Page 42 of Please Save Me

Sophia shot me a smile that suggested she knew that fact better than I did, which made sense because she worked from home and actively had a small friendship with my brother while I was out of the house nine to ten hours a day at work and also avoided the shit stain on my genetics. Weirdly enough, she had also known Sebastian longer than I had.

One of her moms, Heather, was Sebastian’s nanny. This started when he was two days old. Seb’s whore of a mother, Sabrina, decided returning to her corporate lawyer duties was more important than raising her son. My sister and I didn’t meet Seb until after our parents’ divorce was finalized, and he was almost a year old.

“Crazy runs in your family,” she teased.

My lips pressed into a thin line as I stared her down. “Leona and I are fine, thank you.”

“Leona’s fine, but you poke holes in–”

I silenced Sophia with a finger to her lips. It didn’t take a genius to know she was going to bring up Ashley and how I’dallegedlypoked a hole in the condom used the night we made the twins. To this day, I denied that claim. But I was genuinely too high to remember what happened that night.

Either way, karma caught up to me when Ashley left me alone with two babies in the NICU.

“The Point is… would you be upset if Seb and I…. you know?” With one hand, Sophia formed a circle by pressing her thumb and pointer finger together. She then used her free hand to slip a finger in and out of the hole.

I probably should have told herfuck no. The only reason Mason got a pass was because she’d been dating Seb first, and Cam got a pass because I knew he wouldn’t take it. But Sophia… she and I had been together for over a decade.

I mulled the idea over in silence as we continued walking. Deep down, I knew Sophia and I were closer to besties with benefits than an actual romanticrelationship. If she and I weren’t polyamorous, our relationship would have crumbled years ago. We just didn’t like each other in that way, which was fine because we didn’t need to.

But… maybe if I let Seb have fun with Sophia, he’d just leave Mason the fuck alone.

I reveled in the fact that I was Dad’s biggest disappointment… Seb still wanted his approval. He’d never get that if Dad found out we were sharing Mason Albright. And if I let Sophia have her fun, she might not be as sad around the holidays. Plus, shemighttake the news that Mason and I were maybesecretlymarried alittlebetter.

“You promise I’ll still come first?” I asked.

She nodded once.

“Then knock yourself out. Hope you have fun with the household virgin.”

That wasn’t entirely true. Seb’s only had sex with Mason. But, while I knew Mason was an absolute freak with kinks better suited to books than real life, she was also a little shy with that stuff. So, while Seb had gotten laid, it probably wasn’t anything crazy.

Before Sophia and I could continue the riveting conversation on why exactly she wanted to rail my brother, Juniper dashed through someone’s lawn before leaping onto my legs. She wrapped her tiny arms around my knees, and my heart swelled.

I reached forward to smooth her pigtails.

“What?” I asked.

Juni leaned back with a crooked smile plastered on her face.

“Daddy, I got your favorite candy,” she teased in a sing-song way.

“Oh yeah?” I challenged. “Prove it.”

Juniper released me from her embrace before digging in the plastic pumpkin she was toting around. After a moment, she pulled out a blue raspberry lollipop, the type with gum in the center.

While it wasn’t exactly my first choice of candy to steal once she went to bed, it was close enough. Plus, it was a fucking honor to have a child who almost remembered something about you.

“Since you have my favorite, does that mean you’re going to share?” I scooped Juniper off the ground.

We’d been walking a while, so her legs were probably starting to get tired.

“Nu-uh. I just wanted to rub it in your face.” She beamed.

Sophia choked on a laugh, and suddenly, I knew the exact piece of candy that I’d claim for my dad-tax later.

“Mommy!” Jasper called, his voice drew nearer with every second. “Mommy! Looky!”

Jasper darted to Sophia just as Juniper had done with me; the only difference was a very flustered-looking Sebastian running close behind.

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