Page 84 of She Wolf

“Just so you know, I miss you too. A lot.” Casey stares at him smiling, kind of bewildered.

Jesus, this kid always manages to taser you in the feels before you even see it coming. I vow right here and now to get them back in our two-hundred-meter orbit as fast as possible.

“I love you, Jack. Whether you’re living in your old room or on the other side of the world. I don’t ever want you to forget that.”

“I’m lucky, right?” he says before taking a big dramatic breath and diving to the bottom of the pool to try and perfect his underwater handstand. Casey finds my gaze and shakes his head a little, grappling to catch hold of Jack’s crazy legs.

***

The following day we tick off some of the big sights, hitting the National Mall, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial in one leisurely go. Jack even made Casey and Knox do the Captain America bit where he laps Sam on their morning run.

We made our way to the Smithsonian Castle and into what felt like a secret Garden orgardensreally as it’s split into separate areas that even I’m impressed with.

I captured a stunning portrait of Coralie, the blossom trees providing a beautiful backdrop, and proceeded to make it her new contact pic. It reminds me so much of our first date. I also changed my lock screen to one of the three of us.

By the time we got to Capitol Hill, Jack was starting to drag, so we made our way back to the hotel, happy to return tonight to see it lit up in the dark. I mean, I’m not super bothered but Coralie seems genuinely excited.

Callan, Adam, Knox, Rex, and Chloe continued on for drinks with a promise to meet up later.

“Gunner?” Jack calls my name as he leaves the bathroom wiping his hands on his jean shorts.

“Yeah?” I answer.

“Do you think it would be okay if we didn’t go to Six Flags?” he says flopping on the huge bed Coralie and I are sharing.

Coralie whirls on Jack. “What, why? You’ve talked about it non-stop for weeks.”

“Well, I just really want to save myself for Disneyworld. Do you think Casey will be mad that I changed my mind after he did all that planning?”

“He won’t be mad, but we need to tell him now because we’ll need to rearrange some stuff.” I crouch down so I’m not towering over him. “What’s going on? Do you want to stay in Washington a little while longer?”

“No, I just really want to get to the beach house. It’s different this year,” he grins over at me “And I want to maximize the fun.”

“Maximize the fun, eh?” I raise both my eyebrows at him and smile.

“Uh-huh.”

“Alright little dude, let me go tell him.” As I move out into the living space, I hear Coralie chastise Jack.

“Jack, we planned this whole thing out just for you. What’s going on?”

“Mom, trust me. When weallgo to Disney next year, you’ll thank me. And don’t you want to spend more time with Gunner at the beach house? He’s ours now, it’s going to be so much better!”

And with a full heart and a smile that won’t budge I head to Casey’s suite where he and Anna said they were going to chill out.

“Case, it’s me,” I say after rapping my knuckles on the door a few times.

“Shit! One sec.”A nap my ass.

A few moments later he opens the door a little disheveled, dressed only in a towel, and I can hear Anna’s quiet giggle floating from deep within the generous space.

“So, guess who doesn’t want to go to Six Flags anymore?”

His shoulders relax and he sighs. “Thank fuck, Disney is so much better. But why doesn’t he want to go?”

I can’t help but chuckle. “Like uncle—like nephew. What do you want to do? Extend here or get straight to Wil—”

“Beach house,” he says cutting me off. “Let’s just bump up the schedule.” He reaches for his phone, which obviously isn’t in the towel he threw around himself to answer the door in, making me smile.

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