Breathe With Me (The Breathe Series Book 3) (30 page)

“Yeah?”

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”

Breathing out a dramatic chuckle, I roll my eyes. “Yes, I heard you…I’m right here.”

Cocking one brow and crossing her arms across her chest with a slight shift of her hips, she gets that familiar and defiant, I’m-calling-your-bluff look.

“Ok then, what did I say?” she challenges me.

“Oh good grief, this is Christmas not a trivia play-off. Just go ahead and repeat what you said so I can better assess my answer.”

She shakes her head, hair fluffing around her face and flicking her cheeks like a whip.

“Whatever, I know you didn’t hear me.”

Swinging my gaze to Piper only for a second, my eyes meet hers and all is lost again.
Dammit. I guess I should talk to Skylar.

“So Piper, huh?”

This gets my attention. “What?” I snap, a little more defensive than I should.

“Oh chill out. I knew there was someone that had roped your ass in long before me, I just wasn’t sure who it was. Now I know.”

I’m totally lost.
“Wha…how do you…”

She smiles, “Oh relax. I’ve got eyes and I think everyone has seen some type of tension between you two. I just always thought you guys hated each other, not that maybe she was a girl you were still hung up on.”

“Ahhh, I…”

She holds her hand up to stop me.
Dammit
.

“You don’t owe me any explanations or anything. So don’t worry.” She smiles and nudges me in the arm with her elbow. “I’ve been friends with Piper for a while and I always knew she’s held something back, possibly surrounding some guy she used to have eyes for. I never put it together really, but I had my suspicions. I just put two-and-two together the other night and then when I saw her leaving your cabin this morning.”

My whole body pivots to the side with her bump, all the while my mouth is agape like a landing dock for flies. I start to speak, to try and maybe explain; what, I have no clue, because she just did it for me, but I should say something.
Right…

“We’ll talk later. I’ve got to head out…Jessie is my ride.” She plants a quick peck on my cheek and races away, immediately in a laugh fest with Jessie and Abby.

I stand still, stunned and completely disbelieving that it went down that way.
Is this how it feels when a guy hands a girl a line to break up with her? Bizarre!

A while later, after Grandpa, Abby, Alyssa’s mom, Skylar and Jessie have all excused themselves to head back home, the rest of us hang out and visit. I remain near the fireplace with Jake, feeling as though I’m helping to stabilize it as long as I’ve stayed in the same spot.

“Oh my gosh!” Alyssa slaps her hand over her mouth on a loud squeal.

Judd sits on the couch beside her, gritting his teeth with a slight smirk. I glance at the container in her hand and chuckle. He’s more than filled me in on his gifting ideas, so seeing the small black velvet box with the pink ribbon around it comes as no surprise. Flipping the box open, she lets out another high pitched squeal. I shake my head and look up at Piper, standing behind the couch with Abby. She catches my gaze, looking at me through dark lashes.

“Oh Judd…I love it.” Alyssa dramatizes a huge grin with her mouth spread, baring all her teeth while she stomps her feet in enjoyment like a little kid. “Oh my gosh, it matches your arm.”

“Yeah, I got it custom made to match it.”

He grabs the necklace from her hand, pulling it around her neck as she lifts her hair. Alyssa’s hand instantly goes to the white gold infinity symbol with the word breathe etched in its center.

“Ok, now it’s my turn,” Alyssa announces, clearly pumped about her present.

Jake leans in while Judd snatches a small gift box out of her hand as if it’s the first present he’s ever received.
Speaking of presents…

“Here.” Jake hands me the small gift bag I brought with me, along with another. “So…when are you going to get one?”

Grabbing the twisted handles of both bags, I glance at the other one a bit confused, then up at him, having no idea what he’s referring to.

“A tattoo…” He points over at Judd.

I shake my head, one hundred percent sure of my answer. “Ummm, no…you will not catch me getting one of those in this lifetime. No thank you.”

“What?” Judd joins in from the couch.

“A tattoo. No way will I be letting some dude that probably looks like he just served a twenty-year prison sentence, brand my arm by using a possibly dirty ass needle that he just had stuck in some meth head that used his last seventy-five dollars to get a tatt instead of paying child support to one of his twelve children that he actually knows about. Yeah, ummm no thanks.”

“Ohhhh…” a thunder of disapproval rings out from Hayden, Jake and Judd with Chris shaking his head and Abby giving me a big ole thumbs down with a frown.

