Klaus Part 1

Aloe Blacc drifts from the speakers, smoke from the grill I’m manning on the deck coast in the air through the living room windows pushed open to create a large entrance.

We are at Devin’s Barbados beach house for a weekend getaway in celebration of his birthday tomorrow. He hated extravagant birthday celebrations until he married Ren. It gave meaning to his life, he once said. Even if I gave him an earful of bullshit for being a softie, I believe his words. He’s a changed man.

Evan too…

And now me… 

Kind of…

I think…

But fuck if I’d admit that out loud.

Women. They have such a chaotic effect on our lives. Like a beautiful bliss.

I tipped my beer into my mouth, turning the barbecues one by one. The sun lowers on the horizon, casting orange and a warm explosion of shade on the beach. My gaze moves to the waterfront. Cali, Rain, and Rylee, seated on a chaise under big white umbrellas, each holds a drink of their choice. I’m certain Rylee settles into a glass of water or non-alcoholic fruit punch, religiously following Ivy's advice.

Close to the water, Griffin plays football with Ghost, Kai, and Hunter. It made me smile. Each year on Griffin’s birthday, Devin would gift his son with baseball novelty items. Gloves, Yankees jersey, caps, and even Major League tickets, but the kid had an itch for football. In truth, it still bothered Devin that his son is in favor of Knox Dawson’s game over his. Knox plays in the NFL and had a thing for Ren back in the day.

“Do you plan on serving charcoal for dinner?” Ren steps out onto the deck, holding a tray of fresh seafood.

“Fuck.” I abandoned my beer on the table and quickly picked up the burnt barbecue from the grill.

Ren giggled, skirting past me, setting the tray on the table side by side with the tray of cooked and raw barbecues.

“Ah, I see. Can’t take your eyes off of Rylee,” she teased.

I chuckled, reaching for my beer again once all the almost burnt barbecues were safe to the cooked tray. It’s true though. Pregnancy looks good with Rylee. She’s four months in. Our little beans already swell in her belly, but she never fails to make my dick hard. As if to second the motion, my cock twitched in agreement.

I shift to hide the growing bulge in my crotch. “Is that jealousy I hear, Mama Ren?” I tilted my head to the side. “I hear you and Devin are not having some closed bedroom door meetings these days.”

Ren’s cheeks instantly set aflame. “You three… You really don’t have filters in your conversations!” she groaned, pushing me aside, taking over the grill. 

“As if you women don’t talk about how good your husbands are in bed, huh?” Ren turned beet red. I snorted. The timid Maren Green still blushes after being married to her wicked boss. “Anyway. Where are those morons? I thought the grill was men’s duty?”

Ren huffed, barely recovering from her flushed state. She pulled her brunette hair into a messy bun and started laying the seafood above the grill. “Evan told me he’d be in the cabin.”

My brows tilted to the sky, “the cabin? It’s still here?”

Ren looked over her shoulder. “Yeah. Devin said Evan kept that place. I believe that’s where he and Cali stayed when they met here in Barbados.”

~~

I am not particularly fond of walking down memory lane. Reminiscing on the past makes people gooey on the inside, but as I walked the familiar path behind the beach house towards the cabin, it felt like going back in time.

Devin and Ren got married here four years ago, yet I never thought of wandering back to the cabin which we built when we were in college.

“I’ll be damned,” I murmured under my breath, a smile splitting my face in two.

Evan had always been good at building things with his hands. He didn’t just keep the cabin; he turned it into a vacation-worthy cabin by the beach. The structure of stones and logs has frosted glass doors and windows. 

Summoned by curiosity, I went inside the house, pushing the ajar door open. The minimalist design of the living room that opens up to the kitchen separated only by a breakfast bar and dining table for six was Evan’s signature work. Laughter emitted from one of the three doors across the entrance. I immediately recognized Devin and Evan’s laughter.

“Guess that’s the perks of having a sister,” Devin said in between laughter. “But that is common knowledge, Evan. Man… So that’s why you kept calling Cali Rapunzel?”

“Yes,” replied Evan. They have their backs on me, looking at a portrait of my cousin in a red dress. She looks alive and carefree in that portrait, dancing with her eyes closed. “I kept calling her Rapunzel because I thought she’s the one who left that glass slipper.”

Devin clutched his stomach, roaring with laughter.

Evan groaned. “How do you expect me to know the difference between Rapunzel and Cinderella? If you so much as tell this story to Klaus, I will strangle you!”

“Too late,” I said, making my presence known.

“The fuck you doing here?” Evan grunted, facing me with a glare.

I stepped inside the room, afraid to uncover the paintings hanging on the walls. I have a pretty good idea who’s the subject of those portraits.

“I helped build this cabin.” I tucked my hands in my shorts’ pocket. “I own this place too.”

Evan skirted past me straight into the kitchen. He pulled out a beer from the fridge while Devin and I glanced around. He mirrors my expression, memories flooding our heads.