Page 462 of Seasons of Love
“I’d put my money on him being with Uncle Frank in the office working. This party wasn’t exactly his choice. Zak can be very…”
“Persuasive?”
“I was going to say stubborn but persuasive works. He cares a lot for Jake, so that’s all that matters.”
I nodded.
“Who cares a lot for Jake?”
I turned around and saw Mal and Jake approaching.
“No one. No one cares about you, so stop having a big head just because it’s your—” That was all Gabe could say before Jake had him in a chokehold.
“Can you do that with your clothes off?” Zak shouted, and Jake gave him the bird without releasing his cousin.
“In my day, birthday parties weren’t this much fun,” Mal said.
I wrapped my arm around his waist and leaned into him. “Back in the day, you didn’t even have butter or flour to make a cake, babe. Those were dark days.”
He poked me in the ribs.
“Hey! Come on, let’s sit down so we can give Jake his present.”
Jake released Gabe immediately. “I get presents?”
He looked so happy and carefree. All I wanted was to bridge the gap between us and kiss him.
I held on to Mal to stop myself from reaching out, and he squeezed me tight. We hadn’t been with Jake since the night he had us both, but we were hoping he’d be able to sneak out and spend the night with us.
No doubt Zak would cover for him at home.
The thought left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Jake shouldn’t have to do this, and neither should we. I understood the reasons for us to be discreet, but it didn’t mean I had to like it, especially when I missed Jake so much.
Would there be a day when we could all live under the same roof? I really hoped so.
Gabe added some more wood to the fire pit and declared we all needed s’mores, so he disappeared to the kitchen.
“Are you ready for your present, birthday boy?” I asked Jake.
“I was born ready.”
I grabbed my backpack and took out the gift box.
“You know you didn’t have to give me anything, right?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, we know. But what’s the point of going to a birthday party if you don’t get to indulge in some retail therapy?”
Mal snorted, and I elbowed him.
“What?” Jake asked, looking at us.
“Nothing, just open the present.” I couldn’t exactly tell him about the additional stuff I’d also bought at the same time.
Jake unwrapped the box slowly, removing each bit of sticky tape individually.
“Oh god, you’re one of those people,” I said.
Zak leaned forward with an all-knowing expression. “You should see the box of old wrapping paper he had in our apartment. After a while, I started wrapping his presents with the paper he’d used to unwrap them.”
