They'd invited us to the house-warming party, Armaan and I along with Alex and Sophia because they'd been visiting us for the weekend. Jasper's parents and sister had also flown in from London for their first visit to Italy and were thoroughly confused when he finished explaining his family dynamics after keeping them in the dark for so long.
I found it mind-boggling but really sweet at the same time. It was so unconventional but these guys somehow made it work. Cole and Skye were married. Cole and Jasper were in a live-in relationship. Skye and Jasper were co-parents and good friends. Jacob was Skye and Jasper's kid. The new baby was Skye and Cole's.
No drama. Only love.
At the moment, Skye and Cole were sitting on a picnic mat a little far away on their lawn, smiling as they talked and played with their four-month old who was in a buggy next to them. Jasper's parents were seated at a wooden picnic table just a few feet away, having lunch which consisted of various kinds of pizza, pasta, salads and lemonade. Armaan, Alex, Sophia and Catherine were playing pool volleyball right in front of us while we tried not to flinch when they splashed us every now and then.
Jacob was busy with his toys on another lounger while staring at me from time to time. As he grew older, his features became more defined and you could see a little of his father in him. Also he was tall as fuck for his age which was a dead giveaway. They'd added Wells to his name now. Jacob Aimeric Sawyer-Wells. I thought it was a very regal sounding name for Jasper's kid.
Closing my eyes, I let the sun's rays warm me up while absorbing the sounds of laughter and chatter around me. How peaceful life was at the moment. For everyone. I just wished it would last. After returning to Milan a year ago, I'd been living with my ex-husband, taking things slow and enjoying our friends-with-benefits scenario. It was fun. He let me do whatever I wanted and go wherever I wanted without questioning me or getting upset about it and I afforded him the same courtesy. We shared the same bed most nights and I didn't mind it anymore. He was also back to being my official proofreader.
Smiling, I opened my eyes to check him out a little while he splashed around in the pool in his swim trunks only to find his deep blue gaze already fixed on me. We shared a significantly hot look during which the tip of his tongue came out to touch his lips and I squirmed a little. Turning me on in public. Not good, Aaru. I was going to give him a little spanking for that later. That is, if he didn't fight me and get me to surrender instead. Which was an art he had perfected over the months just to challenge the dominant in me. It kept me hooked when other men in his place would've irritated me. Maybe love did that to a person.
"My God," Jasper breathed out and I glanced at him to find him frowning at me with disapproval. "My parents are here, for God's sake. My kid is here. What is the matter with you two?"
I bit back a smirk and swung my legs over to the side.
"Fatherhood has made you tame, Jasper Wells," I teased, sipping on my lemonade from a straw.
He smiled a little at Jacob over my shoulder. "Maybe so," he murmured. "Not just fatherhood, though. Being with Cole again after losing him made me realise that sowing my wild oats was way overrated."
I grimaced at his words which referred to our affair. Colossal mistake. "Please don't remind me," I mumbled and finished my lemonade. I held out my empty glass to him. "Fetch me some more."
He snorted at me. "I think you're mistaking me for your slave-boy ex-husband," he retorted. "Go fetch it yourself."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't you dare speak about Armaan that way."
Sometimes, when we had lived together in Ireland, I'd gotten drunk and rambled on about my broken marriage. I think I might have divulged too much information.
A shadow fell upon us then as he sat there regarding me with amusement and we looked up to find his boyfriend studying us both with a slight frown on his forehead.
"Should I be worried?" Cole asked us simply and gestured between Jasper and I with a finger.
"Nope. I was just going to get some lemonade," I announced smartly and did exactly that.
Looking over my shoulder as I walked off to get my drink, I saw Cole lowering himself next to his partner on the lounger with both of them facing each other while Jacob bounced over to them and put his arms around Cole's neck from behind as though he wanted a piggy-back ride. Jasper said something to his boyfriend that made Cole grin and rub Jasper's bare thigh, their testosterone levels reaching me all the way from there. I rolled my eyes. And he had been implying that I was too PG-13 a while ago.
I stood at one of the tables pouring myself some juice when she came up to me, pushing her baby in the buggy.
"Hey, Skye," I murmured a greeting. This was the first time we had met each other since that day in her office more than a year ago when I had begged her to let Jasper know about Jacob and she had refused simply out of spite.
"I can't believe you actually have the nerve to show up here," she said to me in a cool voice.
I sipped on my lemonade and ignored her. I'd deliberately avoided accompanying
