Page 168 of Reckless Vengeance

“Good morning! Merry Christmas!” Josie exclaimed as I walked into the living room the next morning freshly showered and feeling like I’d gotten a decent sleep for once.

Tyler and I also possibly had a bump or two of powder prior to that, but that wasn’t the point.

“Merry Christmas,” I smiled, accepting her hug on my way to the couch, sitting next to Skeeter.

I watched the guys tearing open presents on the floor like they were little kids, and Skeeter gave me a look, seeming to think the whole thing was ridiculous.

“Come on, you too,” Josie said brightly, motioning to more presents under the tree.

“Us, what?” I frowned.

“Open your presents!”

Discomfort hit me, glancing at the pile and trying to see my name from my spot. I’d told her not to, I was used to not doing this.

She must have gotten tired of waiting because she grabbed some presents and carried them over, handing one to each of us.

“Start there.”

Skeeter looked confused, glancing between the present in his hand and Josie. “You got me a present?”

“I spoil all my kids, so there’s more than one,” she chuckled, motioning for us to hurry up as she went back to the tree to grab more.

It was like Skeeter had never received a gift before, picking at the paper carefully as if it was going to explode in his hands, and I turned my focus to mine as I opened it.

It started with little things, like the mascara I liked and some new jeans. Then it turned into new headphones, the type I never would have been able to afford, a new laptop, and a new phone that I was pretty sure hadn’t even released yet.

Skeeter looked awkward as he took in his gifts. He also had new clothes, cologne, a chain necklace that I thought would suit him, and he also had a new Xbox and phone.

“Josie—” he started, but she shushed him.

“I know you can probably get your own things, but I did this for me. It makes me happy to buy you all things. Just say thank you and move on,” she scolded lightly, leaning down to give him a one-armed hug. “Merry Christmas, Skeet.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly, glancing at his gifts like he couldn’t believe it. It was overwhelming for both of us, and I honestly didn’t know what to say other than thank you.

There was wrapping paper everywhere, the guys having the time of their lives as they checked out their new things, and I felt bad for not getting Josie anything. I hadn’t even thought about it, not used to celebrating it.

She made waffles and pancakes for breakfast, shooing us all away once we’d eaten so we could set up our new things, and I could tell Skeeter was a little excited about the Xbox.

“You taking it home or leaving it here?” I asked as he followed me into my bedroom.

“I'll take it home. If I play here, I usually just use one of the guys’,” he replied, placing his gifts on the floor out of the way. “Is this phone even released yet?”

“Not until March,” I chuckled, sitting on the bed as we opened our phones to set them up.

“She didn’t have to get me anything,” he grumbled. “She didn’t even know I was going to be here today.”

“She would have brought it to you. She’s a pretty cool mom like that,” I smiled, lying back as the phone powered on.

It was quiet for a while as we got the phones up and running, and when we plugged them both in to charge properly, Skeeter sighed.

“You want to tell me why you’re doing blow for breakfast?”

“Huh?”

“Your pupils are fucked.”

“It was just to wake myself up a little, that’s all,” I shrugged, his hand cupping my chin to force my eyes to his.