“For you,” Luke corrects as I pull my hand and the gift out of the bag.
I study the silver chain, the unicorn charms with rainbow horns and glitter on their tails. I turn my hand over and let the chain shimmer under the light from above.
“I would toss him under a train for you,” he murmurs and kneels back down in front of me. He takes the chain and gently undoes the clasp with fingers that are much too large to be dealing with something so small. “I bought this in seventh grade.” He wraps the bracelet around my wrist, and concentrates hard on refastening the clasp. “I was thirteen years old, and it was soon after my mom and dad’s wedding anniversary.” He stops for a moment, and grins. “Did you know my parents accidentally got married?”
“Accidentally?”
“Uh huh. They were drunk, he carried her most of the way, and then they were married by an Elvis impersonator. Or maybe Chewbacca.” He pauses to think. “I dunno. It wasn’t a regular church or a regular priest, that’s for sure. Anyway.” He clips the bracelet closed, and releases it all so it dangles on my wrist. “Back when I was in seventh grade, for their wedding anniversary, my dad got my mom a bracelet. It was a gift to say he loved her, that he still appreciated her, even when she’s moody as fuck, and mean as a snake sometimes.”
“Sounds like the perfect marriage.”
Luke snorts. “They’re crazy in public, but I swear, when no one is watching, they’re fucking perfect for each other. They’re so sweet on each other, so gentle and selfless. So Dad got Mom this bracelet, and when they were alone and they thought Rob and I were asleep, I overheard them talking. Mom was saying how she truly loves Dad, how thankful she was to have him, how happy she is when he’s around. She went full sappy mode, and she rarely ever does that.”
“That’s sweet.” I turn my wrist over and study the unicorns. “It’s beautiful that your parents are still so in love.”
“Right.” He eyes my bracelet now, just as I do. “So then, after seeing how happy the bracelet made Mom, I took my ass out the next day with a plan to do the same. Now remember, I was a kid, and maybe our family does alright with money, but we never had free access to cash. There are no trust fund babies in my life, no rich kids with bad attitudes. So I wanted to buy a bracelet, but I had to do it on a budget. This one was cheap as hell, and from a vending machine. Two bucks, and it came with a bouncy ball.”
Finally, his eyes come up to mine. “I used the coins in my pocket, bought the gift bag, swiped the bouncy ball, since the temptation was too much, I placed the bracelet in the bag, and the bag in my closet, and here we are.”
“Where?” I look around my room, then back to Luke. “Where are we? Because I’m still confused.”
“I bought the bracelet for my future whatever you are.”
“For your…” My eyes flare wide. “What?”
“I’ve spent time with women. Everybody knows it, so there’s no point tip-toeing around that fact. But until today, I’d actually forgotten about the bracelet. I tossed it into my closet forever ago, out of sight, out of mind, and not one chick has ever made me think of it.”
“Okay…”
“But today, I thought of it, and I wanted to give it to you, so here we are. Thirteen-year-old me bought a gift for you. And if you really think about it, that’s kinda cool. I wonder what I would have said back then if I’d known the recipient of that gift was my red-haired, green-eyed, almost-therapist.”
“He’d have called you crazy.”
“Maybe. But if he could have somehow gotten his hands on a picture, he’d for sure have been whacking off.”
“Luke!” I swing a hand out and slap his shoulder. “That was a nice moment. Why’d you have to say that, huh?”
“Because it’s true. But most importantly, I’d like it repeated that you’re my almost-therapist. You’re not yet graduated, therefore, there are no ethical problems with you wearing my bracelet.”
“You’re a pain in my ass,” I grumble.
“A man can dream.”
When I whip my gaze around to him to glare at his crass remark, he only flashes a wide grin and offers a hand.
“Come on. We have to go to my place now. It’s time for Chester to make his return.”
Luke
Well, Ain’t That A Kick in The Ass?
I hold Ally’s hand and lead her through my front door without hesitation. She tries again to pull her hand from mine, but at this point, I suspect it’s an act, a pretend defiance, to give me the chance to hold on tighter and prove to her I’m not ready to let go.
Her bracelet touches my skin as we walk, and her perfume fills my lungs, sending me into a tailspin every time I let my mind wander. Because maybe I’m all about the bachelor life: having fun, zero commitments, zero chance of getting tied down and bored. But now I’m giving away the unicorn bracelet, and more notable is the fact I’m not freaking out about it.
Once Ally is in the apartment, I close the door and smile for some more of my favorite people, sitting at the dining table.
“Rob.” I pull Ally along with me, ruffle Rob’s hair as I pass, and elicit a giggle when I drop a noisy kiss on the top of Emma’s head. “Kincaid. What are you guys playing?”
I pull out a chair, and lead Ally to it without asking. And because she likes to be bossed around by me, she sits with a ‘harrumph’. Circling back, I sit in the last remaining chair – directly opposite the woman I could very well consider getting monogamous with – and smile when her eyes invariably go back to her bracelet.
“Poker,” Em murmurs and studies her cards with a serious eye. “You can’t play this hand, since you snooped my cards when you came in. But you can jump in on the next, so long as you don’t tell him about my ace with your twin brain telepathy.”
“Smooth.” I sit back with a smile and glance over at Chester the Cheater. He left his Miss Dixie, and correct me if I’m wrong, but he hasn’t stopped smiling about it since he got here. “You can’t have an ace, because Rob has four.”
“Funny,” Rob drawls and plays with as much concentration as Emma. “Why are you home already? Don’t you have work to do?”
“I had therapy.” I smirk for Allyson and catch her, again, staring at the unicorns. “I worked through my rage for the day. I haven’t made it out to the pier yet, so I might have to double-up this weekend to make up for lost time. Or… ya know… there are two of us.”
“Nope.” Rob tosses one card down and settles on four. “We look alike, but I didn’t do the crime.”
“Speaking of.” I poke a thumb in Chester’s direction. “Say goodbye to your best friend, because he’s going back where he came from in a couple hours.”
That statement brings Em up short. “Huh?”
“Chester? The strange little llama taking up half of my kitchen. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice him and the ice cream man having an orgy last night.”
“I noticed the damn llama. I meant, huh, where’s he going?”