Page 62 of Take Me Slowly: part 2
"You deserve it." Josiah put an arm around me and pulled me to his side. "You should be celebrated every day."
"Which reminds me, Brooks and Josiah, you need to tell me when your birthdays are so I can put them in the calendar," Riley said. "Josiah, I bet you'd love a surprise party." He grinned.
Josiah responded with a flat stare. If they tried pulling something like that on him, he'd probably turn and walk back out the door. He was even less inclined to be fussed over than I was.
"No surprise parties," I said firmly. "Unless you're projecting and you want us to throw you one."
"Riley would be ecstatic if you did that," Connor said. "Before you ask, I will fucking stab anyone who gives me a surprise party."
"What will you stab them with?" Riley asked. "Because if you're talking about your cock?—"
"With a blunt knife," Connor told him.
"Can we not talk about my brother's cock?" Whitney grimaced. "No surprise parties, we get it."
"Remember that time we threw a surprise party for Francine Davis?" Holly was applying a layer of icing to a cake she brought with her. She'd declared she’d make it herself as soon as she heard it was my birthday. It was a little lopsided, but looked delicious.
Both Fiona and Whitney laughed.
"Oh my God, I'd forgotten about that!" Whitney was almost doubled over. "We were supposed to set up in her house, but her sister forgot to tell her parents about it." She shook her head, laughing too much to continue.
Fiona took over the story. "It was a Thursday afternoon. As it turns out, her parents like to walk around the house naked on a Thursday. So when we let ourselves in, there they were." All three women were laughing so hard, tears poured down their cheeks.
"That, right there, is a good reason not to have surprise parties." Connor waved his knife in their direction. "Sometimes the birthday person isn't the one to get surprised."
That made them howl even harder.
"I think it might have affected their brains," Riley remarked, but he was smiling as much as they were.
"No, Whitney was always like that." Connor moved the sliced bread to a big plate and carried it over to the table. Along with that was a selection of meat, cheese and various other things to make sandwiches with.
"Only since you were born," she quipped. "I was perfectly normal before that."
"The only person who can dispute that suggestion is Josiah," Connor said. He quirked an eyebrow at the older man.
Josiah raised his hands. "Leave me out of this."
"You don't remember kid-Whitney?" Fiona asked.
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I'm still not weighing in." Josiah stepped over to the table and pulled out a chair, gesturing for me to sit.
"I think that's wise," Brooks said, sitting on the other side of Josiah. "No good could come out of that."
"None," Josiah agreed.
Everyone took their seats and started to make their own sandwich, and pour themselves wine, or got beer from the fridge.
"I'd like to propose a toast." Riley held up his beer bottle. "To the most beautiful woman in the whole hollow."
"It's so sweet of you to toast me,” Whitney deadpanned.
"I meant Leah," Riley said. "You're the equal second-best looking, along with Fiona and Holly."
Whitney regarded him for a moment, then smiled. "Good save, Mr Crane."
"I thought so, Miss Ferguson. Now, where were we?" Riley scrunched his brow. "Right we were saying happy birthday to Leah. Happy birthday, gorgeous."
In unison, everyone said happy birthday, making me blush like crazy.
