Page 48 of Laws of Love
Ezra:What time?
Knox:Let’s say one.
Coen:Sounds good. Might as well make it a picnic.
Ezra:One works for me. Knox, you bring the food. I’ll get the drinks.
Knox rolled his eyes at that text. Of course, they would volunteer him to bring the food, but he didn’t mind. He’d pick up something from a deli.
Wolfe:Let me push back this appointment I have, and I’ll be there.
Knox:If you’re working Wolfe, she’ll understand.
Wolfe:I had a lunch date that I planned on evolving into getting my dick wet. I’ll change it to dinner.
Coen:No one needed to know that.
Wolfe:Shut up, kid.
Knox muted the chat and returned his phone to his pocket before looking up at Yasmine, eagerly awaiting an answer. He wasn’t sure why. It never failed that if his daughter wanted to do something and requested her uncles come, they did. They’d shift things around if they had to. He was the only friend with a child, and he was sure the three liked the idea of being the fun uncle but not having to deal with the things that came with parenthood.
“They’ll be there. Coen suggested we have a picnic.”
“Well, it’s not a good day at the park without one,” Yasmine responded.
She picked up a crayon the waitress brought with the kid’s menu that she could color on and colored in the bird on the sheet. As she did, she asked him when exactly they were going to Disneyland, how long they were staying, and what they would do.
He’d told her he planned on taking her when school was out, but he hadn’t given her an exact date. Knox had decided they would go at the beginning of June, after she’d been out of school for a couple of weeks.
When their food came, Yasmine did a little dance in her seat as it was placed in front of her. She picked up her first fry and dipped it into her milkshake before popping it into her mouth.
Once they finished their food, Knox left money on the bill for their food and a tip for their waitress. They made it home twenty-five minutes later. Once inside the condo, he pulled his phone from his pocket and texted Mia, telling her Yasmine wanted to talk to her.
A couple of minutes later, when Yasmine came bounding down the hall with her shoes off, he video-called Mia and handed the phone to Yasmine as they sat on the couch.
“Hi, Mommy!” Yasmine greeted excitedly when Mia’s face popped up on the screen.
“Hey, Yas. What are you up to?”
Knox picked up the book he’d been reading earlier in the day from the table as the two talked. He wouldn’t put it past Mia to talk down about him to Yasmine if she thought he wasn’t around, so he wasn’t allowing her to speak to her mother outside of his presence for the time being. He assumed she would be happier when she received her settlement when the decree was delivered to them. For now, he would monitor their calls.
Aiva loaded some money on the play pass card before handing it to Kaley. They walked to the central area where most games and fun things were. Kaley decided she wanted to go into the ball pit first, so Aiva pointed out the table she would be at and held on to the card until her baby sister was ready to play some games.
She watched her sister jump into the ball pit as she slid into one side of the booth. She’d picked Kaley up that morning, and they were spending the day together. Her youngest brothers decided not to come because they didn’t want to do what Kaley wanted. Aiva was okay with that and had agreed to take them to the go-kart track and comic book cafe the next weekend.
Aiva pulled out her phone so she would have it on hand to take pictures of Kaley while she played. She liked to scrapbook when she could remember to get the photos she’d taken printed, and she always took some of her siblings when they were together, especially, the younger ones.
She’d been sitting there for ten minutes, watching Kaley play with other kids in the balls.
“Hi, Ms. Aiva.”
She turned her attention to look at the little girl who had just skipped to her table.
“Hey, Yasmine,” she returned with a smile. She was about to ask her who she was there with when Knox approached her table. His eyes roamed over her, and she didn’t miss the way he licked his lower lip.
“Hey,” he greeted.
“Hi.” She got the feeling he wanted to say something else but was holding it back because his daughter was present.
