out with a giant gumball, and he opened his hand to reveal a plastic ball with something blue inside. “I did it, Daddy. I won!”
“I’m very happy for you, sweetheart. Daddy’s going to love it.” I righted his scarf and beanie. It was cold out. “I see you won some more gum too.”
He laughed and parted his lips, flashing a shiny green mega gumball.
Our little clown.
“Adorable.” I dipped down and kissed his cheek. “You know, this would make a great stocking stuffer.”
He shifted the gum to his cheek again. “I can’t wait that long. I want to win one for Ty also.”
Oh dear. “That’s incredibly thoughtful of you, but you could also order one online,” I pointed out patiently. “I bet you can find one shaped like a lizard or a snake for him.”
That worked, thankfully. He’d been undeterred when it came to Colt; he’d wanted to win it. It simply had to be the little baby shark. But this could go on forever.
“Yes, there has to be a lizard.” Kit’s eyes lit up. “Maybe I can give it to him in Florida.”
That would be fun. I was very much looking forward to our vacation right after Christmas.
Ty was a good friend, and I was glad Colt had managed to recruit him to our kink community. The two had once served in the Air Force together, and now they’d started their security firm—with another friend of theirs. Kit was a fan of Ty’s dark sense of humor, not to mention his lizard named Tank. I was extra fond of the fact that Ty had a beach house in South Florida.