Chapter 17 #3
He cocked a brow. “What’d I do?” he said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “Geez, get mad at a guy for simply existing.”
Katie passed around the rest of the gifts and settled in on the floor next to the fire with Derek and opened her presents from me.
First, a set of boob-shaped stress-balls, complete with swinging bat nipple piercings to prove to her she really was insane for thinking her tits looked like that. And second, a check.
She leapt into the air, kissing the check. “Maggie Maxwell, how dare you!” she screamed with feigned indignation. “We were supposed to do it together!”
I shrugged and she ran over, plowing into me, almost knocking me on my ass. She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Raven this time Graham didn’t falter. He was a solid, immovable wall, ready to take whatever Hunter doled out and give it back and then some.
“Hunter, I said stop!” I grabbed his arm and yanked, but his mind was already made up. He shoved me back into the wall. Graham’s face went dangerous.
“Would you two just stop it?!”
“Why, and let this pain in the arse ruin your party?” Hunter’s gaze cut to me, then back to Graham.
“Hey!” Graham held up his hands. “I’m not the one wrecking Max’s party.”
“Her name’s Maggie, you wanker.”
Oh, my God.
I cradled Graham’s gift in the crook of one arm and threw the other up for effect as I rolled my eyes. “You’re both fucking unbelievable!” I groaned and walked away, shaking my head.
I wasn’t about to sit there and watch two grown men act like children—again—so I popped into the kitchen, tucked the owls back into the box, and traded them for whatever was left of the magnum bottle of champagne my mom had been hoarding since Wonder Tits arrived.
Mom had left me half—which was another fucking trigger.
Wasn’t she supposed to be this shining example of righteousness?
By the time I finished the bottle, maybe I’d have a hard time remembering the disaster of this evening.
I brought the bottle to my lips and took three big gulps before traipsing past Graham and Hunter still shoving one another…
coming up with trashy insults, just being… assholes.
They didn’t even notice I’d walked by—not really anyway. Maybe it was better that way… I could be up the stairs and passed out before anyone noticed… and that alone made me breathe a little easier.