“Now wait a minute…” Judd laughs, ready to defend that act of consciously sinking a needle in your body for no further purpose than decoration.

“While you step outside and do some meth or go check in on one of your little ones, right?” Jake sarcastically cracks in a serious tone, mocking my earlier assessment.

I glance over quickly.
Just who the hell is this smartass?
“What are they teaching you at school?”

Jake jolts his head back, with a small smile. “What?”

“Nothing, you’re just a regular wisecrack this week.”

He shrugs and nudges the package in my hand. “Open it…it’s from me and Judd.”

“Well, I assure you…if you ever do get one, I will never ever let you live it down.” Judd informs me on something he will have to just make peace with over never being right or getting the last say on.
A tattoo has always been a big ass no for me.

“Good luck with that,” I tip my chin at him and look down at the gift Jake handed me. “Oh well hell,” I mutter, more so to myself. Tossing the other gift bag I’m holding to Judd, I snicker, partly nervous about what the hell these two would have gotten me and barely holding my excitement over Judd opening his surprise. “Heads up.”

Judd catches the gift like a football, upside down, yet still intact. I smile, glad that I’m so shitty at wrapping that I just shoved it in a gift bag and taped the damn thing shut; he’s lucky I went the extra step and put it in a bag when a grocery bag would have sufficed.

“Jake, I’m not much of a gifter so you’ll have to enjoy Judd’s gift.”

Laughing, I look over and catch Jake shrugging, not concerned in the slightest immediately following Judd’s release of a heavy breath on my words.
Might not want to relax yet.
No doubt, he’s so used to my pranks and wisecracks that he had to be expecting something that would crank up his embarrassment dial. My stomach tightens as I hold in my laughter.

“Evan, I’m almost scared to open it.” He glances up, not lifting his chin or moving a muscle as the gift sits in his lap like a bomb waiting to detonate. “I’ll open mine, if you open yours.”

I nod, but am more interested in his reaction to what’s in the package. I relent, focusing on ripping into my gift. My fingers stumble over a gob of tissue paper scrunched into the small bag. Rolling my eyes at their meticulous attention to detail, I give Jake a quick sarcastic look as my hand finds a hard surface at the bottom of the bag.

“Don’t look at me…Alyssa wrapped it,” Jake mumbles.

Chuckling, I look at Judd and Alyssa as Judd holds my present in his hand. I pull mine out and look down, eager to return to enjoying the “WTF” look he has on his face.

“AJ’s Greatest Hits?”

“Oh wow!” I exclaim, a little knot in my throat as I take in the fact that they got me an actual gift. Sure it has sarcasm behind it, but they got me an actual gift.
Well shit.
“These are awesome.” I flip the package of the noise canceling ear phones around and gulp.
These had to cost them a shiny penny.

“Figured those could come in handy, huh?” Jake points to the package proudly.

I nod slowly, not sure what to say. I know they’re a gag really, but it’s still a damn good gift and hell yeah I can use them.

“Got that right. Almost goes right along with my gift,” I mumble with a chuckle.

“I don’t know…I’ve never heard of them.” Abby leans over the back of the couch, eyeing the clear CD case that Judd holds in his hands.

“Evan, I’m clueless.” Judd squints his eyes skeptically, possibly waiting for a punch line or for me to give away what the hell it is.

“Oh, it’s great! You’ll love it.” I don’t even crack a smile, flicking my eyes up to Piper who stands quietly beside Abby with a small unwrapped present in her hand that looks like jewelry. The jerk off, that I wish would find another party to attend today, stands a little too close to her as she whispers something to him. My jaw tightens. “Piper,” I say a little louder and probably a bit more eager than I should, wanting to do anything to pull her far away from that douchebag. “You got a CD player?”

“Oh yeah,” she pushes away from the couch, putting distance between them as she makes her way over to a shelf beside the fireplace. My shoulders relax and my anxiety eases. “Let me see it.” She grabs the CD from Judd, immediately giving me an all-knowing look with a roll of her eyes as she sees the front of the case.

I wink back;
she’s smart.
Shouldn’t take a genius to figure out AJ stands for Alyssa and Judd. Inside, I’m rubbing my palms together like a mad scientist about to reveal my master creation to the world.

“Seriously, should I be scared?” Judd snaps his head over to me as a conglomeration of clicks and snaps from Piper’s direction fill the air.

