Page 46

Finn

Five months later.

The gentle winds roll through the open windows like a lullaby, warm and salt-sweet, rustling the linen curtains as I stretch out across the couch with my legs half in Foxx’s lap and a bowl of mango slices balanced on my stomach.

It’s mid-afternoon, but time doesn’t really feel real out here.

The light lasts longer. The days fold into each other in the best kind of way.

Lazy and golden and not asking much from either of us.

Foxx is sat at the table, scrolling through something on his phone, probably another local bookstore he wants to find, and I’m half-listening to the waves, the occasional buzz of a moped ripping past on the coastal road, and the breeze rustling through the trees.

We’ve been here two weeks already, and it’s been blissful.

I haven’t fully caught a wave yet, but the water’s been kind to me when we paddle out and sit on our boards and that alone is a big deal for me.

We’ve gone night swimming a handful of times, just the two of us, skinny dipping under stars so close it felt like the sky was bending down to meet us.

And I haven’t panicked. Not once. The ocean doesn’t scare me here.

It feels like something quieter. Something closer to home than it has in a long time.

My phone pings next to me, an email notification swiping down the top of the screen with the subject line reading, OCC Class Schedule Confirmation .

I click on it, already knowing most of what I’m going to see. But when I scroll and come across my math class requirements, I don’t see Professor Nicholas Jones, and a little part of me pouts at that.

“Looking for my name?” He appears behind me, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.

“Hoping to screenshot you all proper in your suit and put you as my background,” I say, flicking my eyes up to catch the curl of his smirk.

“Oh yeah?” His arms bracket me from behind, draping over my chest and splaying over my stomach.

“Would’ve made a great conversation starter. ‘Oh him? That’s my math professor turned boyfriend, isn’t he incredibly hot?’”

“Wow, incredibly hot? Don’t oversell me.” He chuckles.

“Have you seen you? This relaxed island version of you is even hotter than the professor version. You swap slacks for linen trousers and, suddenly, I’m feral.”

Eyes widening slightly, he snorts and sits next to me. “Feral?”

I nod, shifting toward him on couch until our knees brush. “Like, fully unhinged. It’s honestly a miracle I haven’t climbed into your lap already.”

“Don’t let me stop you.”

There’s that look in his eyes—the one that undoes me without even trying.

I lift my body up, knees sinking into the pillows on either side of his thighs, hands finding his shoulders as I kiss him.

Slow at first, just enough to savor the closeness.

But then he uses those big hands of his to pull me closer, and I grind against him.

Every tilt of our heads pulls us further into the kiss until we’re only moving on instinct and desire.

Then the iPad rings from the coffee table.

I break the kiss briefly. “Ignore it,” I pant, pressing into him again. Eventually, it stops, and two seconds later, it starts again. “Ughhh,” I growl as Foxx smiles against my lips.

Looking over my shoulder, he says, “It’s Daphne.”

“Of course it is,” I grumble and climb off him. We both have to do some fast rearranging to hide what we don’t want my sister to see. But once we’re good, he sets it down between us, angling it so both of us are in the frame, and taps to answer.

Rosie appears first—blurry and loud and babbling into the camera like she knows exactly how FaceTime works now. She’s got jelly on her face and no pants on, just her cute little diaper butt and a pink shirt. It’s impossible to be mad when she answers the phone.

“Hiiiiii!” she squeals.

Foxx chuckles beside me.

“Hi, hi, hiiiii!” she squeals louder.

“Hi, baby girl,” he coos, his voice going high and warm in a way I only ever hear when he’s talking to her.

He doesn’t even try to hide how much he adores her.

I can tell because his smile is gooier somehow, and then he instinctively moves to adjust the screen so she’s front and center, leaning in like seeing her this way somehow makes the distance feel smaller.

It’s the most adorable pairing. At just over a year old, she’s got him wrapped around her tiny, sticky fingers, ever since that first babysitting gig, and more since then.

He looks at her like she handed him the stars, and it melts me.

Now, every FaceTime call is a personal summons, and he never misses one.

He still keeps a paint-streaked toddler scribble she made taped to the fridge at his place.

Hudson leans into frame with his usual shit-eating grin. “Well, well, if it isn’t the island lovers.”

I flick him off casually. “Aloha to you too.”

