Page 5 of Hat Trick
I want the love.
I want the passion.
Above all, I want a partner with whom I can shareeverything, who my parents love, and who will be accepted into my family without question.
It steals my breath, because I have never wanted any of this. My parents raised me to learn to love myself above all, and I do—wholeheartedly—but my mind floats back to Emerson. I’ve never been more content in my career and my friendships, but I feel like something is missing in me.
And it doesn’t stop at Emerson either; Dom is there, filling the back of my mind as well.
I wish they could both be here, but they still don’t know about one another, and my brother’s wedding sure as shit isn’t the place to hash all of that out.
“When are the rest of the Bakers supposed to get here?” I ask, trying to keep my question sounding casual.
Clay is quick to answer, “They should be here sometime this afternoon. Why? Do you need them to help with something? Jax and Theo are just hanging out by the pool if you need them. He hasn’t done enough, has he? Hold on, I can add you to the group chat!”
“No! No group chat.” The last one he added me to, I had to remove myself because every time I opened my phone over three hundred messages were waiting for me. Pointing my finger at Clay, I narrow my eyes. “You are never allowed to add me to a group chat again.”
“I wish I could get out of the group chat,” Rocky mumbles. Clay’s mouth drops open in shock, and the whole table breaks out in laughter.
1 Like What (Freestyle) - Cardi B
CHAPTER 5
UNDER THE ISLAND SUN
EMERSON
The moment we step off the small plane onto the tarmac, the most perfect tropical breeze sweeps across my face. And as we stand there underneath the hot sun, I can’t even find it in me to care that beads of sweat are already rolling down my back. I’m in fucking Turks and Caicos, baby.
Grunting, Dom picks my parents’ suitcases off the luggage ramp. “Here ya go, Mr. and Mrs. B.”
Mom blushes like she always does when Dominic does anything remotely nice for her, and Dad claps him on the shoulder. “Would you please stop with the ‘Mr. and Mrs.’?Dawson and Catherine, Dom. Please.”
“Sure thing, Mr. and Mrs. B,” he replies with a smile.
“Brown noser,” I mumble under my breath, and he chuckles.
“Somebody is just jealous because they’re not mommy’s favorite when I’m around.”
Dominic continues to laugh as the four of us walk through the small airport and out to the pickup lane. “Keep it up and you’ll get no vacation sex all weekend,” I say, quiet enough for only him to hear. He just keeps laughing. “That’s fine. You just keep laughing. You think she’s obsessed with you, just wait until you see her with?—”
“There she is! The most beautiful woman on the island.”
“Theo,” I finish as I spot him hanging his head out of their rental car. My older brother, Jackson, puts their car in park and the two of them climb out, immediately sweeping my parents up in hugs. As Theo squeezes my mom dramatically, I watch in amusement as the pink on her cheeks deepens. And when I look back at Dom he looks as if someone stole his birthday.
“Well, what the hell?” he whines.
“Yeah. You’ve got nothing on that one.” Now I’m the one chuckling. It is true, though. Ever since my brother Jackson for real married Theo back in March—it’s an incredibly long story—Momma Catherine has been absolutely smitten with the guy. But I suspect it simply has something to do with the fact that she sees how annoyingly happy he makes Jax.
Now that I think of it… is that why she likes Dom so much?
We have never explicitly told my parents about the ins and outs of ourrelationship, but we’ve never really hidden the fact that we’re more than friends either. And my parents aren’t stupid. As a matter of fact… they’re some of the smartest people I know. Regardless, they have never poked or prodded. They simply let me and Dom be, well, me and Dom.
Jax spots Dominic standing slack-jawed next to me and asks me, “What’s his deal?”
“He’s mystified by the fact that someone can flirt with Mom better than he can.”
Jax tips his head back in laughter as he puts his arm around Dom’s sagging shoulders. “Cheer up, buttercup. Wait until you see yours and Emerson’s room.”
