Page 61 of On My Side (Quiblings #3)

Audrey

Playlist: Mess Is Mine | Vance Joy

August

Sky’s Sluts

AshBash69: so, should i reach out to Sky to let him know he got me pregnant again?

SkysMainSlut: my therapist would say no, i think. but congrats!

MeetMeInStarsHollow: i’ve been meaning to ask! how’s therapy been?

LadyRebel93: holy shit she LIVES

SkysMainSlut: broooo you disappeared like…a year ago.

MeetMeInStarsHollow: it’s only been a few months!

AshBash69: your last comment was on August 6th of last year.

MeetMeInStarsHollow: wait really??? it does NOT feel like it’s been that long. Maybe because i’ve kinda been kept up to date on stuff.

LadyRebel93: have you been silently lurking?

MeetMeInStarsHollow: well, not exactly. My partner keeps me up to date.

SkysMainSlut: wait wait wait, rewind. PARTNER???

LadyRebel93: ARE YOU GETTING DICK? OR PUSSY? OR BOTH?! NO JUDGMENT.

MeetMeInStarsHollow: …yes. And it’s really. really good.

SkyOn4Play: thank you, sweetheart, but you’re just gonna give me a big head

SkysMainSlut: WHAT THE FUCK

LadyRebel93: NO. WAY.

AshBash69: WAIT ARE YOU BONING SKY???

SkyOn4Play: boning feels a little crass.

MeetMeInStarsHollow: eyeroll emoji oops. Anyway, i promised my partner i’d listen to his new audio before he drops it next week.

SkysMainSlut: sky please don’t tell my therapist but i want to have your babies so bad please respond to this.

AshBash69: … yeah i think they’re both gone for good now.

SkysMainSlut: too much?

LadyRebel93: toooo much

“ Fuck .” I arch my back, gasping as Ren’s teeth scrape against my collarbone. He slowly pulls out and re-enters me before I can catch my breath. Parenthood means setting an alarm so you can get a pre-workday screw in.

“Naughty girl,” Ren teases as he pushes my knees back towards me, opening me more for him. “I told you, you need to be quiet.”

“I’m… trying,” I gasp. I’m not lying, I’m truly trying my hardest to stay quiet, because Piper’s getting ready for the first day of school.

“I can…” I gasp loudly when Ren gently wraps a hand around my neck, squeezing with the perfect amount of pressure.

I fumble with the bullet vibrator I’m holding to my clit, cursing loudly.

“ Quiet , sweetheart,” Ren coos, his other hand dropping my leg.

I wrap my legs around his middle, desperately trying to pull him in closer to me.

He cups my cheek, pressing his thumb against the seam of my mouth.

I open, and suck his thumb into my mouth.

“That’s it. You’re gorgeous with my cock inside you. ”

I run my hand along his back, squeezing his perfect ass before sliding between his ass cheeks and massaging the area behind his balls.

This time, he’s the one having trouble keeping quiet, so I bring my hand to his face, slipping my index finger between his lips.

His eyes are intent on mine as his tongue circles my finger in a way that has me clenching around him.

Moments later, we’re both moaning as I press the same finger into his ass, crooking it to find the spot that makes him lose his mind.

His head falls to the crook of my neck and shoulder, teeth clamping down on my clavicle and it’s a good thing his thumb is in my mouth, because I surprise myself with my yelp at the sting.

My orgasm is instantaneous, and I’m whimpering helplessly around his thumb as my body tightens.

“That’s right,” he praises, breath ragged. “You take your pleasure perfectly, sweetheart.”

His own climax follows moments later, and his body collapses onto mine. “Fuck,” he breathes.

“Fuck,” I agree. “That was…”

“Amazing. You’re the best sex of my life, and that’s not even what I love most about you.”

My hand strays down his back before squeezing an ass cheek. “Personally, this ass is what I love most about you…”

He barks out a laugh before flipping us over so my body drapes over his.

I rest my cheek against his heart, the thing I actually love most about him.

The steady beat is soothing, and I run my thumb over one of the newest tattoos on his right forearm, the first ones he doesn’t try to hide.

Over his pulse point is a little sandpiper he said he got for his “other girl.” Piper rolled her eyes when he showed her, but her trembling lower lip gave away her true feelings.

My fingers drift to my tattoo, marigolds and cosmos for my birth month. He’s made us permanent, keeps us on his body for everyone to see.

“I don’t want to go to school,” Ren groans, fingers tangled in my hair. “I should play hooky.”

“You’re the teacher,” I remind him. “ And it’s the first day. You were excited about it yesterday.” I force myself to sit up, and Ren lets out an appreciative whistle. I blush, still flustered by his appreciation and attraction.

“You make pancakes for the first day of school, right?” he asks offhandedly, like every time he remembers something about the life Piper and I built, it doesn’t make my heart jump with joy.

“Mmhmm,” I confirm. “I have ingredients to make chocolate chip pancakes, banana, blueberry… what’s your favorite?”

Ren sits when I climb out of bed and shrug on my robe. “What’s Pipe’s favorite?”

Pipe Pipe Pipe Pipe . Ren’s been in our lives for a year, and still my heart repeats her nickname with each beat whenever he says it. “Not what I asked, pretty boy,” I tease. “What’s your favorite?”

The poor man’s entire body blushes. He grabs a pillow and holds it to his chest, burying his face in it. “Blueberry,” he answers, voice muffled.

I run my eyes down his body and grin to myself. Yep, pretty boy still gets him. He’s hard again. “Cold shower,” I say with a cheeky wink.

