Page 34 of Afterglow (Ottawa Regents #3)

“No need to lie for my sake,” he interrupts himself to cough a few times into his elbow. “I was barely around. Your mom,” he coughs once more, “She did the heavy lifting with you kids. Piper and Park, too.”

“It was enough.”

“At the time,” he sighs, “it felt like it was, but looking back…” Dad frowns, shaking his head in disagreement. His gaze drags to Bea at a snail’s pace. “Is there someone with you, or am I seeing things?”

I push out a short laugh and look to her, who half-smiles at the floor. “Yeah, there is.”

“Hiya.” He waves a flaccid hand over his torso. “Sorry about meeting you in this state.”

“Hi,” she replies. “It’s a pleasure.”

“Fletch?” He beckons me closer with his hand. “You gonna tell me your girlfriend’s name, or what?”

“Oh.” I cringe at myself. “It’s Behraz.”

“Behraz? Pretty name.”

“Thank you.” Bea accepts the compliment, the apples of her cheeks turning pink.

“Come home more often, Fletcher.” Dad turns his hand underneath mine, leaving it with a tight squeeze. “I’ll be here all the time now.”

“I will.” It’s a promise I don’t know I can keep, but it’s worth making to see his face brighten for a moment. Sudden clamor from downstairs has my father rubbing his temples with one hand. “Take it easy. We’ll come check on you in a bit.”

He nods and covers his eyes with the same hand. We tiptoe out, closing the door as quietly as possible.

Bea huffs air out through puffed cheeks, then curls an arm around my waist. “You okay, Fletcher?”

My arm wraps around her, too, needing her close. “I’m always okay when you’re around. You make everything better.”

That sweet beauty spot on her cheek dances when she smiles, and I peck her forehead.

She tips her head back to look at me, tempting me into another kiss. I give it to her, relishing the privacy, the warmth of her chest pressed into mine, our joined lips.

“ Ewwww , Uncle Fletcher!”

I pull my lips into my mouth, face heating up with embarrassment. The oldest of my nephews stands akimbo on the top stair, sticking his tongue out. Typical eight-year-old shit. “Hey, Charlie.”

“Not you, too! Mom and Dad are gross enough.”

Bea hides her face in my chest. My heart skips, excited by her proximity. I’m tempted to tell him we’re grown-ups and she’s my girlfriend, so we’ll do whatever the hell we want, but I decide to be the adult. “Is there something you need, bud?”

“Aunt Millie said not to bother you.” He looks between us, ears reddening. “Said you had a special guest, but…”

“That’s okay. What’s going on?”

“ Um .” He nervously plays with the hem of his shirt. “Will you be ‘it’? None of the other adults want to.”

“ Hmm .” I tap a finger against my lips, faking disinterest. “Should I?”

Usually, I would have said yes right away, but I don’t want to leave Bea alone with the rest of the family. Before I can agree, my girlfriend’s head pops up. “If you don’t want to, I will!”

“You will?” Charlie and I say together. His eyes go round.

Bea mirrors his wide smile and glimmers with excitement. “Sure! I haven’t played tag in forever. Sounds like fun.”

“Okay, c’mon then!” He trots down the steps, beckoning us with quick swoops of his arm. She escapes from me, squealing, and follows him with a gallop. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Bea.”

Her voice sounds distant already, and I clamber down the staircase after them, grabbing my sneakers from the front before going to the backyard.

The whole gang’s here: Charlie’s sisters, Greer’s two boys, even Miller’s toddler stepdaughter, Raven.

My vision goes dark with the tied cloth, but the kids give themselves away. I capture two of them mercilessly, scooping each up in an arm. I let one down, then lift the blindfold, realizing I caught Charlie and Greer’s youngest, Logan. Complaining groans reply.

“ No fair! ”

“ You cheated! ”

“Yeah, you’re way bigger!” Logan protests, squirming from my hold.

“That’s not what ‘cheating’ means.”

“It’s definitely not a fair match-up,” Bea says, taking off her socks before walking onto the grass. She cracks her knuckles with a look of mischief, poking her tongue from the corner of her smiling mouth. “Is it my turn yet?”

Before I can warn them to take it easy, they’ve already blindfolded her with a rolled-up bandana. They all shriek and scatter as she spins, arms outstretched, staggering barefoot across the lawn. She almost trips over her feet a couple of times but manages to maintain balance.

“If you get tagged, you get tickled.” She wiggles her fingers in the air, bellowing out a villainous laugh. My nieces and nephews giggle and scream, zigzagging around each other as Bea chases them like a short, busty Frankenstein.

What a goof.

God, I’m so fucking in love with her.

My sisters are in tears. Dylan and Lucas snort up their beers and use napkins to wipe away the dripping liquid from their faces.

I think I see Parker let out a half-smile, but it disappears soon after.

Mom covers her mouth to hide a laugh, but elbows me in the side as I approach.