Daphne appears behind him, her hair up, cheeks flushed like she’s been chasing Rosie around the apartment all day.

“She’s non-stop now,” she says, bouncing Rosie lightly on her lap.

“Into everything, babbling all day, pulling every single book off the shelf and causing messes everywhere.” She turns to the baby, puckering her cheeks. “Isn’t that right, Ro?”

Rosie giggles and blows raspberries.

Foxx chuckles, brushing his thumb over my knee. “She’s going to run that daycare.”

“Honestly, she kind of already does.” Daphne sighs. “She walked in, plopped herself down on the carpet during story time, and didn’t want to leave when I came back an hour later. Barely noticed me.”

Hudson talks about pre-season training he’s doing with the team.

Since he got drafted to the Oregon Beavers, he’s still able to come home for dinner and be around for his girls.

Daphne is nearly done with her summer term workload, and she’s killing it, just like I knew she would.

Our parents agreed to help out while Foxx and I weren’t around this summer, on the days she doesn’t go to daycare.

“Are you looking forward to coming home? It’s next weekend, right?” Hudson asks.

“Actually…” we both say, glancing at each other.

“We’re staying here for another ten days. The place we’re in is available, and we figured why not?” Foxx says.

“You don’t need to attend registration or anything?” Daphne asks, eyes wide, always the worrier.

I shake my head. “No, Mom . I registered all my classes for first full-time semester online this week. Got my timetable through this morning from OCC.”

Hudson grins as Rosie babbles something. “Yeah, that’s right, Rosie. Uncle Finn is gonna be a full-time student in a few weeks.”

She squeals, clapping her hands and showing us her new teeth. My heartstrings ping while watching her.

“Man, I’m gonna miss not spending my days with her,” I say with a groan, flopping my chin into my palm. “Maybe this was all a bad idea. I can quit and just take care of her for you still?”

“No way,” Daphne says with a shake of her head before I’m even done. “We all want you to do this. Foxx, back me up here.”

Foxx hums before he answers. His fingers find mine between us, and he links them tightly.

“We’re all really proud of you. For how far you’ve come this year, and we want you to chase the things that light you up.

This has become part of that. Rosie will still be here, cheering you on, like the rest of us. ”

Nodding, my eyes flick to the screen, where she’s trying to lick the phone now. “Guess I’ll just have to go see her after classes.”

Hudson snorts. “You’ll be too busy trying to survive those classes.”

“Don’t remind me,” I mumble. “Who knew studying physical therapy meant signing up for every anatomy, kinesiology, and biomechanics class known to man? I’ve got ‘Psychology of Injury and Rehabilitation’ on Tuesdays at eight a.m. Then ‘Cell Biology’ the next day at eight. I’m going to be a textbook zombie.”

“We’re really proud of you, Finn,” my sister says with a watery smile that might trigger my own.

“Thanks, Daph.” I sniff. “All of you, really. I’m one hell of a lucky guy to get all of you as family.”

“Oh, speaking of family. Eugene told us to tell you that the apple cider donuts are being replaced with cherry almond ones this fall,” Hudson says with a smile.

They’ve been semi-checking in on him. He’s mostly self sufficient, but Foxx was worried being away this long, and Eugene hates his cell phone and hardly uses it, so Daphne and Hudson came with us to a farmers’ market to meet him. I guess the rest is history.

“Is he doing okay?” Foxx asks.

“Grumpy as ever,” Hudson says. “Makes the best meatloaf, though.”

“He absolutely does, and he still won’t give me his recipe.” Foxx pouts.

Eventually, Rosie starts blinking a lot slower, yawning and smacking her little lips in that sleepy way babies do.

“Time for a nap,” Daphne says. “Love you both. Keep sleeping. Keep doing nothing. You both look insanely relaxed.”

“We’ll try,” I say, smiling.

Hudson waves. “Don’t forget to bring souvenirs.”

“Rosie wants shells,” Daphne adds as she ends the call.

The screen goes dark. The sound of the ocean floats back into the room.

Foxx leans back, fingers finding mine. “She’s growing so fast.”

I nod. “Yeah. It’s weird. Like every time we see her, she’s a new person.”

“Maybe we can take her on a little road trip somewhere one day, give Hudson and Daphne a little break.” He suggests it so easily, but the fact he’s thinking about my niece as a part of his life too makes everything inside me melt.