“Yes, it is. Now, can we play this game or what?”
“I’m not going to be able to pull you away from it without a fight, am I?”
“Nope.”
He just rolled his eyes. “Antonio has a birthday meal planned for you later. That means you can play the game until then. I have a feeling that the squad will want to play it too.”
Jared had been right. When the squad – along with Jude – came to wish me a happy birthday and each gave me a present, they joined me in playing the game. It was so well thought out. The first level was the try-outs. The second level featured a number of training sessions in the arena. Then each level thereafter was an assignment with a different ‘baddy’ each time. And of course things got harder and harder as the game went on. It even had bonus levels such as paintballing and swimming in the bat pool.
The players were so life-like that it was almost freaky. The structure of The Hollow was picture perfect – even the surrounding rainforest was amazingly identical to the one here. The squad took turns at playing as other people, boasting that they had better control of that person’s gift than they did. That caused some arguments.
Even Antonio and Luther had a turn when they came to pay me a visit. I would never have guessed that they were so competitive if I hadn’t seen it for myself. Some of the curses that flew from their mouths had even my eyes widening. Fletcher and Norm also had a turn – Fletcher played me, delighted to be able to use an energy whip.
Of course they all asked if Jared could have one made for them, even Antonio and Luther. But Jared refused, telling them that he wanted me to have something that nobody else had. Fletcher and Norm thought that was extremely sweet. Everybody else whined about it. I couldn’t blame them – it was even more addictive than ‘Vampire Nation’. So addictive that I played it until my eyes hurt, and I actually moaned when I realised that it was time to attend the birthday meal that Antonio had organised.
Forcing myself not to be an ungrateful bitch, I came away from the game, and changed into a little black dress that Fletcher had given me as a birthday gift. “Ready to go?” I asked Jared as I exited the en-suite bathroom.
His hands landed on my hips as his gaze explored every inch of me. “If it wasn’t your birthday meal, I’d say skip it so I could roll this dress up and bury myself inside you.” He nuzzled my neck, inhaling deeply.
I smiled, skimming my hands down his chest, and wishing the shirt wasn’t in the way. “You can do that later.”
“You can bet your sweet little ass I will.” He dropped a kiss on my mouth. “Come on, everyone will be waiting.” To my surprise, Jared didn’t teleport us to Antonio’s huge parlour room. Instead, he took us to…the beach. A strangely empty beach.
I frowned. “Where is” He twirled me around, and I gasped at the sight ahead of us.
“You look amazing,” Jared whispered into my ear as he started to lead me across the sand. No, what I could see ahead of us was ‘amazing’. Several tables were set up on the sand, all with white table cloths, lanterns, champagne glasses, and flowery centre pieces. I loved the beach at night, loved the way the moonlight played off the water. That was clearly why they had done this for me. God, I was spoiled rotten by these people and I probably didn’t deserve it.
With the exception of one table, all the others were seated with guests. On the first table sat Antonio, Lucy, Luther, and – groan – Collins and Eloise. On the second were Fletcher, Norm, Ava, and Cristiano. The third seated Butch, Salem, David, and Denny, while the fourth seated Chico, Jude, Harvey, Damien, and Reuben. My heart squeezed as I thought of the three people who couldn’t be here.
Everybody stood, smiling, as Jared and I went to the empty table in the centre. “Oh my God,” I said a little breathlessly. “I can’t believe you all did this.”
Fletcher looked at me like I was daft. “Of course we did this; we love you.”
“We wanted to make your evening special.” Antonio smiled. “I hope we manage to do so.”
I found myself wishing I was better at receiving things because I wasn’t sure what to say. “Thanks…It’s really amazing.” That seemed to satisfy everyone, because they all grinned and sat down.
Most likely sensing my relief, Jared laughed silently as he sat opposite me and laced his fingers through mine. “Neither of us is good at the whole expressing gratitude thing, are we?”
I shook my head. “Luckily they like us in spite of it.”
“You’re wearing your earrings,” he observed, leaning forward to gently finger one.
“Once again, thank you for them.” See, I could do gratitude sometimes.
“You’re welcome. I’m just relieved you like them. You’re not really a jewellery person. In fact, you’re pretty hard to buy for. And you’re even harder to surprise, since you insist on hunting your gifts down – I swear you’ve got a nose like a bloodhound.”
I chuckled, feeling ridiculously happy. A twinge of guilt immediately followed the feeling – here I was celebrating when Evan, Max, and Stuart were stuck in a cell, dying.
Jared squeezed my hand. “Hey,” he said gently. Of course he’d known where my thoughts had taken me. “They’d want you to celebrate your birthday.”
He was right, they would. That was exactly what I needed to hear. I was about to flash Jared a smile of thanks, but then his face morphed into a scowl as his eyes focused on something over my shoulder. Confused, I turned to track his gaze. Ah…Ava and Cristiano were approaching us.
Wearing her usual cheery smile, she bent and planted a kiss on my cheek. Being courteous for a change, I stood and awkwardly accepted the hug she gave me. I wondered if I’d ever be much good at physical displays of affection…Probably not.
“Happy birthday!” She handed me a gift-wrapped box. “Don’t open it yet. Wait until you’re alone.” Leaning in closer, she added in a whisper, “Well, wait until you’re alone with Jared.” Her cheeky grin made me laugh. “This is from me and Cris, by the way…Although it was me who picked it out. He’d blush if he knew what it was.” Well that certainly had me intrigued.
“We just want to wish you a happy birthday,” Cristiano said, his voice uncharacteristically rough. “You look beautiful.” When Jared growled, he held up his hands in a gesture of innocence, though his smug smirk was there. “It was just an observation.”