Page 109 of Almost Always

She laughed softly and they stepped out onto the balcony off their room. “Look at this view.”

“When I retire, we can move out here.”

“You’re already thinking about your retirement?”

He shrugged. “Have to stop firefighting at some point, right?”

“Or you could move up the ranks and become a captain or whatever the titles are.”

“And miss out on all of this? Hell no.”

Daisy smiled and leaned against him as they stared out at the waves crashing on the beach. He hadn’t actually ever thought that far ahead, but now that he’d considered it, the idea of moving to a beach town eventually sounded really fucking good.

By the time Cal dragged himself out of bed, the rest of the house was also waking up. Lachlan and Clementine made a huge brunch spread with the help of Oleander and Frankie while everyone else lounged around. His son was already having the time of his life with Oakley and Jackson who were teaching him silly tricks in the pool.

After brunch, which turned out to be way more delicious than he expected, Rafferty enlisted Gavin to help him clean up. Itonly seemed fair that the chefs take a break while someone else did some of the work.

“I wanted to thank you for inviting us this weekend,” Rafferty said as he rinsed and handed the plates to Gavin.

“No thanks necessary. I’m glad you could make it.”

“Didn’t think I’d have this much fun, if I’m honest.”

Gavin smiled. “We’re a lot, huh?”

“I mean…I didn’t want to say anything, but…” he trailed off and they shared a laugh. “No, but seriously. I appreciate it. This might be Cal’s favorite holiday ever.”

“He’s an amazing kid, man.”

They looked out the large kitchen windows to where his son was now balancing on Milo’s shoulders while wielding the lightsaber against Oleander, who was on Lachlan’s shoulders.

“And technically we’re all still kids in some way or the other.”

Rafferty smiled at that, shaking his head as they finished up. “I mean, compared to me, most of youarekids.”

Gavin laughed and patted him on the back before leaving. He’d never really given his age much thought before, but Jackson, Milo, Gavin and Everleigh were in their late twenties. While they didn’t behave immaturely or make him feel old, it was evident in certain things that they did.

“How long does it take to do the dishes, Daddy?”

Rafferty glanced over his shoulder and found Daisy with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face. She’d changed out of her T-shirt and sweats combo from earlier into a one piece black swimsuit that hugged her curves.

“Jesus, look at you,” he mumbled, wiping his hands as he came around the counter to look her over. Her right shoulder was exposed, while the other was covered in the black stretchy material. At her waist, there were two thick sheer bands that revealed her stomach. Her hip tattoo was on display, as was thefloral sleeve and the combination of all those colors against the black of her suit was incredible.

“You like?” She did a slow spin and he stared at her delectable ass before she was facing him again.

“Can you wear this always and nothing else?”

“I’m sure it’ll be really uncomfortable in the long term.”

He shook his head. “It’s this or nothing, darlin’. Make your choice.”

“Looks like you’re shit out of luck, because I pick a third option.” She patted his chest and smiled. “Now, go change so you can have some fun with your son.”

“Yes ma’am.” He stole a kiss and copped a feel before hurrying upstairs to change into his simple black board shorts.

They spent most of the afternoon in or by the pool, playing games and lounging around. Every now and then, couples would find quiet corners or vanish into the house, but he noticed that everyone spent lots of time together irrespective. Rafferty also noticed how relaxed Daisy was when surrounded by her people, how her shoulders were lowered and her eyes were bright every time she took her sunglasses off. Not to mention how often she and Cal would sit together on the same lounger, both of them drying off after playing in the pool.

As for him? He was bonding with all the men. It felt good to be around people who didn’t know his history or care about it, because all they wanted to know was what he did now and what being a firefighter was like. He was worried that the connection would be surface-level, but they let him in on all the inside jokes and made new ones at his expense. Mostly, they were a goodgroup of people. His contact list had increased by ten and it pleased him.

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