Page 76 of Meant for Stone (Meant For)

“Hurry up and eat,” Gabriella urges. “Just looking at that food makes me want to yack.”

I take a bite of the burger and hand it to her. “You’ll feel better.” She grabs it from me and takes a bite. We pass it back and forth to one another.

“Look at how cute that baby is.” My mother points at one of Gabriella’s aunts holding a baby in her arms. “No pressure, you two, but I’d like one.”

“Well, go get one.” Gabriella points at the kids. “No one will notice one missing.”

I snicker, and my mom looks at me. “I’m not kidding. I would like a grandchild.”

“Congratulations,” I tell her. “I don’t know why you’re looking at me. I literally just got a boyfriend. You should be looking at this one.” I point my thumb to Gabriella. “It’s been a while over there.”

“Well,” Gabriella hedges, and I sit up.

“Oh my God, you are not.”

“Of course I’m not. I was drinking with you last night,” she reminds me. “I also might want one soon.” She looks at me. “Don’t you?”

“I like practicing to make them,” I joke, looking over at Stone and seeing he’s now without a shirt and walking to the water with his cousins. “I mean, look at him. What’s not to like? He’s all that and his package.” I put my fingers to my mouth. “Chef’s kiss.”

“And I’m going to barf,” Gabriella declares. Getting up, she tosses her sarong on the bed. “Now I’m going to go into that crystal blue water.”

“I’m coming. I feel like if I stay here, my mother will want to harvest my eggs.” I look at my mother. “Go hold a baby and get it out of your system.” I toss my own sarong down. “I love you, Mom.” I kiss her cheek. “But not now.”

“Ugh, fine,” she huffs and gets up, walking over to where the baby is.

I spot Stone sitting in a chair with all his cousins around him. “I’m going into the water,” I announce. “Don’t forget to put sunscreen on the tattoo.”

“I did, gorgeous,” he replies. I think he’s going to sit there, but instead, he gets up and comes over to me.

“I can’t believe you put numbers on your body,” Christopher says. “Imagine if you hadn’t gotten back together.” He shakes his head. “How would you explain that? It’s the coordinates for when I fell in love with another woman.”

Stone puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me to him. “Nah, I was always going to end up with her.”

“Yeah. I saw that coming, especially after you waited six months to ask her out,” Christopher jokes with him.

We walk into the warm water, the waves softly hitting our legs as we get waist-deep. He then ducks under and pulls me to him. I wrap my legs around him as he buries his face in my neck. “My mother wants a grandbaby,” I say softly.

“Yeah?” he says as we wade in the water.

“Yeah,” I repeat softly.

“How do you feel about that?” he asks but kisses my lips before I answer.

“I’ve never given it much thought. Have you?”

“Yeah,” he answers without skipping a beat because that’s Stone. Always one step ahead of me.

“How many do you want?” I ask, expecting to feel out of sorts talking about this. I would expect my mouth would be dry. I would expect my heart to race a little. What I don’t expect is not to have any anxiousness about it.

“However many you want to give me,” he answers softly. “It’s all in your court, gorgeous.”

I can’t help but smile. “I’m going to need you not to be so perfect, SR.” I kiss him and then bury my face in his neck as we just float in the water. Neither of us says anything as I put my head on his shoulder, watching the madness on the beach. I spot a couple of the kids running to the water and then running back, and I can see it in my head. Our kids doing this in five years, and I can’t tell you how okay I am with it. “Two, at least,” I say, and he tightens his arms around me, “but I want a girl for sure.”

“Anything you want, gorgeous,” he says, and I slowly unwrap myself from him.

“Just not now. I mean, we can practice,” I say as we walk out of the water, and I see the water glistening on his body. “We can actually go right now and practice if you want.”

He chuckles, and the sound sends shivers down my body. “Did you guys bang in the water?” Christopher comes up to us. “No one wanted to send the kids in.”

I gawk at him and am about to answer when I look around. A couple of the phones start to ring, including Christopher’s in his hand. “Why the fuck is Coach calling me?” I don’t know what’s happening, but I can sense it’s not good from the way Matthew Sr. is coming our way. “Hey, Coach,” he greets with a smile that quickly fades as he listens to the coach. Matthew and Max are fighting to get to Christopher, whose face goes as white as the snow on a winter day. The phone slips out of his hand as he whispers, “Benji’s dead.”

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