He nodded. “I’m going to figure out a way to help her.”
“Bas…” I grabbed his hand to stop him from walking and made him face me. “Don’t make promises you won’t be able to keep.” When he opened his mouth to argue, I put my hand over it to stop him. “I appreciate it, and it would be amazing if you figured somethin’ out, but you have to realize that I’ve been trying for eight years, and so far, nothin’ has worked. Don’t get your hopes up, but please… please don’t get Rasha’s up.” Quieter, I added, “Please don’t get mine up, either.”
I removed my hand, and he caught it to press a kiss to my palm, then said, “I won’t, dimples, and I wasn’t going to say anything to Rasha, I swear.”
I nodded. “Good. Thanks.”
“Come on, we’re almost there.” He tugged on my arm to get me moving again.
When we came to a clearing that opened up to an absolutely huge lake, my eyes widened. Holy shit. It was beautiful. The water was bright and sparkling, and the trees surrounding it were the biggest I’d ever seen. They were taller than I thought trees could grow around here, and there was even a big overlook that some of the trees were taller than. At first, I didn’t see the houses because they blended so well with the forest, but then I noticed three homes that were most likely only one or two bedrooms each, and they were miniature versions of the big house we’d just come from. Clearly, the whole askin’ trees to form into a home thing really was how they built buildings on the Ellwood property.
“Which one is yours?” Rasha asked Basil, smiling up at him. She’d really been coming out of her shell with him.
Basil pointed. “The one on the far end.”
Niya took off at a run, but when Rasha didn’t follow—to my surprise, but also my relief—Niya turned right back around and ran to my daughter again with a sheepish smile, saying, “Sorry, I forgot.”
I cringed, worried that would hurt Rasha’s feelings, but she smiled back. “It’s okay.”
Niya grinned and bounced on her toes a few times before she and Rasha began whispering again.
“Your sister is really sweet.”
Basil shrugged. “She has her moments. Sometimes she’s a little shit, but she likes Rasha, so that’s good.”
A half-smile tugged at my lips.
The girls headed inside, so Basil and I went in after them. They were already heading up the stairs, and Bas led me to his couch. “Have a seat. I’ll take the girls their stuff, then I’ll get you some water.”
After my nod, he rushed upstairs with his magical balloon thing following him. It was only a few minutes before Bas came back into the living room, carrying two glasses of water. He set them down on the coffee table, then sat beside me on the couch and found the remote for the TV.
He stretched out to put his feet up on the coffee table, so I lay out on the couch and instead of using the table, I put my feet on Basil’s lap.
He froze, glanced down at my booted feet, then over at me with a raised eyebrow. “I’m trying really hard not to be disgusted right now.”
A bark of laughter came out of me. “Disgusted?”
He pushed my feet off his lap. “I’m not a footrest, and I hate feet.”
I pushed one foot back onto his lap. “Too bad.”
He pushed it off again. “Seriously, Hiro, I don’t want your stinky feet on me.”
“I have boots on.” I pushed my foot back up onto his legs.
“That’s even worse. Your boots are covered in grime. Get them off my couch!” He tried to push, but I held my foot still with a laugh.
“Nah, I think I like it right there.”
“I’m going to kill you if you don’t get your foot off me.”
I chuckled. “I was wonderin’ how long it’d take before the death threats started. Looks like we weren’t even in your house for ten minutes.”
“You asshole, get off.” He pushed my foot hard enough to knock it to the floor.
When I went to put my foot back again, I hit an invisible force, and I couldn’t stop my laughter. “You did not just shield your lap!”
“I did what I had to!” He looked so put-out that I laughed harder.
“I finally found your weakness. If only I’d known about your hatred of feet sooner.” I wiped tears from my eyes.
He flipped me off, and I laughed more. He ignored me on purpose, focusing on the show he turned on.
I pretended to watch as well, and about five minutes later, I tried to put my foot on his lap, then started cracking up when I hit his shield again. He still hadn’t dropped the shield. Fuckin’ hilarious.
“I knew you were going to try again because you’re a dick,” he muttered.
I chuckled. “Poor baby. Such a mean partner, you have.”
He shot me a look and shook his head, but I saw a tiny smile even though he tried to hide it. “Total. Dick.”
“Eh, pretty sure you knew that goin’ in.”
He sighed. “Pretty sure I didn’t get a choice in the matter.”
I snorted. “Harsh.”
He shrugged, still trying to hide his smile.
I grinned. “It’s so easy to push your buttons.”
He flipped me off again.
With a smile, I said, “You have so many, and I have a feelin’ I’ve only grazed the surface.”
“You’re going to make it your life’s mission to discover them all, aren’t you?”
“Obviously.”
He shook his head. “This must be my punishment for always being a pain in the ass to Ailin growing up.”
I snorted. “Nah, it’s your reward for being stuck with me.”
“Lucky me.”
“You’re cute when you’re pretendin’ to be pissy.”
“Who says I’m pretending?”
A smile tugged at my lips. “The way your lips keep curving up is a good indication.”
“They are not.”
“Talking to you is like arguing with Rasha… when she was three.”
He turned to me with wide eyes. “Wow. Did you decide it’s Pick-On-Bas-Day or something?”
I lifted a shoulder. “It’s what I do best.”
He snorted. “Let’s hope you have some other talents in that sexy body of yours.” His eyes traveled down the length of me.
I smirked. “I’d be happy to show you some of ‘em.”
He opened his mouth, but Niya’s voice yelled down the steps, “Bas, we’re hungry!”
Basil’s eyes widened as he yelled back, “We just finished eating breakfast like thirty minutes ago!”
“We’re hungry!” his sister shouted.
Basil sighed, shook his head, and climbed off the couch. “That kid is ridiculous.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to my forehead, whispering, “I’ll be right back. Maybe after they go to bed tonight you can show me some of these other talents. I’ll be the judge on how good they are.” He stood and moved away before I could respond, but I stared at his ass with wide eyes as he walked away. His gorgeous, perfect little ass that I really wanted to bite.