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"That's all I mean. Sometimes you know what you want and you still need someone to give you a tiny push. Max already told me where I'm allowed to push. I'm not going outside that."

Sawyer's eyebrows were still drawn together, but this time it seemed more like he was thinking than disapproving.

"If that's exactly what he consented to, I can help," he said. "But you don't improvise. If Max changes his mind, you stop. And Gustav asks Dominic himself."

"Obviously."

Sawyer stared at me.

"JJ."

"Yes, okay. I promise."

Mikey nodded too.

"I'll help if Max really wants it."

I brightened.

"Awesome! I'll text Gustav and ask him what the Halloween sign-up is going to look like, and we'll figure it out from there," I said happily, and went back to playing with the car wash track.

Daddy came by about thirty minutes later and opened the door slowly. We were still playing — even Sawyer had his back against the foot of the bed, phone nowhere in sight, just talking with us.

"Pistachio popsicles are the best. Yes!" I was arguing.

"You have terrible taste, JJ," Sawyer said.

"It's my favorite," I said, but I wasn't really paying attention to him. I was busy soaping up my Hot Wheels car in the car wash.

"Are you all playing nicely together?" Daddy asked, and he looked like he was witnessing a small miracle.

We all looked up at him and nodded.

"I'll have to give you all a reward, then," he said.

Chapter 21. JJ

Daddy didn't just decide what the reward was without asking us. First he made all three of us wash up and use the bathroom, then called us into his bedroom and asked if we wanted some time together. All three of us said yes immediately. Mikey had changed out of his diaper into white briefs and one of Daddy's soft T-shirts, his cage still underneath. Sawyer had put on sweatpants, and I was still in my pajama shorts and T-shirt until Daddy told me to take the shirt off.

The reward turned into this: the four of us on Daddy's bed, the lamplight turned low, the room warm. I'd ended up tucked against Sawyer's side, my hand flat on his chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart under my palm. Mikey was curled on Daddy's other side, chin propped on his hand, his green eyes sparkling.

And Daddy — Daddy had his hand wrapped around Sawyer's cock like it was something he'd been planning to do all afternoon, which he probably had.

Sawyer's broad shoulders pressed back into the mattress. His jaw was tight, the muscle in his cheek working, and he made this low sound — one he'd clearly tried to swallow back, the kind that came from somewhere deep in his chest and got halfway out before he caught it. I felt it vibrate through my hand.

"Oh my God," I whispered, my voice already running ahead of my brain. "He's trying so hard not to make noise. Look at him, Daddy. He's so cute."

Sawyer cut me a look. The look would have been threatening if his breath hadn't already been uneven, if his chest hadn't been rising and falling a little too fast under my palm. As it was, the look landed about as hard as a marshmallow.

"JJ," he said, his voice trying to sound stern and absolutely failing. "Shut. Up."

"I'm just observing," I said, and I wasn't even trying to sound innocent, because I wasn't. I was thrilled. Watching my brothers come undone was one of my favorite things in the whole world.

Daddy didn't rush. That was the thing about Daddy — he never rushed anything. His hand moved on Sawyer with an unhurried rhythm, his grip firm and steady. He was reading every reaction: the tightness in Sawyer's jaw, the way his breath caught on the inhale, the small twitch of his hips. Every time Sawyer's breathing hitched, Daddy adjusted slightly, giving him exactly enough and never losing track of him.

It was beautiful. I said that out loud too.

"God, that's so beautiful," I whispered, and Sawyer made a noise that was half groan, half exasperation.