Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bodhi
I know what my best friend is going to say before he says it. The amusement is written on his face as soon as he walks into the room with a bright pink wrapped box under his arm. “Dude,” Henderson muses, staring at the paint currently covering my face.
I’m not sure why I let my daughter convince me that she needed a face painter at her party, or why I allowed her to pick out the design she wanted for me. But, here I am, painted like a purple unicorn with glitter that I have a feeling won’t be coming off very easily.
“She’s going to convince you to sit down and get painted too,” I warn. “So don’t get cocky.”
Henderson shakes his head. “No way in hell am I letting someone do that to me. I don’t need to see the pictures that will circulate.”
I deadpan. “You mean the ones that you will inevitably take of me and post online like a dick?”
He snickers but doesn’t deny it. “Where is the birthday girl, anyway? Tori made me get my gift approved by her before I purchased it, so no more Nerf gun injuries can occur.”
Thank God for his wife. “She and Honor are in the kitchen sneaking sugar like I don’t see the bright pink frosting on her face every time they come out. I’m pretty sure they’ve both had three mini cupcakes by now.”
He snickers as he waves at Joe and Helen from across the room. “So she has an enabler friend now,” Sebastian notes, turning back to me.
“Who? Honor?”
He snorts. “No. Gemma.”
I can’t help but grin. “How can you say no to a face like hers?”
Gemma and Honor come out of the kitchen just then, both with different designs painted on their faces.
Honor is a bright green alien with purple gems on her cheeks that make her look like Gemma’s giraffe Jordan, and Gemma is some sort of princess, with a tiara that Helen brought for her to wear today.
It matches the pink tutu she insisted on wearing over her lime green leggings and black T-shirt with a dog on it that looks a lot like Puck.
A shirt she begged me to buy her the last time we were at the store.
“So I can match Puck,” was her reasoning.
“Daddy!” Gemma says, running up to me. She stops when she sees Sebastian, examining his face. “Uncle Bash, you need to get painted. I has the perfect one for you picked out!”
I lift my eyebrows at my best friend, waiting for him to turn her down. Like I expected, he simply groans knowing that he can’t. “Don’t you want to see what I got you first?” he asks in an attempt to free himself from his inevitable fate.
The stubborn little girl shakes her head. “No. You need to be painted first. We do presents later.” She takes his hand and starts tugging him toward the area the artist set up.
And he doesn’t fight her. Although I hear him muttering, “Who doesn’t like to open their presents right away?” as he’s dragged across the room.
I wink at him as soon as my daughter forces him into the chair and points toward the image of a neon pink pony hanging on the wall of designs to choose from.
When Henderson turns toward me, he’s glaring as if this is all my fault. Which, I guess it is.
But all I do is say, “Neigh,” and laugh when he flips me off as soon as Gemma isn’t looking.
Honor swats my arm. “Be nice.”
I grin down at her as I drape an arm across her shoulders. “Did I mention how hot you look? Didn’t realize how bad I wanted to fuck an alien until I saw you.”
Her eyes roll. “That was lame.”
I have no shame. “Having fun?”
Her smile brightens. “Yes. Although, I’m almost positive this paint is going to make me break out. If the paint won’t, the amount of sugar Gemma keeps handing me will.”
I knew they were breaking into the good stuff. “You’re allowed to tell her no.”
She sighs. “I know, but it’s her birthday.”
“Technically, it isn’t her birthday until Christmas,” I tell her with a shrug. “So you can turn her down. It will make getting her to bed a hell of a lot easier.”
Before she can answer, Joe walks over with the same beer he’s been nursing all day. “You two have never looked better,” he compliments in amusement. Gemma took it easy on him and only asked the artist to paint a rainbow on his forehead.
Helen joins us with nothing but the makeup she arrived with on. Apparently, that was enough for her granddaughter because I haven’t seen Gemma try bringing her over like she has almost everybody else.
“It’s good to see you so happy,” Helen tells me with a soft smile. “The way Gemma adores Honor…” Her voice gets a little shaky, so she clears it. “Well, it’s nice to see. That’s all.”
I look down at Honor, who’s glancing over at Gemma supervising her Uncle Bash get painted. Or, more likely, Gem is making sure he doesn’t escape before the masterpiece is finished. “We’re lucky we found her.”
That gets Honor’s attention, moving her eyes back up to me with a sheepish smile.
We stare at one another for a while, until Joe speaks up. “Inez would have been happy that Gemma has more people in her life that cares about her as much as she did.”
The words hit me straight in the chest, and he knows it. I reach my hand out toward Inez’s father and shake it. “Thank you.” My words come out watery. “That means a lot to me, Joe.”
He squeezes my hand once and dips his head once as if to say you’re welcome.
Helen takes Honor’s hands between hers. “I am glad they have you, sweetie. And I want you to consider what I said. I have at least three people who’d be interested in hiring you.
