Twenty-one
ALYSSA
I’M STARING at a huge, freaking shiny red car with a huge, shiny white bow on it. Merry Christmas, Sunshine is written across the windscreen. What the actual fudge?
“Ah, Zac, that’s a car!”
Turning to face him, I can see an enormous smile on his face. I’m taken aback. I haven’t seen him this happy for a while. I know he’s been hovering over me and trying to make sure I’m okay. It has taken a toll on him.
“Well, it has four wheels and what looks like a steering wheel inside it. So, yeah, it possibly is a car.” He laughs.
I’m stunned, not sure what to do or say. No one has ever given me a gift like a car before. I mean, what do you say to a gift like this? Oh, thanks, I love it! just doesn’t seem enough.
I’ve been standing in the same spot, just staring at this huge, bright red car for too long.
I can feel Zac’s gaze burning into me. Finally, he takes my hand, leading me to the driver’s side door.
Opening it, he picks me up and places me on the seat before walking around and climbing into the passenger seat.
“I don’t even know what to say,” I tell him, shaking my head as I look around the car.
“I believe the words we agreed on were: thanks, Zac.” He laughs.
Looking around, it dawns on me that this car is exactly the same as another car I’ve been in recently.
“Wait, is this the same car as Bray’s?” I ask.
Smiling, he says, “You said you loved Bray’s car, so I figured you could only love the model higher up from his even more.”
Not sure what to say to that, I lean over to him and kiss him, hoping that this kiss shows my appreciation of him, of his thoughtfulness, of the care and devotion he constantly provides me.
Pulling apart, I look him in the eye. “Zac, I freaking love this car,” I shriek, “but you really do not need to be buying me these kinds of gifts. It’s really too much.”
He stops me, placing a finger to my lips before I can tell him he should take it back.
“Sunshine, the car is yours. It’s in your name.
You can do whatever you want with it, but I am not, under any circumstances, returning the damn car.
So, before you even think about it, it would mean the absolute world to me if you accept this gift—not to mention the peace of mind it will give me, knowing you can drive yourself around in a safe car for those rare occasions I can’t drive you myself. ”
“Okay.” Kissing him lightly on his lips, I whisper, “Thank you, Zac. I freaking love it.”
He laughs before grabbing my face in his hands, tilting my head and deepening the kiss. Climbing over the centre console, I settle on top of Zac’s lap, grinding against him as he continues to assault my mouth with his tongue.
Groaning, he finally slows down his kiss before pulling back. “As much as I would love to christen this car, I don’t think a garage where our neighbours can walk by is the place to do it.”
Looking back over my shoulder, I peer through the windscreen to see an older couple waiting at the lift.
“You know when you kiss me like that, I lose all common sense. I wouldn’t notice who was watching.”
Zac grabs my ass in both hands. Squeezing, he says, “I don’t share, sunshine, and that includes letting any other fuckers see this ass that belongs to me.”
I grind my centre along the hardness of his cock. Holding my hips still, he says, “Do you want me to show you all the features of the car, or should we move on to your next gift already?”
“If the next gift is your cock in my pussy, then yes, let’s move on already!” I exclaim.
Opening the door, he pulls me out of the car with him before placing me on my feet.
“That’s not your next gift, but you never know it could be something even better.”
Shaking my head, I follow him back to the lift—not that I have any choice, considering my hand is tightly clasped in his. His grip is so firm, it’s almost like he thinks I’m going to run.
“Not sure anything could be better than that,” I mumble behind him. By the little chuckle that escapes his lips, I know he heard.
I’m sitting cross-legged on the floor in the gym, in a pair of running shorts and a sports bra, waiting for Zac.
He told me to meet him in the gym, to be ready to work out with him.
Secretly, I’m hoping that the workout he has in mind involves the clothes I’m wearing being removed.
All day, he has been surprising me with little gifts, randomly coming up with a box or gift bag in his hands when I’m least expecting it.
No one has ever wanted to give me gifts like this before, not to mention the freaking car, which I still can’t believe.
Everything from a beautiful silk scarf to a pair of diamond studs, which I can tell are real and probably of some carat I didn’t even know existed.
The smile on Zac’s face when I open each gift is what has kept me accepting them all day with something like a thanks, Zac, I love it!
response. He seems genuinely excited to see me open gifts.
I haven’t been able to wipe the smile off my face all day.
