Erin McCarthy - Believe

Easton was trying to climb the banister to the second floor and he said, “It’s your birthday, bitch .”

That made me laugh, breaking the tension I’d been feeling.

“Easton!” Tyler reprimanded.

Robin’s eyes were wide. “Sorry, Phoenix, I didn’t think . . . I just thought it would be fun to surprise you.”

She looked so upset I felt bad. I stood up and leaned around Easton to give her a quick kiss. “Oh, you definitely surprised me. Thanks, babe.” I reached my hand out to Riley to help him up.

“At least we know we’re safe if the house is ever broken in to,” Kylie said cheerfully. “I mean, you were basically about to rearrange Riley’s face. How awesome is that?”

“Super awesome,” Riley agreed, then rolled his eyes.

“I could hear breathing,” I told him. “No one should be breathing in the dark.”

“I have a cold,” Jayden said. “Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s cool, U,” I said, giving him a fist bump. “Thanks for coming. No one has ever given me a surprise party before. I wasn’t expecting it.”

Jayden gave me a look like I was the one who needed the short bus. “That’s why it’s a surprise .”

He had me there. “Good point, man. I stand corrected.”

Hell, I’d never had a birthday party at all, let alone a surprise birthday party. For my twentieth, I had taken Angel to Olive Garden, but she had embarrassed me by getting pissed at the waiter when he wouldn’t let her order a jack and coke. Then the bill had come, and I’d felt sick that I had spent fifty bucks on a dinner that I hadn’t even enjoyed. My nineteenth birthday I had spent in line for unemployment after I got laid off from my factory job. My sixteenth birthday had sucked because I had realized I couldn’t get a driver’s license because my mother couldn’t find my birth certificate.

This year, I’d already thought I was a thousand times ahead of the last half dozen or so birthdays.

But this?

Fucking awesome.

“We have cake upstairs,” Robin said, still clutching her sign. “Maybe we should go up.”

Jessica nudged Riley. “Phoenix really got the jump on you.”

“He did not,” my cousin protested. “Another thirty seconds I would have had him on his back.”

I doubted it, but I wouldn’t want to go a round with Riley if he were really pissed or if he was protecting his family. He could be feral. I guess that was one thing Tyler, Riley and I all had in common besides blood.

“Thanks for doing this,” I told Robin, taking her hand as we went upstairs. “This was really sweet.”

“I’m sorry,” she said with a sheepish shrug. “It was stupid to be in the dark like that. I should have known better.”

“You know what? I’m glad you don’t think the way I do. I’m always assuming the worst and you’re not. That’s a good thing.”

But it was clearly bothering her. She was quiet as we went into the living room, and I frowned. Was this too much of a clear reminder that I was a criminal? I couldn’t help it. I had grown up with dangerous drug dealers and Mom’s loser boyfriends in and out of my house. I was always looking over my shoulder and that wasn’t going to change, probably ever.

There was also no denying that I was damn uncomfortable getting presents. It was a foreign concept, and as Robin put out a tray of appetizers and Kylie tossed around cans of pop, I looked at the presents being set on the couch next to me in awe. “All these are for me, seriously?”

“Open them!” Easton demanded.

I picked the smallest one first because it seemed less intimidating. It was a SpongeBob gift bag and it looked like a drunk monkey had stuffed the tissue paper into it.

“That’s from Jayden and me,” Easton said.

“Thanks, man,” I said. “And a gift bag and everything. We’re getting to be legit, aren’t we?”

“There’s a girl in the house now,” Riley said with a shrug. “Jess thinks that crap is necessary.”

Jessica smacked his arm.

“I picked it out,” Jayden said, already cramming a handful of cheese off the tray into his mouth. I didn’t envy Riley and Tyler having to keep him in food. The guy could pack it away.

Which was evident in the gift he’d given me. It was five king-size candy bars. “Damn, thanks, guys. I’ll have my sugar fix, that’s for sure.”

Easton was reaching out like he was going to steal one of them back and Tyler swatted at his hand. “Knock it off.”

I grinned at Easton. “Dude, there’s cake, you know. Chill. And thanks.” I looked at Jayden. “Both of you.”

“You’re welcome,” Jayden said, with a regal nod that cracked me up.

Next was a sketchpad from Rory and Tyler and a charcoals case from Riley and Jessica. Yeah. That was a fucking lump in my throat. My cousins looked as awkward about the whole gift giving as I felt, with Tyler making a point to mention that everything was Rory’s idea.

“So if it’s stupid, don’t blame me,” he added.

God, we were all such brats when it came to emotion. Why were any of them insane enough to be with us?

Rory frowned at Tyler. “Really?” she asked him.

“That didn’t sound right, did it?” he asked.

“No. It didn’t.”

He shrugged. “I’m sorry. But this . . .” He gestured to the food, the paper party plates that declared “Happy Birthday!” and the cake that had been airbrushed with a cobra on it. “We aren’t used to it. We don’t know how to act.”

“My plan wasn’t to make you uncomfortable,” Robin said, looking upset.

“You’re not,” I assured her. “It’s just that no one has ever done this for me. For any of us. I’m . . . what’s the word?”

“Touched?” Kylie suggested.

I winced. That sounded so . . . tender. But it was the truth and Robin deserved to hear that. “Yes. Touched.”

Jessica burst out laughing. “You sound agonized. It’s ridiculous. But Phoenix, we understand. Everyone has baggage, just in a different brand. Now let’s eat cake. You can open your gifts from Robin when you guys are alone because I have a feeling that’s going to make all of us uncomfortable.”

“Good idea,” Riley said.

“Cake!” was Easton’s opinion.

Robin said, “I forgot a knife.” She moved toward the stairs and I followed her.

“Hey.” I took her hand. “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

There were tears in her eyes and I felt like shit.

“I should have asked you. I’m sorry. But I just thought you’d like it.”

“I do like it.” I pulled her to a stop and into my arms. “Robin. Why do you do that? Why do you always think that what you do isn’t enough, or important, or whatever? This is perfect . The best birthday I’ve ever had.”

“Really?”

“Really.” How could she think otherwise? I kissed her softly, loving the way her lips felt beneath mine. “Mm. Who needs cake?”

“Easton will implode if we don’t cut it,” she said with a smile.

“True.” I pulled a knife out of the drawer.

She went in the freezer. “One more thing.”

She pulled out a box with a bow on it. Dilly Bars from Dairy Queen. “Holy shit, how did you know I love those?”

“Because when we first met you said you’d probably spend your birthday eating one by yourself, enjoying your freedom.”

“I did?” I asked, stunned that she remembered that. I didn’t even remember saying it. But she was right. That was exactly how I had imagined spending my birthday. I had a lot more than that, all because of her. “Babe. You’re the best. I love you, do you know that?”

“I love you, too.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out as we walked back upstairs. And smiled when I saw the text.