“Kalli, I wanted to give this to you and tell you, from the bottom of my heart, I hope it brings you nothing but happiness. And I hope you understand why I did what I did.”
“Ma? What did you do?” I asked, suddenly a little nervous about the box sitting in Kalli’s lap.
“It’ll be okay,” Pops said, gently patting my mother’s knee as she took her seat again.
I watched as Kalli unwrapped what seemed to be a photo album, but when she opened the first page, even I was stunned.
Laid out in the pages of that photo album were pictures of Marcus, but it wasn’t just the pictures, it was the way the photos were so artfully displayed. These were not photos only put on pages, these were pages specially created to bring out the meaning of the photo.
“Did you make this, Ma?”
She nodded and then quickly wiped her hand under one eye, catching a tear before it fell down her cheek. I looked down again and Kalli was flipping through the pages of the book like she was looking at priceless art. Marcus was smiling up at us, laughing even. He was running through a field, playing video games, even Monopoly. Some of the pictures included Kalli, a few had Nancy and Mr. Bob.
“Where did you get these photos?” Kalli asked, without looking up from the album.
“Well, I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries, but right after your brother passed I asked Riot where I could send a card or condolences. We’d never met you, but Riot had told us about you and he was so upset… anyway, he didn’t know your address but gave me Nancy’s phone number. Nancy and I spoke a few days after the funeral and she gave me the address and that was that. Then, last month, after we met you, I got the idea and thought maybe she could help. Two days later I had a large envelope full of pictures to make your gift.”
“You spoke with Nancy?” Kalli’s voice was soft again, and this time she looked at my mother with her question.
Ma nodded.
Kalli’s eyes went back to her lap where the album lay. “I don’t have any pictures of him with me. I packed them all away because it was too hard to look at them.” I placed my hands on Kalli’s shoulders, squeezing gently with just enough pressure so she knew I was there for her. “But this is wonderful,” she finally said, letting out a large breath with her words. “It’s beautiful and I can’t believe you went to all this trouble.”
Both Kalli and my mom were crying. Kalli stood and started toward Ma, who also stood, and they embraced in the middle of the room, Kalli burrowing her head into Ma’s shoulder while Ma rubbed her hands soothingly up and down her back. I saw my sister wipe a tear away, along with Rachel, and even Pops had to clear his throat.
“I love it,” I heard Kalli say quietly to my mother.
“Well, we love you.”
Even I had to bite my lip at that point to keep my emotions in check.
Finally, Kalli pulled away and Ma went back to her seat.
“Here,” Kalli said, pulling a card out from under my chair. “Open this so we all stop crying.”
Laughter rang out around the room, and Kalli sat at my feet, her pretty blue eyes still wet, but happy.
“What’s this?” I asked, running my finger under the sealed edge of the envelope.
“It’s your Christmas gift,” she said, rolling her eyes.
I pulled out a bundle of papers, my eyes flitting between the papers in my hand and Kalli bouncing excitedly on her knees. I leafed through them, my eyes catching words here and there. Then suddenly, it dawned on me.
“Did you give me a trip to Bora Bora?”
“Yes!” she squealed, clapping and bouncing on her pillow. “Are you excited? Please tell me you’re excited. The dates aren’t set because I wasn’t sure about your hiatus, but I was thinking about March because it’s really nice there in March, but we can go whenever, if you even want to go. I’ve always wanted to go and it looks so romantic and tropical and I just thought we would have a really great time—”
“This is incredible, Kal,” I interrupted her nervous rant. She would have gone on forever if I had let her. “This looks amazing,” I said, flipping through the resort brochures and airline information. “It’s too much, babe.”
Her hands came to my knees as she lifted up from her pillow, her face now almost even with mine.
“It’s not too much, it’ll never be too much. You’ve given me something I’ll never be able to repay you for, so you’ll let me take you to Bora Bora.” Then she leaned in, wrapping her arms around my neck, taking me in for a hug, but her mouth came to my ear. She whispered quietly so no one else could hear her, “I’ll let you pick out all my swimwear.”