Hearing the click of the door opening, I look up, only for my smile to falter when I see Bray sauntering in and not Zac.
Making a dramatic scene of sniffing under his armpits, he says, “Nope, I don’t smell.
I don’t know why you’re looking so disappointed to see me walk through the door, Lyssa.
Do you realise how many ladies would swap places with you just to sit and watch me get all hot and sweaty?
” He waggles his eyebrows up and down at me.
I can’t help but laugh a little. “I was waiting for Zac. Have you seen him?”
Bray heads over to the weight bench, pulling his shirt over his head before lying down on it.
“Who?” he asks as he lifts the weight bar over his head.
How he is lifting that thing is beyond me. The weights on it look like they weigh a ton.
“Funny,” I say, getting up from my spot, walking over to him and glaring down at him.
“Where’s your brother, Bray? He told me to meet him in here. I’ve been waiting for fifteen minutes already.”
Bray continues to lift the weights up and down from his chest. “I saw him just a minute ago with Ella. She needed his help to wrap some shit. I’m sure he won’t be long. But feel free to stand there and enjoy your view for as long as you want,” he finishes with a wink.
“Oh, okay, I’ll just wait then. And eww, not even if you were the last man on earth, Braydon.” With that, I turn and head back to sit on the floor.
“You hurt my feelings, Lyssa. You know I have fragile self-esteem issues, and you go and say mean things like that to me. I thought we were friends.” Bray puts the bar back in its holder before sitting up and pouting at me.
“Oh my god, self-esteem issues? Yeah right. If your ego was any bigger, your head wouldn’t fit out the door. And stop pouting. It’s not a good look on you,” I say with a little giggle.
Just then, an idea comes to me, something I have been thinking about for a while now.
“Bray, since we are both in here and it seems I have some time to kill, how about you make yourself useful to me and teach me a few fighting moves?”
Putting on my brightest smile and fluttering my eyelashes does nothing to wipe the look of shock and despair crossing over Bray’s face.
“Do you really hate me that much?” he asks in all seriousness.
Confused, my eyebrows pull together. “What? Why would you think I hate you? Of course I don’t hate you.”
Bray just stands there, glaring at me. “You’re trying to get me killed, aren’t you?” he asks.
I shake my head no. I have no idea what his problem is.
“You’re asking me,” he says, pointing to his own chest, “to teach you,” he emphasises as he points to me, “to fight?”
“Well, yeah. Last I knew, you were a professional fighter. So, I figured, who else’s better to teach me to knock someone on their ass than you?” I shrug, really not understanding what the big deal is.
“Lyssa, sweetheart. If I taught you to fight, it would be the last thing I ever did,” he declares.
I think he actually believes that. However, I still don’t understand why he has such a problem with it.
“Why on earth would it be the last thing you did? Do you have some kind of medical issue I don’t know about? Like if I accidently punch you in the head, are you going to have an aneurysm or something?” I ask.
“Or something,” Bray says. “If I teach you to fight, you’re likely to get hurt in the process, not bad but probably a bruise here or there. If you get hurt because of me, I’m a dead man, because that crazy as fuck boyfriend of yours will kill me.”
At this, I laugh. I laugh so long and so hard at him I have to wipe tears from my eyes.
Noticing the tears, he adds, “Well shit, now I’ve made you cry, so I might as well go and dig my own grave.”
Shaking my head, I pull myself together. “Bray, Zac won’t kill you for teaching me how to protect myself. And if he wants to kill you for it, well, I’ll just tell him not to.”
Standing up, feeling energised suddenly, I bounce on the spot.
“Okay, so what’s the first thing I need to know?” I ask as I punch him in the arm then shake my hand out because, damn, hitting his arm was like hitting a brick wall.
“If I get killed, I’m coming back to haunt your ass until you’re in hell with me.”
He walks over to a shelf and retrieves a pair of gloves. After securing my fists into pink and purple gloves that look like they must belong to Ella, I bounce around, feeling the excitement building.
“First, you need to stop jumping around like a damn lunatic on speed. Hold your fist up like this.” He models holding his fist in the air in front of his face.
“Hold your left arm up, protect your face, and jab with your right, like this.” He jabs out stopping just before he makes contact with my face.
His hand comes at me so fast I don’t even notice it until it’s stopped just an inch away from my face.
“You would have just been knocked out cold. You didn’t even try to block. ”
“That’s because I didn’t even see it coming, jerk.”