I shrug. “Why make something I don’t need when I could make something for someone else?”
“What grade did you get?” he asks, grinning up at me.
“B+,” I huff with pursed lips. “Apparently, my technique improved through the semester, but I failed to prove I had an adequate understanding of color. Might have had something to do with the fact that everything I made was black, grey, or silver.” When they all start to snicker, I defend, “What? Iknewthat all matched, and black is timeless.”
“Look, bracelet bros,” Nolan cheers, holding up his wrist next to Felix’s… painfully highlighting my lack of imagination when it comes to made gifts since they both share the same color palette of black and silver.
“Wait, she madeyoua bracelet too?” Donovan questions, frowning at the jewelry in question.
Nolan grins and shakes his wrist, the beads audibly clicking against each other. “Yup. Birthday present.”
“Can I get one?” Donovan asks, his intense gaze burning across my skin.
“I made you a magic sword,” I sputter, confused as to why he would want one of my lame attempts at jewelry making.
“Yeah, but the police tend to get twitchy if I run around with a sword strapped to my back every day. People tend to notice that and start asking questions,” Donovan counters with a smirk. He tucks his thumbs into his pockets, doing that thing where he attempts to distract me by tugging enough on his pants that, depending on how he stands, there’s a visible sliver of his hips.
“I’d like one too,” Connor confesses, his voice low, and there’s an endearing shyness hovering just beneath the surface of his placid gaze that makes it impossible to deny him.
“All right, fine,” I sigh, scrubbing at my face. “Man jewelry for everyone. Now, how about you all finish unwrapping the gifts I already got you.”
The guys settle back in their places next to their gifts—Felix and I sit on the couch between Connor and Nolan.
Connor examines the gifts in front of him and grabs the envelope on top to open first.
“That’s actually from all of us,” I inform him, feeling nervous energy buzzing along my skin because I don’t know if he’ll love or hate the gift.
He quietly reads my handwritten words across the nice cardstock.
One free full home makeover.
“It was Callie’s idea,” Kaleb explains, when Connor looks up from the paper in his hands. “We all agreed to pitch in to help.”
“Since you won’t let me burn it down or bury it under thousands of feet of dirt like I did to my old place,” I explain awkwardly, my heart hammering because the stupid mate bond isn’t helping. He seems to be stunned past emotion. “I thought maybe if we… changed some things, remodeled it a little, then it wouldn’t feel like the same place. We could help make it feel like a home.”
“Gracias, Reina,”he murmurs, after several painful seconds of silence.
“You like it?” I chirp, fidgeting with the edge of the couch cushion while he carefully puts the card stock back in its envelope.
He nods then looks up into my eyes. With our gazes locked, I now have a better understanding of what he’s feeling, seeing the familiar shadows dancing in his eyes. Even though he does want the gift, it’s difficult to summon joy when it’s attached to something so painful. Hopefully, breaking down and rebuilding within the Alpha house will do the same for some of the more painful memories inside him. The heart of the winter solstice is about letting go of the past to build a brighter future.
“Can’t wait to bash a sledgehammer through some of those walls,” Donovan comments, clearly excited to rain destruction on the house of horrors.
Now that they’ve each unwrapped their more heartfelt gifts, the guys pick up their remaining presents—boxes that are all the same size and wrapped in the same over-the-top holiday print of smiling Christmas trees and fat Santas.
Nolan cautiously shakes the box, listening to the soft thumps of the item inside sliding back and forth within the box. “Doesn’t sound like a bomb.”
“Ha ha, just open it,” I command, then lean my face into Felix’s shoulder, attempting to hide the wicked grin that keeps tugging at my lips.
There are the sounds of tearing paper before Donovan stops halfway through. “Why doesn’t Felix have one of these boxes?”
“Because he got a bracelet. Now keep going,” I tell him, turning my head so I can watch the moment they see what’s inside.
“There’s no way I’m wearing this,” Nolan states when he finally sees it, and I cackle maniacally.
Kaleb holds up the gift, frowning at the tent-sized, ugly Christmas sweater. His is retina burning red, covered in snowflakes, and a cross-eyed reindeer with a light up nose. Connor’s is blue with three wolves wearing Santa hats howling at the moon over a garish Christmas pattern. Donovan’s is green with a giant, light up Christmas tree, and Nolan’s is mostly white with a jolly elf’s body printed below the collar.
“Sorry, Angel. I’m with Nolan,” Donovan agrees, holding up the sweater like it’ll bite him.
