“That’s it,” Eli says with a nod as Owen and Sloane call out from the front door before he walks into the house to greet them.
I blink, confused at his response, certain he was going to give me shit for falling for a girl and wanting to get involved with her.
“Hey,” Owen says as he walks out to the back deck.
Eli and Sloane follow behind him, Eli with an arm casually draped around Sloane’s shoulders. It makes me smile to see, because Sloane has always been slightly standoffish with all of us. Since she’s been dating Owen, though, she’s really kind of come out of her shell, and it’s super cool to see.
“Hey,” I say, pulling Owen into a hug.
“Kai’s in love with Quinn,” Eli announces at the same time, Sloane giggling.
“Oh jesus,” I groan, leaning in to kiss Sloane on the cheek. “Dude, don’t listen to your cousin. I think he’s lifted too many weights and burst a blood vessel or something.”
Eli laughs, crossing his arms over his chest, which is huge even if he isn’t even trying to puff it out. “I’ve lost my wingman. He’s admitted it,” he now says.
“That’s because he and Quinn are dating,” comes Alana’s voice as she, Flynn, Nate, Sage, Daisy and Miles all round the corner of the house.
“And,” I start, just as I see Quinn behind them, a nervous look on her face, like maybe she’s heard some of this conversation and is wondering where it’s going. I smile at her, walking over and pulling her into my arms. “Hey,” I whisper, before dropping a quick kiss to her lips. “Happy birthday, babe,” I add, even though I said it to her this morning when I took her to breakfast and again when I met her at work for lunch, texting it to her multiple times throughout the day too.
Quinn giggles. “Your friends are all looking at us,” she whispers.
I roll my eyes. “They’re just jealous,” I tell her as I hear Flynn say, “Dude, you owe me fifty bucks.”
Quinn and I turn to see Eli shake his head with a laugh as he pulls a fifty from his pocket and hands it to Flynn.
“I can’t believe those assholes bet on us,” I say as we turn and head onto the deck.
“I think it was you they bet on,” Quinn teases. “Not me.”
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” I ask, slinging an arm around her shoulders as Quinn just laughs, and we join the others.
Everyone has brought her gifts, which I fucking love, and Daisy is holding a birthday cake. “It’s a double-layered cake that’s half coconut and half pink vanilla,” she says, a sly smile on her face. “Your favorite flavor and Kai’s favorite flavor.” She’s grinning at us, giving me a quick wink as she puts the cake on the table beside the gifts.
“Thank you, Daisy,” Quinn says, immediately pulling her into a hug. Behind them, I see my brother smirk at me, his arms crossed against his chest as he tips his head in the direction of his fiancée and my girl.
“What?” I mouth.
Miles just smirks, and I respond by flipping him off, which only makes him laugh.
“Open your presents,” Daisy now says, clapping her hands as she steers Quinn toward the table.
“I can’t believe this,” Quinn whispers. “You guys didn’t need to do all of this.”
“Sure we did!” Alana says as she looks over the table before turning to me. “Where’s your present?”
I laugh, dropping an arm around Quinn’s shoulders as I press a kiss to her temple. “It’s in my bedroom. It’s?—”
“Oh my fucking god,” Miles says.
“What?”
“It’s in your bedroom?” he repeats, a smirk on his face as Nate laughs beside him.
“Yeah,” I reply, knowing exactly what he’s thinking right now. “It’s kinda too big to put on the table,” I add with a smirk. I’m tempted to grab my junk just to fuck with him because I know he’s thinking my present to Quinn is me, naked.
Which it will be.
But not in front of these guys.
