Chapter 30 #2
“You’re such an asshole!” I sneer over my shoulder, before turning back to Kole. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, but I’ll go clean the blood off, so you feel better.”
He darts off to the bathroom, and I sit back down, glaring at Thane.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he says, leaning back. “Kole started it.”
“So you attacked him?” I bite back angrily.
Thane moves forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “We’re animals, Grey. Tearing each other apart is what we do.”
“He’s right,” Sienna agrees, knocking her shoulder against mine. “It’s like if I were to jab you with my elbow playfully. It’s nothing serious.”
“Looked pretty serious to me,” I argue, glancing back at Thane.
“It’s really not, though,” Kole says, jumping over the couch. He reaches over and ruffles Thane’s hair, only to be met with a punch to the ribs.
I shake my head. “I don’t get you guys.”
“We know,” Sienna giggles. “But you will eventually.”
Even though I still don’t understand their behavior, Sienna’s nonchalant energy is at least making me feel a little better.
“Alright,” Kole says, massaging his side. “Last and definitely least, it’s Thane’s turn to hand out presents.”
Thane rolls his eyes and tosses Sienna and Kole each a box before walking over to hand me one.
Sienna opens hers and pulls out an emerald necklace.
“Aw, my birthstone! I love it!”
“When’s your birthday? I ask, surprised that Thane would’ve gotten her a gift that thoughtful.
“May sixteenth! What’s yours?”
“Um, I don’t really know exactly. They think I was born in October, but that’s just a guess.”
“Oh, man! That means we missed your birthday this year!” She drops her head into her hands, and it almost sounds like she’s whimpering.
“It’s okay. We can celebrate next year,” I offer, and she immediately perks up, licking my face.
“Oops! Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.” Her face goes beet red as I wipe her saliva from my cheek.
“What do you want your birthday to be?” I look up at Thane, surprised by his question.
“Um, I’ve never really given it much thought,” I admit, picking at the carpet.
“Well, do you have a lucky number?” Sienna asks.
“Twenty-one… though I’m not really sure how lucky it is, considering how my life has gone.” The three of them look at me with pity, so I quickly laugh it off. “But hey, maybe things are finally turning around.”
“Yeah they are!” Sienna puts her hand on my knee and gives it a squeeze.
“Alright, October twenty-first it is then!” Kole declares with the clap of his hands.
Even though it’s technically made up, having a day to call my birthday makes me excited. It’s like I’m a real person and not just some life that was tossed aside and forgotten about.
“Open your present,” Sienna orders, pointing to the unopened box Thane handed me.
I quickly unwrap it, noting that his wrapping job is far better than Kole’s, and pull out a purple perfume bottle with one of those cute puffer balls.
“What is it?” Sienna asks, unable to see it over the pile of wrapping paper.
“Perfume,” I tell her, running it under my nose to smell it. “Mm, that smells good.”
“Let me smell!” Sienna demands, already snatching the bottle out of my hand. “Wow! That is good!”
“Right?” I look over at Thane with a smile. “Thank you.”
“Did you get her that, so you won’t be so tortured by her scent?” Kole teases with a sly grin.
“No,” Thane snarls, whipping his head around to glare at his brother.
“Sure…” Kole says, clearly not buying Thane’s answer.
I glance over at Sienna, silently begging her to save me from this uncomfortable situation.
“Kole, open yours. I want to see if you got a butt plug too!”
Okay, not the help I was looking for.
Kole opens his gift up and tosses his head back laughing. “Well, it’s not a butt plug, but Thane might need to borrow it.”
He tosses Sienna the bottle, and I lean over to see that it’s a bottle of lube.
“Figured you could use it since you haven’t gotten laid in a while,” Thane baits, leaning back with a smug grin.
“You’re one to talk,” Kole quickly fires back. “I can’t even remember the last time you had someone over.”
