Page 27 of Dominate
“Great.” I move to stand beside her and prop an arm on the railing while placing one hand on the small of her back. “How is Little Minnow?”
“Little Minnow?” she asks, her brows knit together in confusion.
“Sophia,” I correct with a smirk. “There’s a football game we played at camp called Sharks and Minnows. All the other kids were fighting to be sharks, but not Sophia.”
“That doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Sloan laughs, a look of pride washing over her face in response to my anecdote. “And Little Minnow is good. She had just gotten home from school, so she had to tell me about her day.”
“Does she call you every day after school?”
Sloan nods. “Yes. At least, I like her to. It’s nice to know she’s safe since I really have no control over what she does at Callum’s every other week.”
“Control.” I repeat the artfully chosen word with a smirk. “It’s a fleeting thing sometimes, isn’t it?”
“That it is,” she replies, exhaling heavily. “I’ve noticed that the more you try to control something, the more it controls you.”
My brows lift. “Perhaps it’s better to let things go down their own natural path?”
“I suppose we’ll see.” She pulls her lip into her mouth and chews nervously. “So, should I be afraid of this dinner with your family?”
I bark out a laugh. “Yes, Sloan. You should be very, very afraid.”
We make our way down the beach and find Vi’s bungalow nestled amongst an array of papaya and mango trees. It smells of citrus as we walk past a natural pond situated in front of the stonewall cottage. The entire property looks like it was plucked out of an ancient holiday catalogue. That is until we walk into the three-ring circus that is the Harris family all gathered together in one place.
Tanner has Booker in a headlock in the foyer while Camden is full-on making out with his wife, Indie, against a nearby wall. Around the corner, I see Vi in the kitchen, pulling a large roasting pan out of the oven while Hayden dips his finger into something that looks like a chocolate mousse. Through the living area, Booker’s girlfriend, Poppy, is propped on the couch while Tanner’s wife, Belle, holds something up to her protruding belly. It’s a bloody disaster zone.
“Let go of me, Tanner. I’m going to miss it!” Booker cries, his entire body bent in half as Tanner tightens his grip around his neck.
“I’ll let you go as soon as you tell me your boy will be a striker and not a keeper. It’s that simple!” Tanner rolls his eyes like this is the most normal conversation he’s ever had.
“You’re bloody mental!” Booker howls as he tries and fails to slip out of Tanner’s arm.
Tanner’s man bun suddenly pops up as he realises he has an audience. “Oh, hiya, guys. Don’t mind us.”
“No!” Booker squeals, his voice sounding almost girlie as his face turns a deep shade of purple. “Mind us, Gareth! Please, mind us. Belle is about to find my baby’s heart rate with some Doppler thing she brought, and Tanner is being an exceptional brand of arsehole.”
I feel Sloan trembling next to me and look over to see that she’s covering her mouth to hide her laugh. She looks as if she’s staring at a couple of naughty children instead of two full-grown men.
“Don’t encourage them,” I murmur into her ear and slip a hand around her waist to give her a warning squeeze. “Tanner,” I grumble, shaking my head. “Let Booker go. You’re being stupid.”
“No, Gareth! It’s my wife’s machine. I get to call the shots.”
“God, you’re an idiot!” Booker bellows. “That’s not how basic human decency works. Bloody hell! What if I, erm, make you the godfather?”
Tanner’s eyes alight and he instantly releases Booker, who shoots up straight and rubs the angry red skin around his neck. His face is a deep shade of red and the veins in his neck are protruding angrily. “Fucking hell, you prat. We have a match on Saturday. What if you buggered up my neck?”
“Oh, stop crying, you baby,” Tanner muses, stroking his beard like a creep. “This worked out for the best because the first thing I’ll do as your son’s godfather is teach him how to fight like a man.”
“Godfather?” Camden’s voice exclaims now that he’s wrenched himself off of his wife and joined the scene in front of me. He drags poor Indie along behind him, and she adjusts her glasses sheepishly as she spots me and Sloan. “You can’t make him the godfather before the baby is born. Can he?” Camden looks at me like I have the answer to his absurd question.
Indie grabs Cam’s arm and attempts to pull him away. “Don’t throw a fit over this, all right? You’re going to ruin this moment for Booker.”
“Specs,” Camden argues with a wounded expression on his face. “Vi at least had the decency to make us all godfathers. This is total bollocks!”
Booker ignores Camden’s whining and turns to me and Sloan. “It’s nice to see you again, Sloan, but I really need to get over there to Poppy.” Without another word, he turns on his heel and jogs into the living room, leaving me with our idiot twin brothers and Indie.
Indie shakes her head and looks at Sloan. “Who would have thought one little foetal Doppler would create such a fuss? By the way, hi. I’m Indie.”
“I’m Sloan,” Sloan replies with a smile and they shake hands.