It’s uncomfortable having an erection around the Christmas tree surrounded by your family.
Luckily, Rachel saved the day and said something about shopping for bathing suits and all returned to normal.
Kalli and Kevin exchanged presents and even though they weren’t gifts filled with meaning and history, it was a beginning for them, and they both understood that. Kalli seemed to really love the scarf her father gave her, and Kevin was thrilled to have tickets to a Chargers game.
The day had turned out to be nearly perfect. Nearly. But I wasn’t done with my gift giving.
Chapter Twenty
Nowhere Else
Kalli
I’d had reasonable Christmas expectations. I’d expected to be happy, to be sad, to miss Marcus on my first Christmas without him, to feel loved spending the day with Riot. But I could have never imagined how wonderful the day actually turned out. Having Kevin, Rachel, and Sharon there was special. I wanted a relationship with them and spending a holiday together seemed like a great way to lay that foundation down. Not to mention how touched I’d been that they’d probably abandoned their own traditions to spend the day with a bunch of strangers. That had meant a lot to me.
It was a little more touching to think of Riot setting the whole thing up for me. He had such a huge heart and I’d never be able to repay him for opening it to me and allowing me in, but I could spend forever trying.
There was nothing I could say about the photo album Mara had made me. It was beyond words. It had been a long time since I’d spent Christmas with my mother, but being with Riot’s was special, and she made me feel so incredibly loved.
After we’d cleaned up the mess from presents and finished nibbling on all the delicious food Mara had prepared, Riot and I retreated to his bedroom to finish getting ready for the day. There were some more of Riot’s family members coming over for dinner, and he’d wanted a break.
He was lying on his bed, freshly showered, hair still damp, and I was draped over his chest, listening to him breathe as he played with the hair still atop my head in a messy knot.
“How are you feeling?” he asked quietly, fingers stalling.
“I feel good,” I answered honestly with a small smile.
“Are you missing him a lot?”
I thought about his question and thankfully I didn’t feel the rush of panic that used to come over me when I thought about Marcus. “You know, I miss him, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.” I was silent for a moment, but then continued. “I think your mom’s gift helped a lot. It’s harder to live life always fixated on the fact that he’s gone, but your mom went out of her way to make sure he was here, with me, in a way. I’ll never be able to thank her for that.”
He pressed a kiss against my forehead.
“I love the necklace you gave me,” I said, my fingers finding the pendant. “It’s beautiful.”
His forefinger came to my chin, pulling my eyes up to look at his. “I meant what I said, Kal. You’ve got me. Forever. I don’t want anyone else but you. I know we’ve only been back together for a short time, but—”
“Shhh.” I silenced him by putting my fingers over his mouth. “You don’t have to convince me to be with you. I’m here, and there’s nowhere else I want to be. Ever. I want to spend the rest of my life right here,” I said, tapping his chest right over his heart,
“with you.”
“Merry Christmas,” he said, just before his lips covered mine and his hand slid to the back of my neck, gripping it the way I loved, holding my lips to his as he slanted his mouth to fit over mine perfectly. His tongue pressed against the seam of my lips and I opened for him eagerly, wanting to taste him, to feel his love for me in that kiss.
He groaned into my mouth and I felt the vibrations shoot directly between my legs, heat pooling there. His free hand roamed down my back, then gripped my waist, pulling me fully on top of him, then wandered down to cup my ass. I wanted his hands everywhere, wanted to rid us both of the fabric between us, wanted to feel him inside me and take me to that place where only the two of us mattered.
His hand slid between my skin and the stretchy fabric of the yoga pants I was wearing, gripping my ass and growling again. For one moment I had a thought about everyone in the house being aware of us, it being Christmas, my father being just down the hall, and I almost stopped him. Almost.
Instead, I lifted my hips just high enough to grab at his belt, unbuckling it frantically, popping the buttons on his jeans one by one, and urgently trying to push the denim down his legs. I’d only gotten as far as his hips when I was startled by the sound of his phone ringing.
