Chapter Twenty-Six – Hawthorne #2
“Spicy Hawthorne,” she purrs out. “I like it.” She pulls away from me and saunters over to the dresser she claimed, pulling out a fresh set of pajamas before she leaves the room. Obviously, my gaze follows her until it can’t.
She’s a sight for sore eyes. And for well-rested eyes. Any type of eyes in general, really. I could look at her all day, every day, and never get enough, never have the details of her smile mesmerized enough.
I go to Ezra after that. The man is already out of the shower, his blond hair damp. I find him in his room and carefully close the door behind me. I would not put it past Abby to try to eavesdrop when it comes to what I’d like to do for her.
A party isn’t enough. I think we need a little more to show her just how appreciated, how wanted she is here. A cake is well and good, but we need more. I just don’t know what, which is why I need to enlist Ezra’s and Royal’s help.
“Hawthorne,” Ezra says with a twinkle in his blue eyes. “What’s up, man?”
“There’s something I’d like the three of us to discuss. Why don’t you grab Royal? It’ll be easier with all of us here.”
“I think he was still in the shower, but I can hurry the ass along.” He ducks out of the room, returning with Royal a minute or so later, the latter of which wears nothing but a towel around his waist. The towel barely fits, too. One wrong move and we’ll all get an eyeful.
Of course, it isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, especially lately.
Royal frowns at me. “What the hell was so important that I had to hurry?”
“It’s about Abby,” I say, and as I say her name, Royal’s wide shoulders relax somewhat. But then, since he doesn’t know what I’m referring to, he tenses back up. Maybe he thinks I’m going to tell the Benefactor about us.
I will, but not yet.
“It’s nothing bad,” I hurriedly say. “With Connor dead and Abby having made the killing blow, she’s officially a serial killer. I’d like to do something for her. She mentioned throwing a party, which we can do, but I think we should do more than that.”
“Shit,” Royal mutters. “It didn’t even occur to me.”
“How ‘bout pizza?” Ezra offers.
“We can do pizza, yes, and a cake, but that’s not on the lines of what I meant when I said we should do something more.
I meant more than food. Something that’s a bit more special and permanent than food.
” I take off my glasses and clean them with the cloth I keep in my pocket, a habit that helps me think, as lame as it may be.
A lightbulb goes off over Royal’s head as he looks at Ezra and says, “What about that ring you keep in your nightstand?” When Ezra only glares at him, he shrugs. “What? We all know about it—”
“I’m not going to give the ring I was going to give my dead girlfriend to Abby,” Ezra hisses out. “That’s not right. How do you think that would make her feel? You’re such an oaf.”
“An oaf? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re a—”
Sensing they’re going to bicker for a while, I say, “I have to agree with Ezra in that giving that ring out is a bad idea.” There are too many awful memories attached to that ring, Royal should know that. “But, maybe Royal wasn’t too far off.”
Both Royal and Ezra look at me, waiting for me to say more, but it’s Royal who says, “Uh, I don’t get it.”
Dear God, the man really is an oaf. An oaf who is a more than capable serial killer, but when it comes to women, he is not as smooth and suave as you’d think, given his looks.
“He’s saying we can get her a present,” Ezra tells him, and then he looks at me. “But what?”
That is the question, isn’t it? As much as we all like Abby, there is still so much we don’t know about her. Everything in this house has been so high-strung and emotional, but the little things fell through the cracks.
What’s her favorite color? What kind of cake does she like? Is she a chocolate lover or a vanilla heathen? So many things left to discover about her, it makes me feel a certain type of way, but at the same time, I’m excited to find out more.
I can’t imagine this house without her anymore.
I can’t imagine ever laying down in that bed without her body next to mine, and I don’t have to read minds to know Royal and Ezra feel the same.
She’s changed each of us in such a short amount of time, and although I can’t say for certain, I don’t think it’d be too out of the question to assume we’re all falling madly.
Or maybe we’re already there. Maybe, somewhere along the way, the three of us fell in love with her without realizing it.
Her smile, the way her eyes crinkle when she teases you and knows she’s getting under your skin.
How she pours everything she is into every aspect of herself without trying to dull down her light.
She’s everything. What could we possibly give her that would mean enough?
The three of us stand there for what feels like an eternity, each of us taking turns staring at each other.
Silence stretches on for infinity as we each try to rack our brains for ideas.
It’s beyond clear none of us have much experience when it comes to giving gifts like this. We are so clueless it hurts.
I don’t know how much time passes, but eventually something comes to me. It comes to me so hard it hits me like a train, and I inhale a deep breath before I say, “I might have something.” Both men look at me, waiting for me to tell them my idea.
So I do, and based on the expressions they wear as my idea sinks in, they love it.