Chapter 21
By noon my office looked like every other day. Monitors up. Security dashboards green, email stacked, and coffee half-gone. Only difference was my phone.
Every time I set it down, it buzzed.
Steph reacting to the post. Kasey sending heart emojis and talking about “sister-in-law era.” My mama calling to ask when she could plan a baby shower. I was in the middle of a contract when the group FaceTime came through.
WOLF Tom Ford, Lost Cherry, greeted us.
“Okay,” she sighed, kicking off her flats. “Now about that back rub you promised.”
“In a second,” I said, catching her waist as she walked past. “I know I’m a day late, but I have your gifts.”
She stopped, turning in my arms with a surprised arch of her brow. “Batman, you already did the breakfast, the movies, and you just fed me. I didn’t think you had actual boxes.”
“I always have a plan, Sev,” I murmured. “Sit.”
I led her to the couch and went into my office, grabbing the two bags I’d tucked away in the closet earlier this week. I walked back out and set them on the coffee table in front of her.
She looked at the bags, then at me. “Which one first?”
“Small one,” I said, sitting on the edge of the ottoman so I could watch her face.
She reached into the first bag and pulled out a small, velvet-lined box. When she opened it, she went still. It was a necklace—a delicate gold chain with two small charms. A tiny bat, and a tiny, stylized ‘7’ encrusted with diamonds.
“Kasen,” she whispered, lifting it out.
“So you remember where you come from and who’s watching your back,” I said. “Even when I’m annoying you.”
She laughed, a little watery, and handed it to me so I could clip it around her neck. “I love it.”
“There’s more,” I reminded her, nodding toward the second, larger bag.
She reached in and pulled out something soft. It was a custom-made, oversized silk robe. On the back, embroidered in that same anime font from the video, it said: THE QUEEN OF STUDIO 7.
But it was what was inside the robe that made her eyes teary.
She pulled out a tiny, newborn-sized black onesie. On the front, in bright yellow, was the Batman symbol. On the back, it simply said: PLAYER 4.
Sevyn clutched the tiny piece of fabric to her chest, her bottom lip trembling. “Player 4,” she repeated softly.
“He’s gotta have the right gear for the first level,” I said, feeling my ears heat up again.
She didn’t say anything for a long moment. She just leaned forward, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me into a kiss that tasted like gratitude and something much deeper.
“Best birthday yet,” she murmured against my lips.
“Good,” I said, shifting so I could finally get to her shoulders. “Now, stay right there. I believe I owe someone a back rub.”
“Yes, you do,” she sighed, leaning into my touch as I started to work the tension out of her muscles. “And Kasen?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m really gonna like living here.”
I smiled, my thumbs pressing into a knot in her shoulder. “Me too, Sev. Me too.”