kitchen.
Muriel shooed him out while Ashton and I laughed. He pulled out a chair at the table for me to sit. Then Ashton grabbed the basket of bread Muriel likely didn’t manage to the table like the other foods. She cooked a lot for just two people.
“Damn. This is a gang of food.”
“The best brunch-maker in town.”
“You said that about her dinner, too—and breakfast,” I recalled out loud.
“Just don’t tell Ms. Wanda.”
“So she can bite my head off for ratting you out? No thanks, hun.” We dug in, loading our plates with food. But I couldn’t shake a question burning in my head. I planted my elbows on the edge of the table. “Do you help everybody out financially?”
Ashton was busying with his food when he mumbled, “What do you mean?”
“You hook your mom up with a dope ride and Christmas cruises.” I was sure to keep my voice low. “You pay the people still here after your dad passed away. You’ve bought me clothes, got my hair done, want to pay me to not get a job. And you’re paying for Muriel’s grandson to go to college?”
“I see Jimmy had loose lips last night.” His eyes wouldn’t meet mine as he worked. “I don’t see the big deal.”
“Muchos gracias, Senior Ashton,” Muriel giddily announced, coming back into the kitchen. “Your Christmas gifts were too generous, but very thoughtful.” She exited at the other side of the room.
Shrinking, I shook my head. “I’m just trying to understand the BSU bully.”
Ashton finally fixed his gaze to me. “Maybe he’s been trying to prove to you he doesn’t exist. Now, eat up. It’s Christmas. I’m ready to see if Santa thought I’d been naughty or nice all year.” His dark eyes sparkled as half his face lifted in a grin.
I hated how cute he was.
And even more that he knew it.
“I know I’m acting like Keyonna!” Tori giggled as she paced my living room with the ivory leather biker jacket I’d just presented to her as a gift. The tree was huge and nicely lit, fresh flowers filled the room, and wrapping and tissue paper littered the floor. Holiday tunes flowed smoothly from the speakers throughout the room. It actually felt like Christmas. “She was like this when she tried on those sneakers.”
I laughed as Tori mimicked my little bug. This shit was almost as fun as giving Keyonna her Christmas gifts earlier. Her mother, Precious, brought her by. They were here a few hours, opening her gifts. I did a little extra for her this year on the strength of Brick. Plus, her grandmother, my aunt, Tabitha, was holiday cruising with my mother. I thought it was necessary. Keyonna was crazy about Tori. And her mother, Precious, was real chill around her, too. She actually talked to Tori, something she didn’t do with Aivery. Precious and Keyonna stayed long enough to have lunch with us—Tori and my second lunch. It was a good time, helping with the pain of not having my cousin around.
Still smiling, Tori pulled out of the jacket. “Okay. I’ve opened your gifts. Now, it’s time for you to open the last one of mine.”
“You’ve got one more.” I pointed under the tree to the small gift bag.
Tori shook her head. “No. You’re not going to do what you did for your birthday.”
“What’s that?”
“Blow off my gift. You waited until we got back on campus to open it. Who doesn’t open gifts on their birthday?”
She was kind of right. I wasn’t used to being given gifts. I’d had a good childhood, not wanting for shit, but my gifts didn’t come in boxes. I asked for things and got them. There wasn’t much of an element of surprise. Maybe that was why I enjoyed gifting others, giving things they didn’t expect from me.
Tori brought a box over, wrapped in Christmas paper. She stood over me, going stiff immediately. Her smile was gone and she chewed on her lip. My attention swept down to the box and I ripped off the paper. On the lid of the box was a logo for a puzzle-making company. I had no clue what could be gained from them until I opened the box. There were puzzle pieces inside. I glanced curiously up at her.
The fuck?
Tori’s impassive expression gave nothing. Inside was a folded paper. I unraveled it to find the complete picture of the three hundred pieces. It was an image of Brick and me at Six Flags Great Adventure. We were shirtless