Until You (The Redemption, #1)(24)

My push of the doorbell rings hollow even though Crew’s truck is sitting in the driveway. Déjà vu hits me of the last time I knocked without an answer. A shirtless Crew. Not saying I’d mind that visual again, but at the same time, it’s a bit different if I poke around now versus when I did before.

I ring the bell again, uncertain what to do with two massive balloon bouquets bumping around from the slight but welcome breeze.

“Tenny?” Crew’s voice crackles through the camera I didn’t notice mounted in the top corner of the porch.

Oh shit. Has that always been there?

“Crew?” I ask hesitantly, looking up to the camera.

“We’re in the pool. Come around to the back.”

“No. It’s okay. I don’t want to disturb you. I’ll just—”

“Now it’s me who’s going to get my feelings hurt,” he teases. “Come around.”

The hum of the connection clicks off, leaving me no other choice but to follow my footsteps around to the backside of the house like I did the first time I came up here.

Laughter rings out, followed by the unmistakable sound of splashing. The sounds of summer.

The irony is that when I clear the corner of the house, I’m met with a similar sight as I was that first time. But this time, Crew isn’t only just shirtless, he’s also wearing shorts that cling to every inch of him, and he’s dripping wet as he climbs out of the pool.

The smile he offers me is brighter than the sun as he scrubs a hand through his hair that sends droplets of water spraying every which way.

Hellos come from the girls but are quickly drowned out by the oohs and aahs as they scramble out of the pool when they process the mass of balloons. They fire questions off immediately. I welcome the distraction. The required focus that is needed on them because it prevents me from staring at—correction, ogling—Crew in all his gorgeously sculpted glory.

“What are the balloons for?”

“What did you bring us?”

“Ladies,” Crew warns as he runs a towel over his chest and shoulders. I catch myself staring for a beat, and when I meet his raised eyebrows over his amused eyes, I know I’ve been caught.

Embarrassed, I put all my attention back on the girls while attempting to ignore my body’s immediate reaction to him.

“Well, since there is an ongoing celebration for your birthdays, I figured I’d bring over your gifts now.”

“You brought us gifts?” Addy squeals.

“That wasn’t necessary,” Crew says, but I hold up my hand in his direction to shush him.

“I know it wasn’t, but I couldn’t resist.”

Both girls look at me as I hand them each a bundle of balloons with an envelope attached to the bottoms of each. “Can we open them now?” Paige asks.

“You may.” I nod as they start to open their individual envelopes. My knowledge of what girls their age like is untested, but I did my best in picking something I think they’ll truly get something out of.

Oh my God. I just sounded like the old grandma who offers toothbrushes on Halloween for trick or treating instead of candy.

Envelopes rip as the balloon bundles and their weighted strings sink to the ground.

“Seriously?”

“Oh my God.”

“No way.”

“Sooo cool.”

The twins speak in their own language back and forth as they read the certificate in their envelope and then swap so their sister can see what their gift was.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Addy asks excitedly, but when her eyes meet mine, there are tears swimming in them that make my heart constrict.

“Language,” Crew warns but is shushed by a squeal and the sudden launching of two girls hugging my midsection. Two very wet girls.

I’m overwhelmed by their reaction to the point that it takes me a second to speak without emotion clogging my throat.

“You like them?” I ask.

Thank yous rain down on me as Crew stares perplexed at what two simple envelopes could hold.

“Is someone going to fill me in here?” he asks, stepping forward. “Or am I going to be left in the dark?”

“Tenny got me a gift certificate to a month’s worth of dance lessons at the studio in town,” Addy says.

“And me art lessons,” Paige adds.

“It’s nothing much,” I try to explain. “I just thought it would help them feel . . .” For a brief moment I fear I’ve overstepped. That my aspirations to help ease the pain of their mother missing their birthday and being in a strange town was a little overboard.

I mistake Crew’s silence for him being pissed off, but when I glance his way and see emotion swimming in his eyes, I know I’m wrong.

Our gazes hold as he subtly shakes his head and mouths thank you.

For some reason, I’m overwhelmed by the quiet gratitude in those two words and the awed expression on his face.

“Girls?” He clears his throat. “Why don’t you run upstairs and put your balloons and certificates in your rooms so they stay out of the ceiling fans—”

“We had a balloon casualty once,” Addy says and snickers.

“The ribbons got wrapped around the fan and . . . it was a disaster,” Paige says, fighting a smile. “Dad said it wasn’t funny, but it kind of was.”