Page 92 of Outnumbered

“Oh,” I said and rubbed my nose. “I see.”

He frowned and canted his head slightly. “Something’s upsetting you?”

“I was trying to figure out holiday shopping myself,” I admitted and dropped my head to look at my hands in my lap. “I’ve never bought gifts for others, so I’m not really sure what to get. I’ve been researching on the internet and movies and … and …”

He set his hand on top of mine. “You don’t have to get us anything at all, but we will be happy with whatever you get us, Ember.”

“I’ll figure it out,” I said and gave him my best smile. “I’ve just got to consider what each of you likes.”

“We like you,” he said and kissed me. “You’re definitely my favorite thing I’ve found this year.” Laying me down, he draped himself half over my body, slid his hand along my face, and kissed me again. He licked at the seam of my lips and I opened for him, our tongues moving together in a slow, sensual dance as my hands curled in his shirt.

“Ezio is waiting for us,” Triston said. “Oh, I see the delay. Please continue.”

Riddick sat back and kissed my cheeks. “I’m coming.”

“Already? That’s a bit fast even for you,” Triston teased.

Riddick helped me sit up and kissed me quickly again before standing and adjusting himself. “Ha. Ha. Come on, let’s go.”

“Have fun!” I called after them.

Triston winked. “Behave while we’re gone.”

“No promises!” I yelled back.

Laying back on the bed, I exhaled harshly. While they were gone was the perfect time for me to do some online shopping. I just needed to figure out what to buy. Getting to my feet, I grabbed my notebook and phone, and headed downstairs to sit in the living room while I shopped.

Stopping in the kitchen, I grabbed snacks, and a drank, then plopped down on the couch. Maybe if I just focused on one of them at a time, I could narrow down the options and find something to buy.

Since I felt like Caleb would be the most difficult, he would be the last one. Triston was the first and I thought about all the things he liked and had started doing.

Ever since the trip to the Den’s market, he had talked a lot of crafting. After a bit of searching, I found a wood carving kit.

Moving on to Branson, I found a leather braiding kit where I just needed to braid the leather strips together and add a metal charm to it. Fairly confident in my abilities to do something that simple, I added that to my cart next.

Riddick was a bit harder, since like Caleb he pretty much had everything he wanted.

“Ugh,” I groaned and dropped my head back.

Deryn looked over me to the phone in my hand.

I screamed and fell off the couch as I jumped away from him.

“Sorry,” he said with a chuckle.

Getting back onto the couch, I sighed. “I swear you all love scaring me.”

He sat on the end of the couch and shrugged. “It is pretty comical. Are you trying to figure out holiday gifts?”

I nodded. “It’s not as easy as the movies make it to be.”

“Well, not when you have spoiled men like Caleb and Riddick it’s not. Have you thought about just getting the leather bracelet kit to make them all the same thing? Having something handmade by you that is matching would make them all happy.”

I hadn’t thought about it because I was worried my skills wouldn’t be enough, but braiding the leather strips didn’t seem that hard. All the other crafty things I’d been looking at were like wood carving or other complicated ones. Could I do the bracelets?

“Even if they’re rough, they’ll love that you spent the time and energy to make it,” he assured me.

“Won’t they prefer getting different gifts? Isn’t it a bit lame to get them all the same exact thing? Like a cope out?”

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