“We’ll revisit this later!” he says as I turn to face the mirror. I silently recite the few affirmations I wrote on post-it notes in therapy and stuck to the mirror. My body image issues aren’t fixed, but every day, I look in the mirror and remind myself that my body is a good body.

When I finish, Ren’s in the bathroom, so I head out to the kitchen.

Piper is assembling ingredients for pancakes next to the stove, her hair perfectly styled and headphones on.

She’s wearing the new white sneakers Ren took her to get last week when I had to stay at the inn late, and the music note necklace he got her for her sixteenth birthday a few months ago.

She looks so grown-up, and I take a moment to take in the fact my life is better than I’d ever let myself hope for.

Piper smirks when she sees me and lowers her headphones. “Someone seems happy. More than happy, actually. Hmmm, I swear someone told you that would happen.” She taps her chin with her index finger, pretending to be deep in thought.

I playfully nudge her with my shoulder. “Good morning, birdie. Go sit down, you don’t have to do this.” I gesture towards the ingredients she’s assembled.

“I know. I wanted to let you guys have more time together. You’ve both been busy lately and I know you’ve missed each other.”

With tourist season in full swing, I spent the majority of my waking time at the inn, and while Ren visited when he could, he’s been busy himself.

Sky is still the most popular 4Play creator, and while he outsources most scriptwriting and editing nowadays—except for the occasional script we work on together—it’s still something that takes up a lot of his time.

He’s also been spending a lot of time helping his family out after his sister gave birth last month.

Piper’s helped too, as did the rest of his family.

It’s been so special to see all of them step up for the new parents, but even more special to see Ren supporting his family, without feeling solely responsible for them.

“I have missed him,” I admit, “But I may or may not have reserved a room for us at the inn next weekend so we can spend time together.” I measure the flour and pour it into the bowl, sighing when I see Piper smirking out of the corner of my eye. “Don’t.”

“You didn’t spend enough time together when you both were soooooo tired last night and went to bed early after casually asking if I was going to have my headphones on?”

“That’s enough from you,” I say, cheeks pink.

She snickers, but blessedly respects my request. “When are you meeting with the architect?” she asks, bending over to scratch Luke, our newest family member, behind her ears.

The kitten Leia found was a girl, but by the time we found out a few days later, Piper had already named her Luke and refused to change it.

“This week,” I say, trying to remember the exact date.

While Ren still technically lives at his apartment, he only is there to use his office to record.

Otherwise, he and Leia are completely moved in.

We had a long talk about our next steps together, and decided to have the cottage renovated, adding a second floor, expanded kitchen, and other features to accommodate our new family, the family we want to grow.

Twenty minutes later, Ren comes out of the bedroom, and kisses my cheek when I hand him his plate of blueberry pancakes.

The three of us eat together, Piper and Ren sharing what they’re looking forward to in the new school year.

Piper is a junior, which I’m pretty sure is actually illegal, and is excited for AP Music Theory.

Ren is excited his least favorite student finally moved up to middle school.

“What about you, Mom?” Piper asks, spearing a piece of pancake and shoving it into her mouth. “What are you most looking forward to this year?”

I think about it for a moment. Where to even begin? “I’m excited about so many things,” I tell her. “Renovating the house, joining the PTA and small business association, starting weekly trivia nights at the inn…”

“Damn,” Piper interrupts. “Adulthood sounds boring.”

I glance at Ren, who’s resting his chin on his hand, eyes shining behind his glasses as he looks at me with pride. “I don’t think so,” he says. “It sounds wonderfully exciting to me.”

“You’re both dorks,” she mutters.

“Okay, time to go.” Ren gets to his feet, and Leia leaps onto the chair, stealing his spot. “You still want a ride to school, Pipe?”

“Yep.” Piper stands. “My hair looks good as hell, and someone makes me wear a ugly as hell helmet when I ride my bike.” She gives me a pointed look.

“That ugly as hell helmet is the reason you didn’t have a brain injury after your accident,” I remind her, rolling my eyes.

“Ugh, whatever,” Piper says, slinging her backpack over one shoulder and walking toward the door. “You don’t have to rub it in!” she calls over her shoulder.

“Wait!” I call out, scrambling to my feet. “I want to get pictures!”

Piper groans. “ Mooom . I’m too old for first day of school pictures. It’s cringe as hell.”

I look to Ren. “It’s Ren’s first day of school, too, and he’s older than you. He doesn’t think they’re cringe as hell.” I look at Ren as he ducks his head. It’s a valiant attempt, but doesn’t hide his grimace. “ Wooooow ,” I draw out the word. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I am!” Ren says quickly. “That doesn’t mean I can’t find this thing in particular cringe as hell.”

I sigh. “Would you two humor me if we included the cats?”

Less than a minute later, Ren and Piper are standing on the front porch steps, a cat nestled in each of their arms.

“Say cheese!” I squint at my screen, shading my eyes so I can see through the glare.

“Cheese!” Ren says, beaming.

“This is cheesy!” Piper says.

I scroll through the pictures I took and sigh with relief. “Okay, we got at least one usable one.”

They put the cats back into the house before heading to the car. Piper climbs into the passenger seat, but Ren hangs back, his hand light on my waist.

“Have a good day,” I tell him as he bends to kiss my cheek. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

“I love you,” he whispers. “Every day is a good one with you. The best one, even.”

“Okay, loverboy,” I tease. “Go to work.”

He smiles bashfully, and in that crooked grin of his, I see our future.

The future looks like our present, but with its own unique challenges and joys.

Challenges and joys we’ll experience together, hand in hand.

I don’t know what exactly the future brings, but for the first time, I don’t mind the uncertainty. In fact, I can’t fucking wait.