Page 76 of Bought and Broken

“Don’t let her go near the water.”

I roll my eyes. “I won’t, Summer. Promise.”

She worries so much, which I try not to take offense to. I’d probably be the same way if I had a kid. No one can watch them as good as you can, right?

I sit in front of Astrid with my legs spread to sort of block her in. She’s sitting, humming to herself as she picks up tiny pieces of strawberries to eat. She offers one to me and I take it, making loud chomping sounds, which makes her giggle. So, she does it again. We do this until there is none left.

“All gone,” I say, holding my hands up. She copies me.

I lean forward, scooping her against my chest.

“You are so stinking cute, Astrid,” I tell her, rocking her from side to side. She giggles more. It’s such a sweet sound.

I loosen up my grip to get a good look at her. She has the chubbiest cheeks, the cutest button nose, and bright green eyes. Her hair is as blonde as Summer’s.

“Your eyes are so pretty.”

“Pwetty,” she repeats, pointing at my eyes.

“Yeah, babe. Mine are pretty too. Wanna know why?” I whisper.

She nods.

“Because they’re green and green eyes are the best,” I say.

“Best!” she shouts. Then points to my eyes again. “Gween.”

“That’s right. Green just like yours.”

“Oh, she ate all her fruit, great,” Summer says when she gets back.

“Uh, yeah. She totally ate all of that. Didn’t feed me any of it.”

Summer laughs, sitting beside us.

Astrid points to my eyes. “Gween.”

Summer gasps. “Yes, that’s right. They are green. Like yours.”

Astrid points to Summer’s eyes and says green again.

“No, honey. Mommy’s eyes are brown. Can you say brown?”

“Bown.”

“Good job!” Summer and I say at the same time.

We do this for a while, picking different things to test Astrid on her colors. She does pretty darn good for a three-year-old. After letting our stomachs settle, we go back into the water for a while, and when we’re tired and sick of the beach, we pack our stuff and head home.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Tatum

“No, I don’t want you to leave.”

I hold Devon tighter, not wanting her to get out of bed. She snuck into my room a little while ago. We fucked, and now have been cuddling for who knows how long. It’s getting late and we can’t risk falling asleep in case someone comes in. Someone like her brother, who comes into my room unannounced all the time. It’s never been an issue before, so I can’t make an issue of it now. He’ll know something is up.

“I don’t want to leave either, but I’m hungry. Come on, let’s go raid the kitchen like we used to do when we were twelve,” Devon says.

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