“How does one forget her fucking birthday?” My voice faltered, and tears slipped from my eyes.
“That goes to show you how much stress you’ve been under,” he reasoned. He placed the sweetest kiss on my forehead and left me breathless.
Moving away from him so my cheer didn’t kill his ears, I yelled, “Thank you! I may look like a shit-filled hot mess, but thank you all for coming! Drink up, bitches!”
But I didn’t want to party. None of these emotions overpowering me made any sort of sense.
“You’re not pleased,” Coen stated matter-of-factly.
“If I could have any wish, it’d to be alone with you forever and to never leave that ever so inviting bed over there.” I pointed in the direction of his room.
“Don’t go making my cock all hard in public,” he said, his voice gravelly. His hand cupped my ass.
“Sorry.” I winked, feeling lively for the first time since we spoke last.
Bringing my palm to his hardened erection, he whispered in my ear, “I’ll give you on helluva present for this, princess.”
His raspy voice made me liquefy. He grinded farther into me, my panties soaking with the acknowledgement of his words.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” I squeezed his semi, kissed his cheek and sashayed to see Stace in the kitchen.
Peering back at him, I spotted him mouthing, “You’ll pay for that.”
You bet your ass that was the plan. A giggle escaped me. I was so entranced with what correspondence that Stace smacked my ass to get my attention.
“Keep your pussy in your panties, woman!” Her shrill voice annoyed me and warmed me at the same time. “Yeah, you’re like a dog in heat,” Hales added. I rolled my eyes at my friends, hating how right they were. Stace nudged my shoulder. “Presents.”
“Sure,” I conceded.
Who didn’t love presents? Me. I hated the fucking things. People teased me for unwrapping at the speed of a snail. The love I contained for opening it the exact way it was done was unmeasured, but others always tore at them, hating that they had to wait for me.
“Don’t worry. This time we made sure to do gift bags for all of them.” She guffawed, snapping her forefinger and thumb with a little double click of her mouth.
Bastards! Ruining the only part I enjoyed.
“Of course, you did. Didn’t want me to take all night, eh?” I joked. She was the worst offender of all. Her side eye always outdid mine.
“You bet your ass I didn’t!” Her hollering got us all the sideways glances.
“Attention whore,” I muttered in her ear while she dragged me to the table where the presents were. There were streamers everywhere. It was a funfetti cake vomit of dangles. The colors had no patterns, and there was no definitive start or finish. My OCD screamed at me to stop staring, but it was a tangled mess, and until I found the starting point, my head would spin.
“You just love me, don’t you?” My lips formed a tight straight line. The decorations were so offsetting and eye bleeding.
“Don’t you know it! Try and have fun for once, babe! Eat cake, have sex, and drink until you can’t stand,” she babbled, not really paying attention to me. Her gaze was too distracted with eating up the beefcake across the room. Conor.
Ugh.
I opened all my gifts, ranging from sex toys that made me blush, to the best gift cards in the world. Barnes & Noble, bitches!
After opening each one, Hales ushered all the people in the overcrowded kitchen.
“Everyone!” Stace jumped up and down, swinging her arms up and down like a lunatic. “Shut the hell up, and sing happy birthday to this hussy!”
Her shout brought on an awkward silence before laughs went all around the room.
Two strong arms wrapped around my abdomen right underneath my tits, hugging me tightly. I’d know those arms anywhere. This wasn’t real life, right? A man could love a woman even though she wasn’t a size two, I kept repeating in my head. The self-doubt was strong, but Coen reminded me the truth of it.
“How’s your party, princess?”
He nibbled on my ear. His lips connected with my throat, brushing wisps of heat across me. Chills flared on my arms and spine. I couldn’t wait for everyone to leave and I could have him all to myself.
“I’m still baffled that I forgot today was my birthday. To be honest, I thought something happened to you. You never came over last night.” My admission gave relief. I’d been knotted up over the entire ditch without a call or text.
He stilled. “We’ll talk later about that. There’s a very good reason for it.”
I craned my neck to see his expression. The fear written on his face only confirmed my certainty that something was wrong. For now, I’d have to celebrate and pretend it wasn’t nagging at my stomach.
“Okay.” The simple word was all I got out before Stace yanked me away to the cake at the table. The intricate book design made my heart flutter, the work and detail put into it to represent my last book cover astounded me. There were no words for how beautiful it was, but the tear running down my cheek might say otherwise.
“Stace, it’s perfect.” The lump in my throat was too hard to swallow.
She knew how much this last book meant to me. It changed everything, reminding me of that beauty inside was more important than my appearance outside. Carl had told me to lose weight, that I’d be more desirable that way. I’d gone on so many fad diets and exercised to no avail. Regret and bitterness settled in me, and in the end, I wrote an entire book on the inner splendor of women.
“Don’t cry, babe. This book changed the world for a lot of women.” She pulled me into her arms. Her comforting embrace brought me peace and reminded me why our friendship had always been strong. There was nothing on this goddamn life-sucking earth that could pull us apart, and we were lucky to have this connection with each other.
“I fucking love you, Stace.” My voice faltered, the emotion riding up my ribcage and through my throat. This girl would always be my number one.
“I love you too, Red. Badass bitches forever.”
“Forever,” I concurred.
“Group hug!” Hales yelled, and everyone gathered to create the biggest embrace ever.
14
Dating a BMX Biker Rule #8008135: I’m boyfriend material, just touch this jersey
Yeah, you can feel it, huh?
Coen
I wasn’t entirely sure what the hell I was supposed to tell her. They wanted me to go across the country, but my doctor said the buildup in my knee was only getting worse. He warned me that if I did this tour, it could very well be my last. One wrong move and it would disable me indefinitely.
The fear ate at me like those bloodsucking mosquitoes during the spring and summer, and there was not a single thing I could do to stop it.
Rebel was content. You could see it in the glint of her irises while she blew out the candles and opened her presents. It felt fucking great to see her carefree and genuinely happy. After all the shit she’d been through, this was well deserved.
Conor bought her a five-hundred-dollar Amazon gift card. It made my gift seem like chopped liver. My gift to her would be given in private, something she wasn’t expecting.