“Uh huh,” he says. “So are you going to give it to her then?”
I laugh, shaking my head at him. “Yeah, I’ll go get it right now,” I say, giving him a gentle shoulder nudge on my way past as I head inside to grab Quinn’s present.
Everyone is here, and Kai was right when he said they’re all my family now. It feels like that, like I fit in completely and without conditions, without judgment or fear of doing something I’m not supposed to. It’s natural, and there are moments when it feels like I’ve known them all for longer than just the time I’ve been here.
“Oh my god, just open this,” Daisy laments, rolling her eyes as she pushes a gift bag toward me. “He’s taking forever, and I swear to god, if he’s in there decorating his dick, I will lose my shit on him.”
The outdoor deck erupts in laughter, but I see Eli shake his head before walking over to Daisy. He slings an arm around her shoulder, his muscles flexing as he does, tattoos decorating his skin.
“Daze, I gotta tell ya, he’s a different man. Quinn has changed him,” Eli counters, correcting her with a mock disappointed look on his face. “Not sure who I’m going to pick up girls with now.”
Shrugging, Eli steps away, leaning back against the deck railing as we all wait for Kai to return. He is taking a long time, and I’m starting to wonder if he is trying to tie a ribbon around his dick and struggling.
“Gotta find yourself a girl,” Owen chimes in. “You’re the odd man out now. Do you really wanna be the ripped old dude on the beach picking up chicks in ten years?”
“Why not? That doesn’t sound all that bad,” Eli jokes back. “Look at my dad. Still single, living his best life. Sailing around the world.”
Before Eli can elaborate on this, Kai reappears, everyone turning to look at him, and Daisy lets out a gasp.
“Kai,” she murmurs, swallowing hard, almost like she can’t get the rest of her words out. Her lips are pressed together in a smile as tears begin to well up in her eyes.
“Oh, you didn’t?” Alana croons, her head cocked sweetly to the side as she watches Kai walk toward me.
In his arms is something oversized and covered with the cutest wrapping paper. It’s all glittery balloons and tied with gold ribbon. I can’t even imagine how long it took him to wrap it with its size, and I also can’t even begin to figure out what the hell it is.
“You even wrapped it,” Sloane squeals, adorable and full of excitement. Owen smiles down at her, wrapping his arm around her waist as he leans down and kisses her temple.
But then it hits me. This group, these people, what they love and what Kai does for a living, and it feels beyond special to know that what he’s about to give me, he made by hand.
“Dude,” Eli says, giving Kai a slow nod and a smile. “Great call. Fucking epic.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” Miles adds, and the more they talk, the more I know exactly what’s behind the wrapping.
“Okay, babe, you ready for your gift?” Kai asks, leaning it against the wall next to me, and I move closer to him.
Daisy lets out a hard sigh and coos, “You called her babe.” Swiping at the tears that well up in her eyes again.
I just can’t get over this group of people. They have so much love for each other, so much support and kindness. It’s just so damn beautiful to see, especially when I lost so much and never thought I’d regain it again. But each day that passes here, each day that I spend with Kai and his friends, it feels more and more like home.
“Okay, can you all fucking cool it? You’re embarrassing the fuck out of me,” Kai quips, but there’s this loose smile on his lips, a look of self-satisfaction on his face. He’s proud of what he’s made, and he’s about to show it off.
“Yeah, yeah, stop embarrassing him,” Nate says, sounding like the parent of the group. “Let Quinn open her present.”
And that’s just what I do.
Pushing up on my toes to reach the top, I slowly peel back the paper, but I don’t take in what he’s made just yet. I work my way down, revealing it to all of them first with each removal of the wrapping until I reach the floor.
I look over at Kai, a nervousness blanketing his face now, and he’s just so perfect. In all the time I’ve gotten to know him, I have never felt that he isn’t being honest with me. He shows exactly how he’s feeling with everything in him.
Finally looking at the board, I take it all in, my fingers running over the smoothness of it, touching each detail as I do.
It’s this beautiful shade of soft pink, and I have no idea how he knew that it’s my favorite color, but nothing about him surprises me anymore.
With a small yellow stripe running down the middle of the board, and in the top corner, there’s the logo of Olsen Boards running right along the edge.
But in the center is a beautiful bright white lotus flower surrounded by light blue water droplets, and I let my fingers dance over it for a few seconds.
I know how much this means to Kai and how important surfing is, so a gift like this is beyond special. It’s extraordinary, and he must have been working on it for a while. Something like this isn’t built overnight.
