Billionaires Dollar Series

Madison: Wow.

Liam: It even has a removable saddle and bridle. Question: do you ride unicorns? Isn’t that sacrilege?

Madison: Good point. But considering they’re not real, I don’t think anyone’ll be offended. The unicorn sure won’t be.

Liam: I got her something else, too. Remember when we used to race across town to play on the pinball machine?

Madison: Oh, I remember. You always stole my quarters.

Liam: I would never do such a thing.

Madison: Sure you wouldn’t. So you got her a pinball machine?

Liam: A miniature one. I saw it in the toy store.

It had been an impulse buy, one driven by memories and the image of Maddie smiling in my head, her eyes glittering with challenge.

Madison: I’m sure she’ll love it. You’ll have to tell me what her reaction is.

I should put my phone down. I should go inside, to brightly colored cupcakes and little girl hugs and discussions about stocks with my brother. But my fingers won’t let me, glued to the phone and the conversation with her name on the top.

Liam: Have you started your shift yet?

Madison: You mean, am I texting you while I’m cooking? No, I’m not, so I haven’t.

Liam: Oh, snarky. I like it when you get feisty with me.

Madison: I know you do. Perhaps that’s why I do it.

Liam: And you know I like it when you try to impress me, too.

There’s a pause before she replies, and I grin down at my phone. Yesterday, she’d declared she wanted to give me the best blow job I’d ever had, saying she had techniques she’d always wanted to try.

I’d said bring it on.

I don’t know what pleased me more, the sensation of her mouth around my dick or that she was comfortable enough to explore things she’d always wanted to.

Madison: Great. Now my skin is on fire and I have to go out into the kitchen in five minutes.

Liam: Serves you right for being so talented with your mouth and living like a modern-day Mother Teresa. How are you the complete package?

Madison: Cooking at the shelter once a month is hardly record-breaking.

But still damn impressive. It also made clear what I already knew, which is that Maddie is a far better person than I am.

Liam: Whatever you say, Gandhi.

Madison: Gotta go. Enjoy the party, eat a cupcake for me, and please film your niece’s reaction to the gifts. I wanna see it later.

I read the text twice, something in my chest squeezing at the sweet words. Responses rise to my fingertips. Similar wishes for her, see you laters and take cares. But in the end I settle for something simple, but effective.

Something from the heart.

Liam: Please be careful with knives.

There.

Grinning, I coax the giant unicorn out of my car. It’s not well-behaved, the floppy limbs getting caught in between the seats and the horn poking me in the side.

“Stop it,” I say. “I can empathize with the problem, but get a grip, man.”

The unicorn doesn’t respond. Shouldering the giant white plushy under one arm and the wrapped pinball machine under the other, I make my way into the den of children like a hero set to face a deadly horde of zombies.

But the place is curiously calm when I enter, the living room empty and the doors to the backyard wide open.

My brother’s housekeeper is the first to see me. She gives me a wide smile when she sees the unicorn.

“I haven’t missed it, have I?”

Maria shakes her head. “Everyone is outdoors.”

“Another bouncy castle?”

“Two, this time.”

I shake my head, leaning against the kitchen counter. “My brother really has no boundaries with those girls.”

Maria’s smile turns indulgent. “They’re good girls, Mr. Carter. And Evie will be ecstatic when she sees that horse, just you wait.”

“Ethan might not be,” I say. “This’ll take up half the space in her room.”

“She has space,” Maria says.

I suppose that’s true. Ethan’s kids are growing up very differently to how we were raised, in a two-story house with one bathroom shared between the three of us.

Is that something he reflects on?

“No, Clover! Stop!” A cocker spaniel comes running into the kitchen, a familiar girl right on his heels.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

The dog bounces up and down at my feet, tail wagging. “Hey there,” I say. “Sorry, I can’t pet you right now. My hands are busy.”

Clover doesn’t seem to care, and neither does Haven, wrapping her arms around my legs. “Uncle Liam!”

“Hey, kiddo. Have you been good?”

“Really good.”

“But not too good, right?”