And if there’s one thing I know as I get older, is that old hens like me like to cluck.
Your name would get around very quickly. ”
I turn to Honor. “Your photography?”
She nods. “I’m doing the wedding.”
I press a kiss against the top of her head. “I’m glad to hear that, honey.”
She nibbles her bottom lip. “Maybe I can expand my photography again in Connecticut. Start a business of my own.”
It’s Joe who says, “Connecticut?”
Since I don’t know all the details, it’s not something I plan on announcing anytime soon to people. But Joe and Helen are different. “It looks like we may be moving closer to you.”
Their faces brighten with the news.
I turn back to Honor. “And I really like the sound of that, Honor. I’ll do whatever I can to help you start something. We’ll figure it out.”
Gemma breaks us up with her excited squeal, pulling a very unenthusiastic Sebastian along with her.
Honor covers her mouth to hide her smile.
Joe chuckles.
And I crack the biggest grin. “Oh. That is definitely winding up on the internet, bro.”
He glares at me.
And hours later, we post a picture together that racks up more likes than my last game-day pic taken by Honor herself.
*
Honor’s soft giggles echo in the empty room that’s lit only by the candles I spent over thirty minutes lighting. Her eyes are closed as I lead her to the table covered in white linen, with plates, cutlery, and food that I spent over an hour ordering, driving to pick up, and trying to keep warm.
“Can I open them yet?” she asks, still holding onto me with one hand and Puck’s leash with the other.
I stop her by her seat and let go. “Yes.”
When she sees the room, empty save the round table and two chairs set up in the middle, she slowly turns to me. “When did you have time to do this?” she asks in awe.
Then she takes another look around the room and sucks in a breath. “Is this the house on Elm?”
The wallpaper accent wall across from us gives it away. “You said it was your favorite.”
She blinks, glancing from the walls to the table, and then at me. “The realtor let you do this?”
My lips pull up at the corners. “Sit down, honey.” I slide her seat out and gesture for her to sit before pushing her in.
Then I round the table and take mine across from her.
Puck sits beside us, staring longingly at the bowl of food that I put out for him, so I nod and he goes over and begins eating his dinner.
“You said this was your favorite place,” I begin, getting her attention. “None of the other places we looked at compared. And there’s a house out back that can easily be converted into a studio for you to finally start your own business.”
Her throat bobs.
We’ve been looking at different houses in Connecticut since I called Yokav to accept his offer.
It wasn’t until the ink was dried on the contract when Honor and I got serious about checking out the real estate.
We considered school districts, the amount of acreage for Gemma and Puck to run around on, and extra rooms for a family to grow.
Someday.
“So,” I continue, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a key. When she sees me slide it over to her, her eyes widen. “I put in an offer and the owners accepted.”
The breath she releases is quiet. “But…” She blinks, gaping at the silver key. “You liked the other ones.”
I chuckle. “Honey, I liked them all. You want to know why I loved this one, though?”
She slowly nods, as if entranced by the polished metal. “Why?”
“Because of how your face lit up as soon as you stepped inside,” I explain, locking eyes with her as they lift to meet mine.
“I could tell that you felt like this was home. And I felt it too. What really sealed the deal was when you stepped into the first bedroom and said Gemma would love the mural on the wall. No hesitation. No question. That’s when I knew this was the one. ”
Her eyes become glassy, but I know the tears aren’t because she’s sad. “I knew you were being weird this week” is what she says, making a laugh bubble out of me.
I lift a shoulder. “It killed me not to tell you, but I figured you wouldn’t mind if I went ahead and did this. I showed Gem, Joe, and Helen the pictures. They all love it. And the realtor gave me a number for a contractor who can help us with the studio renovation when we’re ready.”
Honor is quiet for a long time, and I wonder if maybe I fucked up. Should I have told her? Did she not love this house as much as I thought she did?
All of that worry goes away when she reaches over and cups her hand over mine. “I love you.”
Three fucking words.
Three words that change my life.
I’ve heard them before. From Gemma. From friends. From my parents. But hearing them from Honor is an entirely different feeling.
“Say it again,” I tell her, swallowing past the lump in my throat.
Honor smiles. “I love you, Bodhi.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “How badly do you want food right now? I ordered all of this from Red’s, which your dad said was your favorite diner as a kid. But I can warm it up later.”
She knows exactly why I’m asking. “I could wait a little while longer…”
That’s all it takes for me to come over to her, bend down, and kiss her.
I claim her mouth.
Her cunt.
And everything in between.
Right before I come, before I dive into the sea of bliss with her wrapped around me, I lean forward and brush my lips against her ear to whisper, “I love you too, honey.”
She breaks apart the same time I do, riding the wave of pleasure that crashes into both of us.
Because three words…
Three words have changed everything.