Kat smiled, running her finger along the scruff on his chin. “Do you know what it would be like living with you for the next week if I beat you? I’m trying to lose. I’m just making your game more challenging.” Crisis laughed while Ream grunted. And Sophia and John looked at one another smiling.
Killian stood with his arms looped around me from behind, while I rested my head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of my head. “You’re up, orchid.”
I still found it difficult to believe he was mine. That after all these years, the sixteen-year-old kid who’d scared me, saved me, and was my first kiss, was now the man who loved me.
I peeled myself from his arms, lined up my mallet and hit the ball. It went straight through one of the hoop things. “Woot,” I said, smiling.
Haven and Mars high-fived me.
I was losing pretty bad, but I was having fun doing it. And so was everyone else. I’d realized that despite the money and fame of the band, they knew where they came from and it never stopped them from doing the simple things like brunch at Mom’s and playing a game of croquet. I’d heard they also spent time at Ream’s cottage where they raced go-carts and played mini-golf.
Family. This was what I’d always dreamed a family was about. The love, the teasing, even the arguing. I loved it all and Killian had given it to me.
He also gave me a dance studio for Christmas. He’d bought another warehouse close to ours and had it renovated. The walls were brick, the ceilings were exposed to the ducts, and he’d had beautiful hardwood floors and huge mirrors along with a music system installed like he’d done at our place.
There was no way I could refuse his outlandish gift and besides, it was the most thoughtful gift he could have given me.
“Melody, don’t play in the dirt, honey,” Haven called. Melody had forgotten about the ball, Tear, and Drum. She was now digging a hole in the garden and piling the dirt in the skirt of her dress.
Crisis glanced over at his little girl and laughed. Then he dropped his mallet and jogged over to her, crouched and ran his hand over her blonde curls. Then he helped her pile more dirt into her dress.
Haven rolled her eyes, but her face shone with love for both of them. “These moments… I swear I couldn’t love that man any more than I already do.”
I peered over at Killian, who lined up for his shot, his expression focused, but his body relaxed. I couldn’t love Killian any more than I do—he fit me.
Drum ran up to him just as he swung to hit the ball and distracted him. He missed.
Crisis, Ream, and Logan laughed their asses off, but unlike his band mates, Killian wasn’t competitive and it didn’t bother him.
He crouched to pat Drum, who panted, tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth because he was missing one fang tooth. We didn’t know his age as Killian had adopted him from a Pomeranian rescue, but they told him he was six or seven years old.
Killian stood and his gaze drifted to Melody, Crisis, and Haven, who sat on the ground with them. We never talked about kids. I knew he didn’t want them and I’d accepted that. I had a family, and Killian and I’d never regret giving up having them.
“Oh, my God, Tear. No,” Emily shouted as her dog took off with her ball and Drum chased him, panting. Everyone laughed.
Except Killian. He was stalking toward me, his expression calm, but serious.
When he reached me, he put his finger under my chin and his thumb grazed my lower lip. “Love you, Savvy.”
I placed my hands on his chest, smiling. “I love you, too.”
He leaned in and kissed me, soft, gentle, and brief. “I’m going to have to fuck you more often.”
I laughed. “Are you not satisfied with our sex life, Killian?”
“Mmm,” he murmured against my mouth as he kissed me again. “I’m more than fuckin’ satisfied, but if I want you carrying our child, I need to fuck you more often.”