Fortuity (Transcend 3)

I’m kind of awesome at setting up treasure hunts for her. “Not tonight.”

“Then what?”

“Then patience.”

She leans her head on my arm. Ten minutes later, just as she starts to nod off, I nudge her. “Who’s that? They look familiar.”

Sitting up and yawning, she rubs her eyes. “Who?”

I point.

“Oh my god …” she whispers.

I try to remain calm, but it’s been eight years since I’ve seen my parents in person.

“That’s … that’s my grandma and grandpa.”

Mom cries as soon as she spies us on the bench. I swear my dad has tears in his eyes too. Me? Yeah, I’m fighting it too.

“My babies …” Mom drops the handle to her suitcase and holds out her arms.

“Grandma!” Morgan runs to her.

I follow, quickly finding my dad’s embrace. We’ve talked and video chatted. It’s not the same.

“Grandpa!” Morgan pulls away from my mom and we swap.

“My boy,” she whispers past the emotion in her throat.

“Missed you guys.” I let her hug me a little longer before pulling back. “I’m so glad you agreed to come.”

“I can’t believe you did this!” Morgan is fully awake now.

I’m not sure we’ll get her settled down to sleep for days.

“You guys are better than ice cream.” She presses her hands to her face like she still can’t believe it.

They laugh as I grab mom’s suitcase and lead everyone to the exit.

“I can’t wait to show you our house. And you’re going to love Gabe. He’s the neighbor I told you about. And Mr. Hans is our landlord. He took me to Disneyland, which is the happiest place on Earth. And …” She doesn’t stop talking until we make it home. Even then, she takes a breath and keeps going.

Eventually, I get her to bed and my parents settled into a guest room. They’re on a different time zone, so I don’t keep them up any later talking.

The next morning, I get up early for my jog. When I return, everyone is up and gathered in my kitchen. Everyone.

“Morning. Morgan invited us all for breakfast. Hope that’s okay?” Mr. Hans gives me a wink from the kitchen table where he’s drinking coffee with my dad and Gracelyn’s dad. My mom, Gracelyn, and her mom are making eggs, sausages, and pancakes. The culprit and her sidekick are in the living room watching television.

“Wow … so … everyone’s met, I assume.”

Gracelyn glances over her shoulder after flipping a few pancakes on a griddle I didn’t know we had and smirks. “It’s all your daughter. She said something about a village, but I didn’t catch all of it.”

Feeling too sweaty and probably too smelly to join the fun, I jab my thumb toward the stairs. “Well, I’m going to grab a quick shower.”

I don’t linger in the shower with a house full of guests downstairs. When I get out, I tie the towel around my waist, brush my teeth, and roll on some deodorant.

“I’m going to miss that body.”

I glance up, a little startled by the voice and smirk from my favorite neighbor sitting on my bed, looking pretty fucking spectacular in her yellow sundress, glossed lips, and bare feet dangling off the side.

“This body is going to miss you looking at it.”

“Just came up here to let you know breakfast is done, and if you don’t hurry up, Gabe will eat all the pancakes.”

“Then I’d better hurry up.”

Her gaze makes a slow trip up my chest, her tongue wetting her lips as she nods. “Yeah … better.”

I chuckle. “You leaving, or are you staying to watch me get dressed?”

When her eyes meet mine, she grins. “I might stay.” She shrugs. “After all, you watch me strip all the time.”

“Sometimes.” I correct her, retrieving briefs and shorts from my dresser. When I drop my towel, her eyes bulge into saucers.

Yes. I have an erection.

“Whoa …” she says slowly.

I smirk, stepping into my briefs. “What can I say? I really like your dress.”

She coughs a laugh as her smile grows. “Yeah you do.”

After buttoning and zipping my shorts, I snag a tee from the closet and slip it on. “Did you enjoy the show?” I hold out my hand to her to pull her off the bed.

She places her hand in mine. “More than you can imagine.”

I pull her toward the stairs. “Does your mom know you like to stare at naked men after they shower?”

She snorts a laugh. “No. She raised me better than that.”

I turn toward her after taking one step down. “What happened?”

She presses her hands to my cheeks. “Professor Nathaniel Hunt, American Jamie, hockey showoff, endearing single dad …” Her thumb brushes along my bottom lip. She does it a lot.

I like it … a lot.

“He said he wanted to kiss me.” She shrugs, trapping her lower lip between her teeth, giving me that sexy smile. “And it shook me like a snow globe or maybe more like a martini because after he said it to me, I felt drunk …” Her voice lowers to barely even a whisper. “You’re so…” she shakes her head slightly, like she’s trying to figure it out as she goes “…intoxicating.”