Grip Trilogy Box Set - Kennedy Ryan Page 0,375

corners of her mouth lifting.

“Have at it, but take your own advice. Rescue ya girl from Ma and get some sun yourself.”

“You worry ‘bout you,” Jade says, her tone already distracted, eyes locked on the soundboard lighting up as she twists knobs and presses buttons. “I got my shit handled.”

I chuckle and cross over to the sliding door, slipping out and not bothering with shoes or anything other than the board shorts I’m already wearing. As soon as the door opens, the breeze licks around my body, simultaneously soothing and stirring all my senses. Bristol has waded out into the azure shallows, laughing as Nina tries to hoist Martin and they both collapse into the water. I stroll toward them, silent until I’m close, and then jog past Bristol, playfully slapping her ass. She squeaks, jumping a little, her face lighting up when she sees me.

“Where’d you come from?” She laughs.

I back my way into the cool waves and blow her a kiss as an answer before turning to scoop up both my kids, one under each arm.

“Daddy!” they squeal in a sweet-voiced duet.

I keep running until the ocean churns around my waist and dunk them both to the neck, making sure to keep their faces out of the water. Their gasps and squeaks and calls for more occupy the next five minutes of what suddenly feels like a perfect day.

“I was wondering when you’d come,” Bristol says from beside me.

I glance over, pausing for a moment as the impact of her silvery eyes hits me again like for the very first time. We’ve only been in Hawaii a couple of days, but the sun has already coaxed a few freckles to the surface, and they adorn her nose like sprinkles of cinnamon.

“Jade confirmed that my song sucks,” I tell her. “And then ordered me out here, which was a smart move, by the way.”

“Of course, it was. Any move that brings you to me is a smart one.”

“You ever get tired of being the center of my world?”

“Sometimes it’s exhausting,” she drawls, rolling her eyes. “But I’ve managed to adjust through the years.”

“Daddy,” Martin interrupts plaintively. “Put me up on your shoulders.”

Bristol takes Nina so I can hoist Martin up. The soft heels of his little feet kick against my chest and he squeezes my neck as we wade deeper into the water until it laps around his legs.

“I can swim, Mom,” Nina says from behind us. “Put me down.”

Nina’s five, and while she still likes for me to toss her around, she doesn’t tolerate it from her smaller-in-stature mother as much. I’m not crazy about it either considering Bristol’s six months into her pregnancy.

“It’s deeper than you think, Neen,” Bristol says. “Be careful.”

My baby girl is a tadpole, though, and sure enough, in seconds she’s zooming past me, her skinny arms and legs slicing through the waves, her hair stretched out behind her in a wake of copper-laced curls.

“Baby, that’s far enough,” I call out. The ocean isn’t turbulent today, but I grew up on the Pacific and have a healthy respect for how capricious it can be. Placid one minute and treacherous the next.

Nina turns, doggy paddling to stay afloat, her face wet and frowning. “But, Daddy—”

“Do I repeat myself, Nina?”

Her frown clears, the gray eyes so like Bristol’s widening. She shakes her head. “No, sir.”

“Then that’s far enough.” I gentle the words with a smile, take the few steps separating us and tap her head with Martin’s foot. She giggles and swims a circle around me, disappearing for a second underwater and then popping back up, hair plastered to her small head.

“I need to learn that trick,” Bristol says wryly. “I tried last week, asked her if I repeat myself and she just looked at me blankly and said, ‘What’d you say, Mommy?’”

I can’t help it, I laugh, and Bristol gives me a mock-withering glare.

“You know she loves pressing your buttons, right? Every time she finds a new one, she just has to push.”

“So much to look forward to in the terrible teens. I just hope she’s not as bad as I was.”

I pull her close, anchoring Martin by one leg and looping an arm around her, cupping her stomach. “She’s gonna be magnificent like her mama.”

Bristol leans her head on my shoulder, covering my hand with hers on her stomach. There’s a subtle movement beneath my fingers, as gentle as the water undulating around our bodies.

“Bris,” I breathe, swallowing my own awe. “Did you feel