“She’s wonderful, Fletch. Where the hell’d you find her? ”

More like she found me.

“And she’s stunning.”

“Isn’t she?” Pride bursts in my chest.

And she’s mine.

“I’ve never seen you in love before,” she says. “Except maybe that time you saw that blonde girl— what’s her name?— in The Mask .”

My eyes fall shut, a blush creeping up my neck.

“Oh, my God, you’re so right, Mom!” Greer interrupts, slapping a hand to my shoulder. “You totally had a baby boner for Cameron Diaz!”

“Shut up.”

“Hey, Pipe!” she calls. “Remember when Fletch wanted to watch The Mask , like, five times on Boxing Day?”

“Please, shut up.”

“Watch?” Piper rolls her eyes and jerks her fist in the air. “I think we all know what he was doing.”

Mom grumbles. “Piper, cut it out. That’s disgusting.”

“What he was doing was definitely disgusting.”

I try to ignore the teasing and refocus on the game of tag. Behraz faces the back wall of the fence, hands moving over the painted wood, clearly lost. “ Ohhh , I’ve caught someone,” she sings.

Raven wraps around her leg and pulls. “That is not a real people! That a fence!”

Miller facepalms.

“Aha!” Bea tags the three-year-old’s arm lightly. “Gotcha!” She slides the bandana from her eyes. Raven beams back, still latched on. “Did you want to get caught?”

My little niece replies with a series of nods.

“How sneaky .”

“That’s not how it works!” Piper’s eldest, Lila, puts her hands on her hips and rolls her eyes. “Babies, man.”

Piper hooks an arm around her daughter’s neck. “Alright, kiddo, you can discuss the injustice of it all after getting washed up. Dinner’s not gonna eat itself.”

The evening air chills with the setting sun, a pink afterglow brightening the sky. Bea twirls the looped bandana around a finger. “Should I save this for later?”

“ Shhh ,” I say through a laugh, leading her inside. “I’ve gotten enough shit from my sisters already. They don’t need any more ammunition.”

We settle around the table and get slices of turkey handed to us, passing the other parts of the meal back and forth: a salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, candied yams. I serve myself some cranberry sauce.

“It’s the only thing I made at home.” Mom points to the bowl with a fork.

She’s not a great cook as is, and there are too many people who don’t want to cook instead, so for the past few years, we all chip in and get Thanksgiving dinner catered.

“Your friend sent the cranberries in there from his family’s farm. What’s his name, again?”

“Oh, Landon?” Bea answers.

“Yep, that’s the one.”

Behraz nods. “The farm is out in the middle of nowhere Ontario, but it’s gorgeous.”

“You’ve been there?” Mom adds some more salad to Dad’s plate, much to his chagrin.

“Oh, yeah. They invited me out there for the holidays when I couldn’t visit my folks. Landon’s married to Indi, my ex-boss who’s now my best friend.” She chews on a bite of salad. “We worked at the same law firm in Ottawa.”

“ Ahh, so you’re a lawyer?” Greer pries. “We’ve all been wondering?—”

“Yeah.” A proud smile appears on her face. “I’m a lawyer.”

My nephews and nieces get louder and louder. Miller hushes them from the kids’ table and throws her voice. “What kind of lawyer are you, Behraz?”

“The firm specializes in libel and slander cases for high-profile clients,” she explains, “but it’s not what I’m interested in or articled for. And you can call me Bea.” A silent swallow of wine splits the statement. “Everyone does.”

“She’s being humble.” My hand slides to hers under the table, grasping and lacing our fingers together. “Bea has an apprenticeship starting in January with a prestigious firm in London.”

Piper gasps while taking a sip from her glass, and I can’t tell whether she’s being facetious or sincere. “Fancy! What would you do there?”

“Mostly learning more about international law, reviewing past rulings, collecting evidence, observing court, stuff like that.”

“ Ooh , would you be working with war criminals like Amal Clooney?” Greer asks. The uneasy pit in my stomach isn’t budging. I don’t know if they’re actually interested or if they’re gonna somehow tear her apart like a bunch of vultures.

“Maybe! If anything, I’d be aiding in prosecuting them. Hopefully, we can take down a corrupt government official or two.”

Dad complains of a stomachache, and my parents excuse themselves from the table, slowly scuffling toward the stairwell.

“Let me get this straight,” Lucas adds through a chew. “You’re friends with Radek’s wife?—”

“Yep. Gabe Finch, too.”

The men at the table choke and sputter, cursing out their surprise. “The one on CSN?”

“Yeah.” Bea shrugs. “She and Indi were roommates at uni.”

“Damn.”

“Holy shit.”

Cameron pipes up. “She and Fletch’s goalie recently got married, right? I think I saw the announcement on CSN.”

Bea hums in confirmation. “They did, yeah.”

“ Got it . That must be how you met.” Greer nods in understanding. “Through the WAGs of the Regents.”