Summer Cursed

“I’m not getting into this now.”

“Oh, but you can be rude and prickly. You’re going to tell me what you know.”

Liam and Stella were headed back toward us.

“Later,” he said, taking a sip of his whiskey.

The rest of the night went well. We drank, ate, and danced until it was time for presents. One of the staff rolled out a cart with three beautifully wrapped boxes and an enormous cake.

“You guys did not have to get me anything. Seriously, tonight was more than enough. It was just what I needed after all the shit that’s happened.” I smiled at Liam. “Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure.”

“Open your gifts,” Isaac said with a slight growl in his voice.

I shot him a look before grabbing the first box. I could tell by the butterfly wrapping paper, it was from Stella. She and her wolf had a thing for them. When we were pups, she’d spend hours trying to get one to land on her nose. Now she has gardens full of butterfly attracting plants all over her yard.

I laughed with delight as I moved aside the tissue paper. “Oh, Stell, I love it,” I said, holding up the framed picture of the three of us when we were kids. We looked adorable in black and white. “I can’t wait to hang it up. Thank you so much.”

Isaac and I shared a look. The pain in his eyes was unmistakable for a second before he shielded himself and smiled at me. “It’s a good shot of us. Who took it? I remember the day, but I don’t recall anyone else being there.”

“My mom,” Stella said with a huge smile. “She snuck up on us and snapped it without us even knowing. I just found it in one of the boxes she gave me before they moved.”

“It’s a very thoughtful gift,” he said, smiling at her.

I frowned a little when I didn’t see the same thing in his eyes as I had in hers. But there was still the chance they could be mates or at least have fun together.

“Okay, next up is from Isaac,” I said, tearing off the paper. A gasp escaped me when I saw it. “Isaac, this is beautiful.”

I pulled out the necklace to study it. The pendant was a silver wolf’s head with one sapphire eye and one amber eye. He took it from me and moved behind me to secure it around my neck. I ran my fingers over it feeling every groove and bump as I stared at him.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “It’s incredibly beautiful. You shouldn’t have.”

His jaw clenched. “It wasn’t a big deal. You saw that one in the store window and I asked them to change the gems in the eyes.”

I nodded, letting the pendant go and grabbing the last box. “Liam, you already gave me a new door and planned this whole thing tonight. This was unnecessary, really.”

“Open it,” he said.

“Holy shit! My laptop. How did you get this?”

Isaac snorted out a laugh. “Seriously? You have to ask? He keeps appearing whenever shit happens to you.”

“I did not steal it. I had the culprit in my custody, and he told me where it was.”

I glanced up at him. “Oh? He just told you, did he?”

A wry smirk pulled at his lips. “Well, not right away, but I have very effective ways of getting what I want.” His eyes met mine for that last part.

The veiled meaning behind his words sent a tingle to my center. The look in his eyes made me want to go to him. Instead, I rose and hugged Stella, Isaac, and then him. Our embrace lingered a little longer than I had planned, but he smelled so damn good I couldn’t help it.

“Thank you. For everything, Mr. Fraser,” I whispered.

“You’re welcome, Red.” His breath tickled my ear, and I stifled a moan.

I leaned back to look him in the eye. “You’re not going to stop calling me that, are you?”

“No.”