“Why do you think Sophia’s coming to visit?” Thane says, the two of them seeming to not even care that Sienna and I are sitting right here, listening to the whole thing. In fact, hearing that he plans on sleeping with her is making my stomach knot to the point I feel like I’m going to be sick.
I get up and sprint to the bathroom, making it to the toilet just in time to throw up my breakfast. If this is some consequence of the mark, I’m going to be really pissed.
When I open the bathroom door, Thane is standing on the other side.
“What’s wrong?”
He reaches for my face, but I swat his hand away, shoving past him.
“Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing,” he says, appearing in front of me.
“I’m just not feeling good, okay?”
He takes a step back, looking me over like he’s not sure if he believes me, but I just huff out an irritated breath and step around him.
“You good?” Sienna asks when I sit back down beside her.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s next?” I ask in an attempt to breeze past the fact that I just ran to throw up after Thane alluded to having sex-plans with Sophia.
“Cookie decorating!” She jumps up, offering me her hands.
By the time Sienna leaves, I’m more than ready for bed.
We spent all day playing games and doing all the fun holiday activities she could think of, and I even got to test out my new bow and arrows on the target board.
It was the best Christmas I’ve ever had, maybe even the best day I’ve ever had, and it’s all thanks to her.
I slowly make my way up the stairs, the exhaustion of the day finally setting in.
Before I even make a move to shower, I plop down on the bed, replaying it all back with a smile on my face.
For so long, I’ve been in survival mode.
Living day by day, just trying not to die, but everything is different now, and today was the first day I’ve truly allowed myself to bask in this new life of mine.
Of course, I still have my reservations about it all, but for one day, I was able to forget about all of the bad… at least for the most part.
As I relive the day in my head, I get a small spurt of motivation and force myself to sit up, only when I do, I see a giant painting sitting up against the wall next to my door.
I sprint over to it, dropping to my knees.
Every single detail is painted to perfection, right down to the exact shades of my eyes and the small scar on my shoulder.
I pull the portrait closer, so I can get a better look and notice an envelope lying on the ground.
Grey,
This painting is your real present. I hope you like it.
Merry Christmas,
Thane
I continue to stare at the painting, running my eyes over every inch of it, completely in awe.
It’s like he’s memorized every one of my features.
Even someone painting me while looking directly at me would miss some of the details that he’s managed to capture from memory.
My heart beats more wildly every second I look at it.
My whole life, I’ve felt invisible, but this… it’s like someone finally sees me.
“Grey, can I come in?”
My heart nearly bolts from my chest when Kole knocks on my door, snapping me out of my thoughts. I quickly shove the letter back in the envelope and lean the painting up against the wall before opening my door.
Kole is standing with his hands behind his back and a playful smile pulling at his lips.
“Why do you look like you’re about to annoy me?” I ask, turning around to go sit on my bed.
“Annoy you? I came to give you your other present, but I guess if you don’t want it…”
“Wait, what present?”
He saunters over with an air of cockiness and sits down next to me, handing over a terribly wrapped box.
“I think you might like this better than the bow and arrows.”
I quickly unwrap it, eager to find out what it is, but when I open the box and see what’s inside, I shoot up from the bed and chuck it at him.
“A vibrator? Really, Kole?”
He pulls out the rose-shaped toy, holding it out to me. “What? I heard girls like getting flowers.”
I pounce on top of him, smacking his arm while he laughs hysterically at himself. Once I land my third blow, he pins my arms to his chest, pulling me so close to him that his breath caresses my face when he speaks.
“Just promise me that you’ll think of me when you use it.”
He releases me, and I jump off him, stepping back until I bump against the wall.
“Get out!” I demand, pointing to the door.
He waves his hands in the air as he moves to leave. “I get it. I get it. You need some privacy, so you can try out your new toy.”
I push him out into the hall and slam the door shut before tossing the vibrator in the bottom of my nightstand.
“Think of me when you use it.”
Yeah, that won’t be happening, that’s for damn sure.