Page 55 of Pippin & Nacho

“You’re finally legal.”

“That I am.”

Sam cupped my face and looked deeply into my eyes as his brows furrowed. “You look tired.”

“I am.”

“I hope you’re not too tired because you need to get ready for work. We’re going in early for a little surprise,” he said, shoving me toward the bathroom. “Shower. Move.”

Now I was waking up and excited to go to work. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected—certainly not a surprise. I just assumed today would be like any other day.

“I’m going. I’m going.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll sleep in and cuddle. When you’re well-rested enough, we’ll have sex. Lots of sex. And blow jobs. Gotta have those. And maybe we can get some skating in… no, ah, we can’t do that. Whoops. No board. So, we’ll just have fun in bed. Or we can just kiss if you’re too tired. I love kissing you. When you get stubble, it kind of tickles, and I like it.”

I grabbed his face and pulled him down in said kiss. “It all sounds perfect.”

It really did.

As soon as Sam and I got to Alpha’s, having had to take the bus again, which was getting fucking old, Alpha dragged us all into the employee lounge. All our friends were there, surrounding a table with a chocolate cake in the middle, and there was a bottle of fancy bourbon with several shot glasses.

Jazz and Blondie hugged me and wished me a happy birthday first, and next was Stix. Alpha shook my hand, as did Stone. Ajax’s smile was slightly demented, but he always looked like that as he lifted me in the air like I was a fucking toddler and hugged the hell out of me.

“Can’t… breathe,” I rasped.

He laughed and finally put me down.

Last, Sam gave me a quick kiss on the lips. “Happy birthday, Star.”

My heart and stomach flipped around with the love from this strange, found family. I loved them all.

“Thank you all so much.”

Ajax slapped a meaty hand on my back, nearly toppling me forward. “Can’t have a twenty-first birthday without recognition or… alcohol.” He winked and laughed.

Alpha poured us a finger of Bulleit Bourbon. “This is the good stuff. Perfect for the birthday boy.” When Jazz reached for a glass, he smacked her hand away. “Not for you or Blondie, Missy. Do you want me to get arrested and have the bar shut down?”

She huffed and folded her arms. “We drink all the time.”

“Not in my bar, you don’t.”

“Fine!”

Blondie didn’t look happy either, but he didn’t argue as much as his twin sister.

“You two will have your moment soon enough.”

Jazz rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like in two years… lame.”

Alpha ignored her complaints and raised his glass, and we all followed suit. “Here’s to Nacho. I hope you have an amazing birthday for an amazing young man.”

The bourbon went down surprisingly smoothly, but the liquor burned once it reached my stomach.

Sam walked out of the lounge while Alpha cut the cake, but he soon returned, holding a long box wrapped with navy blue and white striped paper. I knew exactly what he held. I swallowed the lump in my throat at the gift as my tired emotions tried to take over. One thing we’d never done for each other was buy gifts, choosing to save money instead. While living in foster care and on the streets, we could never afford them, so we just didn’t bother.

He handed it to me, and I held the wrapped box close against my chest as I looked at him. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“It’s not just from me. Everyone chipped in.”

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