The temptation of my brother-in-law-Chapter 75 - seventy five

Chapter Seventy-Five

Alicia’s POV

Malachi was driving us to the park. The morning sun was bright and warm, and I felt lighter than I had in months. Maybe years.

I rolled down the window, letting the breeze blow through my hair. Everything felt new. Fresh. Like the world had been repainted in brighter colors overnight.

"Look at that dog!" I pointed at a golden retriever walking with its owner. "It’s so fluffy. Do you think Pa Wood’s Charlie would like a friend? Maybe we should get him a friend."

"Charlie is fine alone," Malachi said, but there was amusement in his voice.

"But everyone needs friends. Even dogs. Especially dogs." I was rambling and I knew it, but I didn’t care. "Maybe a cat too. Do you like cats? I like cats. They’re independent but also cuddly. Like the best of both worlds."

"You’re in a good mood."

"I’m in the best mood." I turned to look at him. "This is nice. Just us. No mansion. No family. No responsibilities. Just a normal morning."

His hand found mine, squeezing gently. "Just us."

When we pulled into the parking lot, I could already see the park entrance. Colorful banners. The sound of laughter and music. Families walking in and out.

"It’s so pretty," I said, practically bouncing in my seat.

Malachi parked and I was out of the car before he could even turn off the engine. The air smelled like popcorn and fresh grass and something sweet I couldn’t identify.

When we walked through the entrance, I saw them. Couples everywhere. Holding hands. Sharing ice cream. Taking selfies. Living those normal, beautiful lives I’d always watched from the outside.

But today, I wasn’t watching. I was part of it.

I grabbed Malachi’s hand and started walking faster. My eyes were trying to take in everything at once. The carousel with its painted horses. The game booths with oversized stuffed animals as prizes. The food carts selling everything from hot dogs to funnel cakes.

"Where do you want to go first?" Malachi asked.

I was literally jumping up and down now, unable to contain my excitement. "I don’t know! Everything! I want to do everything!"

A small smile played at his lips. "Then we’ll do everything."

We started walking and that’s when I smelled it. That unmistakable sugary scent.

"Cotton candy!" I pulled Malachi toward the cart. "I want cotton candy!"

The vendor was spinning the pink and blue clouds onto paper cones. They looked like edible dreams.

Malachi frowned. "That’s pure sugar. It’s detrimental to your health."

"But it’s so pretty." I looked up at him, making my eyes as wide as possible. "Please? Just this once?"

"Alicia—"

I stuck out my bottom lip slightly. Tilted my head. Used every weapon in my arsenal of cute expressions.

He stared at me for a long moment. I could see him fighting it. See the exact moment he gave in.

"Fine. One."

"Two!" I held up two fingers. "One for me and one for you."

"I don’t eat cotton candy."

"You will today."

I ordered two before he could protest further. The pink fluffy clouds were handed to me and I immediately took a bite. It dissolved on my tongue, pure sweetness and nostalgia.

"This is amazing," I said, holding one out to Malachi. "Try it."

"I don’t need to try it."

"Please? For me?"

He looked at the cotton candy like it might poison him. Then at me. Then back at the cotton candy.

Finally, he took a small piece and put it in his mouth.

I watched his face eagerly, waiting for a reaction. Waiting for him to admit it was good.

But his expression remained completely neutral. Unreadable.

"Well?" I prompted. "What do you think?"

"It’s sugar."

"But do you like it?"

"It’s... acceptable."

I laughed. Of course he wouldn’t give me more than that. But I’d seen the slight softening around his eyes. He didn’t hate it.

We kept walking, me eating both cotton candies because Malachi refused to have any more. I didn’t mind. More for me.

Then I saw it. A game booth with the biggest, most adorable stuffed animals I’d ever seen. Giant teddy bears. Enormous unicorns. And in the back, a fluffy white rabbit with pink ears.

"I want that," I said, pointing at the rabbit.

"We can just buy you a stuffed animal."

"No! I want to win it. That’s the whole point." I walked up to the booth. "How do you play?"

The attendant explained the rules. Throw rings onto bottles. Get three rings on three bottles to win the big prizes.

It looked easy.

It was not easy.

My first ring bounced off a bottle and landed on the ground. My second went wide. My third hit a bottle but didn’t loop around it.

"One more try," I said, handing over more money.

This time, one ring made it. But the other two missed completely.

"This is rigged," I muttered.

"It’s designed to be difficult," Malachi said. "That’s how they make money."

"I don’t care. I want that rabbit." I tried again. And again. Each time getting close but not quite making it.

I was starting to get frustrated. My good mood was deflating with each failed attempt.

Then Malachi stepped up beside me. "Let me try."

"You think you can do better?"

"Yes."

He paid for a round. Picked up the rings. Studied the bottles with that same intense focus he brought to everything.

His first ring landed perfectly. Loop around the bottle neck.

His second did the same.

I held my breath as he threw the third. It sailed through the air and settled perfectly onto the last bottle.

"We have a winner!" the attendant announced.

I squealed and jumped up and down. "You did it!"

"Which prize do you want?" the attendant asked.

"The rabbit! The white one with pink ears!"

The attendant pulled it down and handed it to me. It was even softer than I’d imagined. Perfect and fluffy and mine.

I hugged it to my chest, then turned to Malachi. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

"I’m naming him Mr. Hopps."

"Mr. Hopps."

"Yes. Because he’s a rabbit and rabbits hop. It’s perfect."

Malachi shook his head slightly, but he was smiling. Actually smiling.

I clutched Mr. Hopps and stood on my toes to kiss Malachi’s cheek. "Best morning ever."

And it was. Standing in that park with cotton candy sugar on my lips and a stuffed rabbit in my arms and Malachi beside me, it was the best morning I’d had in years.

Normal. Simple. Perfect.

For the first time since marrying into the Blackwood family, I felt like myself. Not the careful, controlled version I showed everyone. But the real me. The girl who liked cotton candy and stuffed animals and simple joys.

And Malachi had given me that. This moment. This morning. This piece of normalcy in our complicated, dangerous world.

I looked up at him, at the man who’d somehow become my everything, and felt my heart swell with something I wasn’t ready to name yet.

Something warm and terrifying and absolutely undeniable.

But I pushed the thought away. Today wasn’t for thinking. Today was for cotton candy and stuffed rabbits and pretending we were just two normal people in love.

Even if pretending was all we could ever have.