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“It’s not important,” she said as she ripped her hand from his. “All that matters is that the wedding’s off, so no one has to worry about it.”
Fireworks exploded in my head. Assuming was one thing, but hearing it from her lips was another. My hands slid into the pockets of my pants as my right hand grazed across the small jewelry box, and suddenly, all my hopes and dreams were finally coming alive again. Hope filled my chest at the idea of being able to tell her how I truly felt about her, how I could give her all the things this asshole ex of hers never would be able to.
She greeted the rest of my brothers in haste before she stepped back and took a deep breath.
“So, who wants beer?” she asked.
Everyone nodded in approval, and I stepped forward from the pack and found my voice again.
“I’ll help you get everything. No use making two trips.”
I followed her into the kitchen, not able to take my eyes off the sway of her hips. She opened the fridge and started pulling out beers, passing them to me so I could open them. I twisted my hand around the cap, popping the tops off and setting them on the table. But then her beautiful giggle rose from behind me as I turned to grab the last one.
“What?” I asked.
“Those aren’t twist-top beers,” she said. “I was about to hand you the bottle opener.”
I smirked at her, and she simply shook her head. The callouses on my hands from rebuilding my father’s shed while I was here were more prominent than I realized, I guessed, but the fact that Kyra was giggling was enough for me.
“I have a gift for you,” I said.
“Oh?” she asked. “What is it?”
I pulled the jewelry box out from my pocket and handed it to her. I held my breath as her eyes looked down into the palm of her hand. Then I watched as she slowly pried the lid open. I watched her beautiful brown eyes light up as she pulled the rose gold locket from the box, and the moment she popped it open, I saw tears rise to her eyes.
“Oh, Owen,” she said, whispering.
Inside was a picture of all of us when we were children. We were all gathered around after her last day of eighth grade, and we had all just got done teasing her about entering high school at an early age. Kyra ended up skipping fifth and sixth grade, which meant she was two years younger than anyone else in her class. She had always been incredibly bright, and I could remember the moment she looked up into my eyes just after that photo and smiled.
She told me it was the best day of her life, and I wanted her to hang that day around her neck for the rest of her life.
“I love it,” she said.
“You do?” I asked.
“‘The best day of my life’,” she said, grinning.
“Would you like me to put it on you?” I asked.
“Would you?”
“Of course.”
I took the locket from her and stepped around to her back. She lifted her hair up for me as I put the necklace around her neck, and I leaned in to get the faintest smell of her shampoo as my skin grazed hers. Her hair smelled like the beach, a scent I would fall asleep remembering tonight as I clasped it around her neck.
Then, I bent down to her ear as my hands traveled around the curves of her shoulders.
“Merry Christmas,” I said.
And I could’ve sworn her body leaned into mine.
I allowed my hands to trail down the softness of her arms before I wrapped them around her body. Her hands crooked up and grabbed onto my forearms, her fingernails lightly tracing the veins bulging from underneath my skin. I allowed my nose to nuzzle up her neck, testing my boundaries while her body physically fell back into mine, but before I could kiss her beautiful skin, we heard someone coming.
And just like that, Kyra stepped away from me and went to go grab the beers.
“You coming?” she asked breathlessly.
My eyes held hers for a beat and a half before I nodded reluctantly.
