Page 47 of Fourteen of a Kind

Ella

I was up early the following morning. Grabbing my surfboard, I met my dad, uncles, and cousins down at the beach.

“Morning, sweetheart.”

“Hi, Dad.” I kissed his cheek.

“Excuse me.” My Uncle Conner pointed to his cheek.

“Morning, Uncle Conner.” I kissed his cheek. “Morning, Uncle Christian.” I kissed his cheek. “Where’s Uncle Jackson?”

“Probably still sleeping,” Uncle Conner said. “He got called in last night for an emergency and didn’t get home until four a.m.”

“Here comes Sebastian and Noah,” my dad said.

“Hey, cousin.” Noah and I fist-bumped.

“Morning.” I smiled, putting my board in the water.

“Where’s Nicholas?” Noah asked.

“Dad, where’s Nicholas?”

“Sleeping. He was up all night talking to some girl.” He shook his head.

I laughed as I paddled out. We surfed for about an hour and then took our boards out of the water.

“Time to set up things for the barbecue,” Sam said. “Julia has a list of things for me to do.”

“So does Alex,” Stefan said.

“Come on, son. We need to start prepping the food,” Sebastian said.

After showering and cleaning up, it was twelve-thirty. My phone pinged, and when I looked at it, I saw a text from Graham.

“I’m early. Is it okay to come in?”

“Yes, of course.” I smiled as I replied.

I opened the front door as he stepped onto the porch, holding a bouquet of mixed flowers.

“Hi.” I grinned.

“Hi. These are for you.”

“They’re beautiful, Graham. Thank you. You didn’t have to buy me flowers.”

“There was a flower vendor set up by my apartment building, and when I saw the flowers, they had your name written all over them.” A smile crossed his lips, and my belly wildly fluttered.

I brought the flowers to the kitchen, took out a vase, filled it with water, and arranged them.

“There.” I smiled as I set the vase in the middle of the island.

“They look great there.” Graham smiled.

The sliding door opened, and my brother walked in.

“Hey, Graham. Do you play volleyball?”

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