“Yeah…yeah, I want to have a binding commitment. Something that joins the three of us for life. Maybe a ceremony that’s just one-hundred percent Kitsulletti.”
We’re all grinning at the sound of our ship name that Sulli speaks into the air.
Her smile fades at a thought. “But…I don’t want to rush anything just because of the cinna-bun. Your proposals—if you fucking propose—could be years from now. Maybe it should be.”
Akara and I exchange a quick look. We can wait.
He tells her, “You’ll forget about it and be surprised when it does come.”
Sulli is all smiles, and I’d say this is turning out to be one of my favorite trips. Once we’ve drifted long enough, she climbs back on the board. Akara starts teasing her again.
They laugh.
Splash.
He tips her board over.
She crashes into the water. Popping up laughing, and I’m thankfully on my board without flopping over like a dead seal.
Oorah.
I stand up.
Sulli and Akara are done fuckin’ around, back on their boards. Sulli kneels, wringing out her wet hair. Akara sobers for a second. He stands up tensely.
Something’s wrong.
She eyes him with a heavy frown.
“Nine?” I call out. “What’s wrong?”
“Kits?” Sulli stands, oar in her hand as the current keeps drawing us downstream.
Akara paddles, but not hard enough that I can’t keep up. “I probably shouldn’t have done that. Shit.” We’re out of reach to slug him.
Sulli paddles to the other side of Akara, so he’s the middle of the sandwich. “What do you mean?”
His eyes fall to her belly. Even if she wasn’t wearing a life vest, she’s too early along to be showing.
“You didn’t hurt the cinnamon roll,” Sulli tells him. “I’m fucking fine.”
Akara wipes more water off his face.
“She’s fine, Nine,” I reiterate.
“Still,” he breathes. “I can’t be as rough with you. I have to remember that.”
Sulli stares at the water, contemplating. “I guess things will change once I’m further along.”
I’m planning on staying with her in the penthouse during her pregnancy. Even if we don’t ever go out for the next eight months, I’m going to remain by her side. I know Akara will too, though he has other responsibilities with Studio 9 and the security team that will pull him away.
We paddle harder and catch up with her family. Rapids approaching, I concentrate on standing upright and not flipping.
Alright, I’m getting the hang of this.
One rapid through.
A few more are incoming, and I get tossed in the water a couple more times. But so does Ryke.
“That was the last rapid!” Daisy yells back, three meters ahead.
Thank the Lord.
I hoist my ass back on the board, the current floating me along as I kneel. Water drips off my hair and glides down my bare chest.
Sulli and Akara wait a couple meters ahead for me, already finished with the rapids. She’s fully unzipped her life jacket and pulls the thing off, like her sister and mom. Letting the sun soak her skin.
I’m about to stand up on the board again when movement catches my eye on the bank.
A man.
Not an animal.
And he’s pointing a telephoto lens towards us. Towards Sulli.
44
BANKS MORETTI
Fuck.
Fuck.
I grind my teeth, protective of her, and I paddle closer and I keep thinking, here?
In Moab?
I shouldn’t be surprised paparazzi got wind of our location, but I didn’t realize they’d drag their asses all the way to the Colorado River for the Meadows family. I’m not saying they never have, but they’re just more likely to follow Lily and Lo.
The Hales.
Not the Meadows.
Without a radio to call this into Akara, I paddle faster to him.
He must’ve made a joke because Sulli’s laughing so hard she’s snorting. He raises his brows at her before swinging his head to me. “I told her…” His voice fades as he sees the look on my face. “Banks?”
“Six o’clock.”
He looks over my shoulder, and his lips form a line. Nose flared.
Sulli frowns. “What is it?”
“Paparazzi,” I tell her.
She gapes. “What the fuck? They came all the way out here?” She tries to spot them. “Moffy isn’t even here…” She explains to me, “They like money-shots of Moffy when he’s around my dad to perpetuate the whole paternity rumors.”
I nod, knowing that “fun fact” already.
We float further away from the camera. Quiet. Akara and I keep an eye on the man, until he’s out of sight. Desert bushes hide the road beside the river. But I’m guessing he’s in a car now.
Sulli is deep in thought until she says, “We’re always going to be as famous as my Aunt Lily and Uncle Lo.” It’s a tender realization.
Something that had weight months ago, but the knowledge floats on the river with us. All we can do is ride the rough currents. We knew from the beginning we couldn’t fight it.
“Yeah,” Akara breathes into a whisper, wind stirring around us. “This is how it’s going to be.”
I nod a few times. “We’ll protect you,” I tell our girlfriend. “And we’re gonna protect our cinnamon roll.”
She tries to smile hearing me say the code name. “Yeah…I know.”
We share each other’s company. Paddling in silence. The air is still light. Even if my head is on a swivel now. The water seems to go on and on forever, but we choose a spot to hop off.
Headed to the bank, I’m in shallow water and pull the board further up the dirt. Ryke, Daisy, Sulli, and Winona are way ahead of me, unclipping their dry bags and taking big gulps from canteens.
Akara sips from his own and then his attention swings to the Triple Shield boss. “Hey, Price,” Akara calls out. “We have some intel.”
Price lets out a heavy sigh as he drags his kayak up the bank. “If this is about the paparazzi, I already have Greer and Wylie on it.” His eyes ping from Akara to me. “You two are here as boyfriends, right?”
I grind my teeth. Don’t interject. Keep your mouth shut, Banks.
Akara caps his canteen, seriousness drawing his brows together. “If I see a threat, I’m still going to report it. No matter if I left my radio in the van or not.”
Price has stricter features. “It’s hard to tell what you are, Kitsuwon. The lines have blurred considerably.”
Alright, fuck him for talking to Nine like that.
“Respectfully—” I start.
A hand clamps on my shoulder. I barely glance back to see it’s Ryke. Fuck, I did not expect her dad to jump into security shit.
I shut up again.
His eyes aren’t on me though. He’s staring hard at Price. I suddenly realize our conversation was loud enough for Ryke, Daisy, Sulli, and Winona to hear.
“Price,” Ryke breathes. “We’ve been through a lot together over the years.”
Price nods. “Yeah, we have.” Something passes between them. Decades. I don’t know what it’s like to be a bodyguard that long, but it must forge something unbreakable between them.