Placing my hand over my heart, I throw my best dramatic heart-felt plea out to him, “Now, why would you think that?” Looking right at him, I share a small ‘gotcha’ look with him as a rapid guitar solo pumps out of the speakers.

Judd flinches a bit, like he is on guard and ready to bolt at any moment. For a second I want to drop to the floor and roll around laughing like an idiot. I wish I could crawl into his head right now and see if he is thinking back to the day he tripped over all that ancient recording shit of Grandpas right outside his bedroom door. I am completely slapping my knee and rolling inside right now.

“Oh wait…this is the best part,” I hold my finger into the air and Judd is instantly on his feet, a second before it even starts.

Once Alyssa’s muffled moans and a few loud grunts that were ingeniously merged into a techno mix that blends with the drum and guitar beats of a generic song I found, bleeds through the crackling speakers, all hell breaks loose.

“Oh my God, is that you Alyssa?” Abby’s eyes couldn’t go any wider.

“Holy shit…” Judd bolts to the stereo…

Click, pop and the CD is in his hand, but the noise has just started.

“What the hell was that?” Alyssa looks around, her face flamed in red.

Judd looks at me, his mouth wide and eyes damn near protruding from his head.

“That was you!” Abby exclaims on a laugh.

“Nice,” Hayden nods his head with a smirk, holding his thumb up.

Jake spits out a laugh as Piper stands behind Judd, shaking her head with her arms folded. I put on my best innocent face, pointing both my hands towards my chest in a ‘who me’ sort of expression.

“Evan, where the hell did you get this?” A small hidden smile begins to break through on Judd’s face, but I can tell he’s pushing it down for Alyssa’s sake.
Oh yeah, act like that isn’t the funniest shit you’ve ever heard, dude.

I open my mouth wide, a little shocked that he’d ask that question.

“Never mind, don’t answer that question.” Judd points at me then over to Alyssa as she squeals.

“Oh my God, was that us having sex?!”

I can’t hold it back anymore. I bend forward with my cheeks about to split and my eyes squeezed shut, damn near ready to spill tears in utter enjoyment.

“You’ve got balls, dude,” Jake whispers, making me laugh harder. “I’d protect them with my life right now.”

I open my eyes and straighten up, seeing Alyssa’s face twist from mortification to pissed off.

“Let me see it!” Alyssa puts her hand out, but suddenly Judd pulls it to him as if he’s protecting it.

My stomach hurts, already tense and sore from all the hilarious shit going on. Abby snorts and Jake spits out a loud burst of laughter on Judd’s reaction.

“Why?!” Judd exclaims as Alyssa darts to his side.

“Because I’m gonna break it.” She grabs his hand and he twists and turns away, grinning.

“Well it was a gift…” My mouth drops to the floor as he goes on, now defending my gag gift, “We don’t have to destroy it or anything. That’s kind of drastic, don’t you think?”

Jake, me and Abby all enjoy the chaos as Piper continues to shake her head with a closed lipped smile, occasionally glancing my way. My entire body vibrates while I strain to hear Judd’s muffled tone as he wrestles around with Alyssa in the middle of the living room.

“Judd, give it to me so I can break it in half.”

“Aren’t you at least curious,” he spits out in such an over-the-top panic stricken tone that I double over. He lowers his voice as Alyssa turns her back into his chest and looks like she’s prepared to rip his arm off. “We could listen to it later,” he suggests.

I wish I was recording this; it would get record views in no time if I posted it.

“Ohhhh shit,” I say under my breath, the humor of this all damn near shaking me up like a milkshake. I look at Jake, who is in the same shape as me. “Maybe he has more of Tristan in him than we all thought.”

Jake leans forward, nearly choking.

“Oh good Lord no!” Abby snaps. “What an asshole.” This only fuels our amusement as Judd and Alyssa continue to fight for ownership of the CD.

I tune my attention to Piper, who walks around the couch to join Abby.
Why didn’t I think to make popcorn?

“Boy, your mom sure did get more than she bargained for this year for Christmas, didn’t she?” Piper plops down on the couch beside Abby, less than eight feet in front of me, crossing her legs. “So are you going to tell us how Tristan knew about that birthmark, which I don’t think I’ve ever even seen?” she changes the subject swiftly, from the gag gift to putting Abby in the hot-seat.
This oughta be good.