Page 196 of Mad Love

His grin was pure devil. “A belated birthday present?”

“Nice try.” I pushed him off and walked to the bathroom, then closed the door to finish getting ready as he groaned behind me.

We traded places when I was done so he could brush his teeth, and then we headed downstairs together to see Cori practically vibrating with energy in front of a pile of presents twice as tall as she was.

Okay, maybe I’d gone overboard.

The guys were all sitting on the couches, each with a mug of coffee and in varying degrees of alertness. Delilah was sniffing the floor and decided one of the bottom presents was hers as she started growling at it and trying to pull it apart with her teeth.

With a sigh, Royal scooped up the puppy and held her wriggling body in his lap. Like she knew he wasn’t one to mess with, the puppy settled and was soon curled up in a ball.

“Okay, Cor,” Ryan said, sitting in an armchair and pulling me onto his lap as Mrs. Flounders came in with a tray of pastries.

“Merry Christmas,” she greeted. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please,” I said with a smile as Ryan nodded.

With a shout of pure happiness, Cori started tearing through her presents, declaring each one was her favorite or the only thing she’d wanted her whole life.

Ryan rested his chin on my shoulder, a soft smile on his face as he watched Corinne flit from gift to gift. “Jesus, Mads, is there anything left for the other kids in the world?”

I elbowed his stomach and just smiled. Maybe I was living out my own childhood dreams via Cori, but so what? She was happy, and that was all that mattered to me.

“You’re spoiling her,” Royal mumbled, shaking his head.

I shot him a knowing look. “Funny, because I don’t remember buying her a new bike or a fancy dog bed for her puppy.” I glanced at two of the larger gifts before looking back at him.

The corner of his mouth hooked up. “No idea what you’re getting at.”

“Mm hmm,” I murmured with a laugh.

Cori grabbed a small present and my heart stopped.

Holy shit. That wasn’t supposed to be there.

I mentally recounted my evening and remembered wrapping the present… and quickly shoving it under the tree when the guys had come in to help me finish wrapping Cori’s presents. I’d meant to go back and grab it, but I’d totally forgotten.

“Uh, Cor,” I called, reaching forward. “That—”

“Ryan, you got a present,” Cori announced, proudly wading through her gifts to hand this one to her brother.

Ryan frowned, confused, but took the small box. His eyes found mine. “Do you know what this is?”

I swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. It’s from me.”

Just… not exactly how I’d envisioned this moment going.

My plan had been to give him his present when we were alone, tonight. And maybe after I’d had a few shots of liquid courage.

With both arms wrapped around me, he started opening the present.

“Hold up,” Linc said, raising a finger. “Is this gift child appropriate?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be a dumb—” I looked at Cori “—butt.” With the amount of swearing the boys did, she’d started her own swear jar. After three days, she was pretty close to having enough saved up for the first year at an Ivy League school.

“Nice save,” Linc scoffed.

Ryan tossed the shiny paper aside and turned over the small box before opening the lid. He stilled under me as the titanium band glinted off the light. “Uh…”