Page 72 of Sin Bin Daddies
His grin sharpens as he scoops me up effortlessly, his strong arms cradling me against his chest. My head lolls against his shoulder, my body still trembling as he carries me toward my bedroom, nudging the door open with his foot.
“We’re not done,” he murmurs, lips brushing my ear. “Not even close.”
He sets me down gently, pulling the blankets over me. Then he leans in, brushing a kiss against my forehead, my temple, my lips.
“Don’t overthink it, Mads.”
I blink up at him, my chest tight, my heart doing something strange.
Then he turns off the light, and I let the darkness swallow me whole.
The sound of my phone vibrating on the nightstand yanks me out of sleep. I groan, burying my face into the pillow before fumbling blindly for it.
My fingers finally close around the device and I crack one eye open, squinting at the screen.
Henry.
I sigh, rolling onto my back before answering. “Hey.”
“Hey, Mads.” My brother’s voice is light, easy. “Just checking in. You good?”
I glance at the clock. It’s not even nine yet. Henry always calls early, a habit from our childhood when he’d wake me up to watch cartoons with him.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I murmur, stretching beneath the sheets. My body is still pleasantly sore in all the right places, a slow warmth spreading through me as memories of last night flood back.
The dunes. The heat of Asher’s hands. The way he?—
Nope. Not thinking about that right now.
Henry makes a noise, like he’s waiting for me to elaborate. “You sure? You sound weird.”
“I literally just woke up.”
He hums. “Alright. Just making sure.” A pause. “Logan says the water bill was sent in. Can you email it to me so I can take care of it?”
“Got it,” I say, already making a mental note. “How’s the trip? You and Logan having fun?”
“Barely,” he mutters. “I’ve been on conference calls almost daily.”
I sit up, propping the phone between my shoulder and ear. “Work? On vacation?”
He groans. “Yeah, the project got bumped up. Dr. Lin wants to present preliminary data to the NOAA panel next week.”
My brows lift. “The coastal resilience study?”
“That’s the one. She’s hoping to impress the advisory board and lock down that three-year grant. We’ve been tracking the reproductive cycle of the coral bloom in the Gulf, and nowthe new samples from Isla Verde are showing some kind of accelerated calcification.”
“Wait, accelerated? That’s huge.”
“Exactly,” Henry says, and I can hear the excitement in his voice now. “If it holds, it might mean a natural resistance to ocean acidification. Lin’s running the genetic sequencing while I handle the modeling. It’s kind of insane.”
I smile. “Sounds like you’re totally not relaxing.”
“Pretty much.” He laughs. “But hey, at least the hotel has good WiFi. And I get to spend time with Logan. He’s thinking of taking a sabbatical too—it’ll help us figure out this back and forth between Boston and Miami.” He pauses again, quieter this time. “You okay staying out there on your own?”
“I’m fine. Seriously. I kind of like it. It’s quiet.”
“Alright,” he says. “Call me if you need anything. Or if you just feel like talking.”
