Page 91 of Outnumbered

Caleb walked over, bent and whispered in my ear, “Only if we take a spare can of whipped cream back to your room after.”

My face heated and I said, “And chocolate syrup.”

He nipped my earlobe gently and said, “Agreed.”

“What are we celebrating?” Nico asked.

“Rubyhare’s official name change and whatever secret thing she did with dad,” Caleb answered as he climbed into the SUV.

“Is it just killing you not to know?” Jolie teased. “You poor man, having to wait to know something. Sorry I spoiled him so much, Ember. It’s my fault he can’t handle surprises.”

“It’s okay,” I said with a shrug. “It’ll make the reveal that much better.”

“When is this reveal?” Triston asked as he pushed me into the SUV.

“Soon,” I replied vaguely.

“See you at the house,” Nico said and teleported Rhys, Fox, and Jolie away.

“He could have teleported us,” Caleb said with a loud sigh.

“And leave me all alone?” Ezio said with a pout. “So rude, nephew.”

“Let’s go,” Caleb replied. “Fighting that thing worked up my appetite.” He looked down at me and winked.

Yeah, my appetite had increased, too, but for dessert.

Chapter

Twenty-Five

The holidays were fast approaching, so on top of worrying about our anniversary, I was worrying about what to get each of them.

I holed up in my room, scouring the internet for ideas, watching holiday movies, and had a notebook slowly filling up with them.

The problem was that they didn’t really have anything they wanted.

What did you get someone who had everything?

My crafting skills were incredibly limited.

“It’s hopeless,” I groaned and dropped my head to thunk against my desktop.

Someone knocked on the door. Quickly, I hid the notebook and put it in the drawer of the desk before turning and calling out, “It’s open.”

“What happened to your head?” Riddick asked as he walked in.

“Oh, nothing, what’s up?”

“The four of us are going to be gone for a bit. We just wanted to make sure you were okay to stay here or if you wanted one of us to stay.” He sat on the edge of my bed and smoothed down the comforter.

“Where are you guys going?” I asked and sat next to him.

“It’s a secret,” he said and tugged at a frayed corner of the comforter.

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. “A secret, huh? One you suddenly have after I wouldn’t tell you what I did with Fox?”

Laughing softly, he pinched the tip of my nose. “We’re going shopping for holiday presents.”

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