Page 92 of Laws of Love
“Come on, Meila,” EJ said, allowing his older sister onto his back.
“Aw, you spoil me,” she joked, hopping on.
“Riquie,” Marreigh said, giving the youngest sibling puppy eyes.
He groaned but turned around. “Fine. Get on.” He then glared at Knox. “This is your fault.”
“Less blaming, more walking,” Marreigh stated. The group continued, and Aiva rested her chin on his shoulder.
They passed several stores before they found one they wanted to stop at. They stepped inside, and the other tourists, already shopping, turned to look at them. Knox didn’t miss the way several took out their phones. He’d been recognized everywhere they went, and while he didn’t mind, it got intrusive at times.
“You can put me down, baby,” Aiva stated.
“What if I don’t want to?” he teased.
She kissed his neck. “I am more than willing to allow you to carry me when we leave.”
He put her down, and she took his hand, pulling him over to a wall that had dolls dressed in cultural attire on them. She looked them over before picking out two—one in a purple dress, the other in a yellow one.
“I think Kaley and Yas will like these,” she stated. “And look, the yellow one has little flowers along the bottom. Her favorite things, on her favorite color.”
It took Knox a minute to realize she was talking about Yas. He was aware of his daughter’s favorite color and her obsession with plants, but he hadn’t realized that his girlfriend knew his daughter was in love with the color. As he tried to recall a previous conversation about it, he realized it was one Aiva and Yas clearly had when the two girls had a sleepover at Aiva’s. Yas had come home with yellow nails and toenails, which Aiva had ensured he was okay with her painting when he dropped her off.
“Kaley’s favorite color is purple?” Knox asked as they went to a different section of the store.
“For now,” Aiva responded. “It was orange a couple of months ago and green a few months before that. I’m surmising I have about another month of her liking it until it changes.”
Knox chuckled as he watched her pick up a decorative sign shaped like a license plate with the city name. She scrutinized it for a moment before giving a brief nod.
“Tara has an entire wall of her room dedicated to these. She likes to get them on vacation and always asks for one when we go somewhere without her.” She paused, looking around. “My little brothers will be harder to find something for. Nothing particularly excites Kendrick, and Braden is one of those kids that will accept anything, even if he doesn’t like it, so as not to hurt someone’s feelings.”
Knox thought for a moment. “Well, Kendrick’s fourteen, and he’s at that weird age boys have where they realize they aren’t quite into what they were before, but they’re not sure how to go about telling a girl they like them.”
“True, but that makes buying him souvenirs almost impossible, since he collects nothing and mainly plays video games and reads a few comics.”
That gave Knox an idea. “Do you know his favorite video game?”
“No, but Riquie probably does.”
“We passed that finger painter earlier. I’m sure we could get him to paint Kendrick’s favorite character or video game logo, and you can take that back for him.
She smiled at him. “That’s a good idea. I might do the same for Braden since I know he likes that blue turtle-looking Pokémon. Aside from that he reads so many comics, I can’t keep up.”
He raised a brow at her. “You might need to know its actual name, baby.”
“I’m sure I can google that and it’ll come up, or ask Riquie or Marreigh.”
They continued shopping. Knox found souvenirs for Yas and his parents, while Aiva found something for her mother. When they left the store, Aiva asked about thePokémon, and both Marreigh and Riquie laughed at her description but told her it was Squirtle. They commissioned the painter, and he told them it would take an hour and a half for the sizes Aiva wanted. So, they found a bar nearby and had drinks as they waited.
Once they picked up the paintings, they headed back to the boat. It was an hour before they would cast off again, and Aiva wanted to nap when they made it to their room. He couldn’t blame her; he’d kept her up into the early morning hours.
Aiva stood and stretched from where she sat on the deck. They were having some drinks while they half paid attention to whatever movie was showing on the screen over the pool. Her boyfriend had been pulled into a conversation with some fans twenty minutes ago near their group. She’d been trying to be patient, but she was ready to go to bed and wanted him to put her to sleep.
She walked over, smiling at the table of men, before she wrapped her arms around Knox’s waist and whispered in his ear. “I’m going to the room. Don’t make me wait too long to feel your dick in my stomach.” She kissed his cheek, waving to the men at the table before walking off. Aiva could feel the heat of Knox’s gaze on her as she retreated.
Once in the room, she removed her sandals, put them in the closet, and removed her jewelry. She’d just put it in her accessory bag when the door to the room opened.
“That was quick,” she stated.
