Flip (Next Level Book 2)

The reception tested my willpower for five solid hours. The amount of times I wanted to sneak off with Erin is a new record. I thought about fucking her behind the shed. Eating her pussy in the laundry room. Take her upstairs and breaking her headboard—all before the cake was cut.

I fingered her under the table twice. Used her panties to wipe my mouth with after taking a sip of my champagne. It drove her wild nearly as much as it made me feral. To have the scent of her cunt so close and not being able to have it?

Torture.

When she danced with Glitch, I played UNO with Beetle and snuck him an extra soda. At one point, he and I snuck off to play catch behind the shed.

The whole night was magical and ended with me going back to my hotel room alone. She didn’t offer for me to stay with her, and I didn’t ask. I get it. She’s guarded for good reason. Erin’s thinking about more than just herself and is being cautious and protective. Beetle’s gone without a father his entire life, and although Glitch is an amazing stand-in, he’s just an uncle.

And I’m just his uncle’s best friend.

Is it wrong that I want to be more for that kid? I mean, I’ve always treated him and Erin like my extended family, but the more I think about it, the more I want to have them both as my immediate family.

Erin might run like the wind away from me if I confess that to her. As far as I know, she’s never even brought a guy home to meet her son before, let alone considered getting married and having a bigger family.

That’s why I said I’d come back to the hotel tonight. I thought it would be good to give her a little space. And I’m sure she’d have suggested it too, if only for Beetle’s sake. I have no clue how to navigate telling him about Erin and I. Ultimately, that’s on her, as his mother, but it takes a lot of control to not make premature promises to a boy I wish was mine.

Tonight is that dinner with just the three of us. But the fun started earlier today because Beetle asked about my hotel room and if the place had a pool. Then he begged his mom to take him swimming and of course I was all for it.

So now, here we are, swimming and playing basketball in the hotel pool.

“Boom!” Beetle shouts. “Two points for me!”

“How is it you get two points for every basket, and we only get one?” Erin splashes him in the face.

“Because you’re bigger than me.” He splashes her back. “You have an advantage.”

I laugh, grabbing Erin and hauling her back. She squeals and kicks as I call out, “Dunk another!”

Beetle slam dunks the mini basketball while I keep Erin locked in my arms.

“Cheater!” Erin laughs. “You can’t sabotage our team to give him the edge!”

We splash and chase each other around while Beetle climbs out of the pool with the ball again. Before I realize what he’s up to, he’s backed way up.

For a running start.

“Watch this!” He books it towards the pool’s edge.

Erin yells, “WALK-WALK-WALK!”

But it’s too late. Beetle shoots off, ignoring his mom’s warning, and beelines towards the pool with enough momentum to blast a rocket into space. He slips.

And catches the concrete with his face.

“Oh shit,” Erin whispers, rushing to the side of the pool to climb out.

Fear grips me. I swim towards him and climb out of the pool right in front of Beetle just as he lifts his head.

Blood. Everywhere.

Erin runs to us. “Oh my god! Brendan!”

“I’m okay,” he says, completely lying.

His front tooth is chipped, his lip is busted all to Hell, and his chin’s got a nasty scrape, plus his nose is bleeding. 

Erin snags a towel and holds it to his mouth. She’s keeping calm better than I am. I want to rip this concrete up and replace it with soft rubber. In fact, I want to wrap this boy in bubble wrap so he can’t get injured ever again.

“Let me see,” she says calmly, wiping the blood off his face.

He’s bright red, tears welling in his eyes. “I’m okay.”

“Let me just make sure you didn’t break your nose or split your chin and need stitches.” Erin tips his head back and I feel dizzy. I don’t want this boy to hurt. Ever. And I’m well aware that kids get busted up all the time. Shit, Beetle’s nothing short of a daredevil, but seeing him hurt makes my stomach plummet.

“It’s not broken. I think you just knocked it pretty good. Most of the blood’s coming from your mouth. Let me wiggle your teeth.”

I hold my breath as she checks to make sure none are loose.

“You’re good.” Erin tucks him into her arms. “I’ll call the dentist and make an appointment to have your tooth fixed.”

“Am I gonna miss camp?”

Seriously? Camp? He’s worried about camp when I’m more concerned he needs stitches and X-rays.

“We’ll see,” is all Erin says before kissing his head.

“Ugh, Mom. Stop with the PDA.”

He says it like he’s embarrassed about his mom smothering him with love, but I can see the way he’s got his head buried against the crook of her arm, face cast to the floor as tears spill, that he’s more affected by the audience watching us.

“Here’s the first aid kit,” someone says behind me.

“Thanks.” I take the box and open it. There’s no lifeguard on duty and I’m not even sure what I need out of this useless container to make my boy feel better. A band aid and ointment won’t cut it.

“I guess we better get going,” Erin sighs.

“I don’t want to leave!” Beetle pulls back. Blood is smeared all over Erin’s bathing suit and shoulder from his face. Poor kid looks like he was just in an MMA fight and lost. “Please, Mom. I’m fine. I want to stay. You said we were going to that new Mexican restaurant! You promised!”

“We can go another time.” She wipes his hair back from his eyes. “I think we should go.”

They stand up and my heart clunks in my chest. For the life of me, I’m not sure what to say or do. Getting busted up is part of being a kid. Getting sick over seeing a child get busted up is part of being a parent.

Erin might be acting cool, calm, and collected, but if she’s anything like my own mother, she’s also mentally calculating the dentist bill, how to coordinate getting an appointment and getting him to camp so he doesn’t miss much and is probably beating herself up for a bunch of other things—none of which are really her fault.

I want to help take some of the pressure off her. “How about we go up to my room and I’ll get an ice pack and medicine from the lobby. We can chill for a while, maybe watch a movie, and see how you’re feeling afterwards.” Beetle beams me a huge, chipped-tooth smile. Holy shit, almost half his front tooth is completely gone. Did he swallow it? “But it’s up to your mom, okay? Whatever she decides, we gotta respect it.”

“Deal.” Beetle looks up at Erin, waiting for her answer. “Mom?”

Exhaling, she cups her boy’s face and inspects it again. “Well…” Erin frowns and tilts Beetle’s head, “I guess since you don’t need stitches, if you really—”

“YES!” He fist bumps the air before she finishes her sentence. “I’ve never been in a hotel room before!”

I watch Erin’s shoulders sag. “Well, here’s your chance, Evil Knievel.” She glances over at me with a tired smile. I know exactly how she feels. All that adrenaline just shot through us and in a matter of minutes we’ve gone from fully loaded to depleted.

Survival mode, am I right?

When Beetle heads over to where we’ve piled our towels and their bag, Erin tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and says softly, “Thanks.”

I don’t know what she’s thanking me for. “I’ve got you.” I want to kiss her. Hold her and let her know that I mean it with every fiber of my being. “I’ve got both of you.”

“Come on, guys!” Beetle loads his arms up with all our stuff.

I can’t believe how fast kids bounce back. The number of times me and my brothers got hurt growing up was insane. It was also no big deal to us. This might be the first time I’m reflecting on how the hell my parents survived raising five boys. “I swear I almost had a heart attack watching him go down.” His damn head bounced when he hit that floor. I can’t stop reliving it in my head.

“Life flashes before my eyes every time he tries a new trick.” Erin chuckles. “You’ll get used to it.”

I don’t think I ever will, but damn if I don’t want a chance to try.