Page 9 of Boy Toy Not Included

“Oh my gosh, Kuba. This is too much. You shouldn’t have.”

Kuba looked Nova’s way to see her holding the necklace he bought her. Diesel was right. It was awesome seeing someone love their gift. “Why? It’s perfect for you.”

She looked taken aback. “This had to have cost a fortune. I’ll be scared to wear it.”

Kuba set the Legos aside and moved her way. He took the necklace from her and placed it around her neck, securing it before stepping back. “There. Wear it. Don’t worry over it. It’s meant to be worn. If anything happens to it, I’ll get you another. It’s no big deal.”

She stared down at the diamond hanging from the gold chain. “It’s really beautiful. Thank you.”

Kuba winked and reclaimed his seat. He opened his next gift, this time from Nova. It was courtside tickets to an upcoming Wizards game. “Awesome. I love the Wizards.”

“Diesel said you had a lot of memorabilia, so I took a chance.”

Kuba waved them in the air. “There’re two tickets. Which of you plans to be my date?”

Nova laughed. “Diesel, for sure. Sports bore the hell out of me.”

Diesel nodded. “I’ll go. Unless you have someone else in mind, of course.” He looked uncomfortable as he tacked on the last.

Kuba couldn’t have that. “Please. It’ll be fun.” He opened another gift just to keep things moving. It was a Mario Lego set. “No way. I’ve been looking at these, but I hadn’t pulled the trigger yet. It’s like you’re a mind reader.” He met Diesel’s stareagain. “You know you’re setting yourself up to have to help me do this, right?”

“I’d be honored.”

Kuba shook his head. He was having the best Christmas he could recall in years. He opened the rest of his gifts in awe of these people who had decided to adopt him. They were amazing. Diesel seemed thrilled with the watch Kuba bought him. It was the highest tech out there, but he had no clue if Diesel was a watch guy. Unlike Diesel, Kuba wasn’t that observant. That was a thing he hadn’t realized about himself before Diesel. He would work on it. Diesel deserved that much.

It was the best day. Even after way too much alcohol the night before, he felt fine. Everyone seemed to love their gifts. A good time was had by all. Kuba had stayed for lunch before dipping out. The house immediately felt less alive without his larger-than-life presence.

“I really like Kuba. Not just because he buys expensive gifts,” Nova added with a laugh. “He seems like a great kid.”

Diesel nodded. “I get the impression he really needed to be here.”

A sad smile touched Nova’s lips. “Yeah. I noticed that too. It’s tough to be basically alone in the world. We have each other. Who does he have?”

Diesel felt moved to point out the obvious. “To be fair, he has a dad.”

An annoyed look passed over his mom’s features. “What kind of parent doesn’t go out of their way to spend the holidays with their child?”

Diesel raised his hands and dropped them again, showing he had nothing. “I only met him once. Everything about the encounter was strange. It was almost as if he wasn’t there for Kuba at all. I can’t explain that. There was just a whole undertone I didn’t understand.” He shrugged. “I know that doesn’t make sense. You kind of had to be there.”

Nova nodded. “It’s the ultra-rich. Their existence is completely different than anything we understand. It’s probably for the best since they’re usually not good people.”

That was true. Diesel had met way too many spoiled elites. “Well, I guess we’re not solving any of the world’s problems tonight. I think I’ll take a shower and head to bed early. We stayed up way too late last night and drank entirely too much.”

Nova laughed. “I know. I had to clean up the mess this morning.”

Diesel pulled a face. “Sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

She waved away his words. “It makes me happy knowing you two get along so well. I know you’ll be good when you move in with him.”

Diesel hoped that was true. He liked Kuba way more than he wanted to admit. Soon, Kuba would be his boss and off-limits. Not to mention, the guy probably had countless men on speed dial. At the end of the day, Diesel was no one. He needed to get himself under control now before he got his feelings hurt. It was easy to think that way when Kuba wasn’t around. When he was right there, feet away, Diesel’s mind didn’t work correctly. Things got clouded. Diesel would figure it out.

Nova cleared her throat. She didn’t look at him as she moved her glass from one spot to another on the table next to her chair. “Since you’re headed to bed, I think I’ll make my way over to Tory’s house and take her her gift. I’d planned to wait until tomorrow, but it’s still early and you’re going to bed.”

“You’re not a kid, Mom. Neither am I. You’re allowed to go do things. Tory is your best friend. Of course you’d want to see her. Tell her I said hi and that I really hope to actually get to meet her someday.”

She flashed him a smile. “You know you will. I swear the timing never works out for you two. While I’m there, I’ll see if I can set up brunch or something.”

“Sounds great.” Diesel stood and kissed her cheek. “I love you. Goodnight and have fun.”