Chapter 34 #3
Scarlett stares down at the keys as Bohnes peers over her shoulder, frowning.
He knows the Chevelle is too heavy for the P-Trip track, less useful in a space that has rules and doesn’t allow total annihilation or gunfire during a race.
The Vette is perfect, a car that could guarantee even the most mediocre driver a high placement.
And Scarlett? My princess isn’t any ordinary driver. The thought of her obliterating the Stars and Stripes race in my car, that wet pussy soaking my seat in search of a trophy…I could cum in my pants again. Easy.
“I’ll check over the Stingray after cinnamon rolls then?” Basti asks, cracking his knuckles and lifting a brow. “If you can ride it, you can win it, eh Scar?”
“You know it, bitch.” Scarlett puts her blade away, fist-bumping her besties before she leads the way into the kitchen with me on her heels.
Ash is staring down at a package in his hands, tears streaming freely down his face.
I’m on edge right then, ready to fight. I storm over to him and tear the item from his grip, scowling and huffing, ready to throw down with Jonas or whoever else might’ve sent something here to upset him.
Instead of something vicious, I find the most random assortment of items inside the box. A bunch of tubes made of brown paper and tied with string on either end. A dozen of them.
“Christmas crackers,” Ash whispers, using the sleeve of his sweater to wipe away the tears before he reaches into the box and pulls one out.
He turns one end of it on me and forces a smile through his emotions.
Even with Chet dead, Ash is not convinced that he’s going to make it through this. “Pull, Adrian.”
Holding the box under one arm, I use my free hand to do what he asks, flinching slightly at the sharp pop sound that follows.
Red and green and gold confetti spirals to the floor along with a few small items and a pink paper crown.
Ash bends down and picks that up, unfolding it and setting it awkwardly on the top of my head.
In this strange new reality that we all live in, I let him.
“Thank you, Patricia,” he says. “That was very thoughtful. I haven’t seen one of these since I left school.”
Scarlett’s grandmother snorts, returning her attention to the trays of cinnamon rolls spread out across the counter in front of her.
My right hand touches the edges of the paper crown with shaky fingers.
Fuck! I am absolutely not as mean as I wish I were. I like it here, in a kitchen that smells like cinnamon, with a best friend who cries over paper crowns and carries a samurai sword on him at all times.
“The video just dropped!” Emma Jean calls excitedly from the direction of the breakfast nook.
She’s talking about the surveillance video of the fight that happened between Chet and Polina in the parking lot at the winery.
Paired with the next video Emma’s planning to release (the one Ash filmed with Polina where they plead for help against Chet’s violence and threats), that’ll take care of Chet’s alibi.
Ash and I ignore Emma, caught up in this surreal snow globe of life together. He leans in close to me, whispering low enough that even Scarlett can’t hear. She’s pissed about it, but lets the slight go in the name of bromance.
“Surely, we could spare some time to play a video game together today? Have you ever done that, played a game side-by-side with someone? You said you wanted to play on your birthday…” Ash tucks a small item into my pocket. “My gift for you.”
He saunters off to help Patricia, leaving me with his box of Christmas crackers. I set them aside and pull out the gift he’s just given me. Scarlett steps closer to take a look, the pair of us staring down at the birthday present I’ve just been given.
It’s a die-cast car, a purple ‘69 Corvette Stingray.
I clench my fingers around it, so tight that they almost hurt.
“When the fuck do you think he had time to get that?” Scarlett wonders, rubbing at her forehead as she casts a strange glance in Ash’s direction.
“First, bone necklaces. Then a paper crown. Now this?” She tsks her tongue.
“And poor me over here, too busy to gift you much except exclusive access to my puss—” Scarlett cringes as a spatula spanks her hard on her ass, giving Alexei a heart attack when Patricia only rinses the utensil with water before using it again.
“Language.”
I tuck the car in my pocket, taking out another Christmas cracker and offering the end to my wife.
“Believe me, princess. That’s the only gift I’d ever want.
” We tug on the cracker and cheap toys explode all over the floor, a red crown swirling to the ground between us like an autumn leaf.
I bend down to pick it up, putting it on Scarlett’s head and then wrapping my arm around her waist so that I can drag us together.
“Mistletoe,” I explain huskily when Patricia gives us a nasty look.
And then I give Scarlett a devastating kiss with full tongue, ignoring my own Patricia-given swat to the ass with a wooden spoon.
“I’m going to win that race tomorrow. Can you boys stay out of trouble while I get that trophy?” she murmurs against my mouth. I’m too pussy-drunk to do much more than nod.
If hedonism is really a thing, then that’s what my birthday is.
Instead of being homeless, I am home sweet home.