“Shit,” he growled, leaning over to the bedside table and turning the screen of his phone on. “Damn it,” he said, with even more anger. I watched as he answered the call although I couldn’t see who was calling, but his hand was still on my ass so I figured it couldn’t have been too important. “Hello?” His voice was angry and his greeting was short.
I leaned up a little farther, pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw, a place he rubbed frequently when he was stressed or thinking about something too much. I followed the line of his neck with my lips, passing over his Adam’s apple, splaying small kisses all the way down to the base of his neck, loving the way the vibration of his voice tickled my lips.
“Erin, it’s Christmas,” he said, his voice no more friendly. “They can’t seriously be asking me this.”
My lips stopped at his words and I lifted my head to look at him as his hand slid off my ass, leaving it cold. His brows were furrowed, his forehead was creased, and he looked pissed.
“I can’t believe this,” he groaned, rubbing his hand down his face. “This is bullshit, you know this, right?”
I could hear a woman’s voice on the other end of the phone, although she didn’t seem to be as upset as he was.
“The studio can’t just call people in to work on Christmas. It’s a shitty thing to do.” He listened to the woman, Erin, for a moment, then sighed and closed his eyes. “Yeah, I got it. See you then.” He ended the call and then tossed the phone back on his nightstand.
“What’s going on?”
“The studio has decided to do a last-minute change in the episode we finished shooting before break, but in order to get it done in time, they have to shoot it tonight.”
“But it’s Christmas.”
“Apparently, they don’t care.”
“So, you have to go to LA, like, right now?”
His eyes turned to mine and he looked so sad. “Yeah,” he whispered, his hand coming up to frame my face. “I’m sorry. I do.”
I was sad the day had to end that way, but I felt worse for Riot. Working on Christmas was terrible. “It’s okay, baby. I’ll pack up my stuff real quick. I’m sorry you have to ride home with my unshowered self,” I said, reaching up to touch my messy hair.
“No, Kalli, you stay. Don’t let my job ruin your Christmas.”
“You want me to stay?”
“You know I want to be with you, but if you come with me you’ll only spend Christmas night alone in your apartment, and I don’t want that for you. Stay here where Kevin and Rachel are, where Halah and Ma are. I’ll feel better if I know you aren’t sitting alone in your apartment.”
His words were sweet, but the thought of him driving all alone to LA on Christmas made me sad for him.
“I want to be with you, I don’t care if I’m alone tonight or not.”
He leaned up and kissed me. It wasn’t as full of heat as our last kiss had been, but it was much more tender and sweet.
“You might not care,” he said when he pulled away, “but I do. Stay. Please.”
I bit my lip as I considered his words. He was pleading with me to stay, and even though it felt wrong on some level, I didn’t want to make his day more difficult. “Okay,” I relented. He leaned up and kissed me again; this time it was a short, chaste kiss. I rolled off him and watched from the comfort of his childhood bed as he packed his things.
“How will I get home?”
“I’ll have my Dad take me to the airport and I’ll rent a car. You keep the Rover here and drive home like we originally planned.”
“Maybe Kevin can give me a ride? He has to drive through LA to get home anyhow.”
Riot called out to me from the bathroom.
“I don’t want to put anyone else out because of me, Kal. Just take the Rover, it will make me feel better.”
“Okay,” I conceded.
He came back into the bedroom, tossing his bag on the floor by his bed, then climbing on the bed, coming over me, his hands resting on either side of my head.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
And that was one of the many reasons I loved Riot Bentley. Even though it was his Christmas that was being disrupted, he was worried about me and how I was feeling. He was the most selfless man I’d ever met and I wanted to never take that for granted. I reached up and placed my hands on either side of his face.
“There’s nothing to make up for. I love you and I will see you when I get home.”
Something glimmered in his eye, and I could almost swear I saw the corner of his mouth turn up, as if he were trying to force away a smile. Before I could think too much about it, he kissed me. This kiss, however, was meant to be a good-bye, and he took his time.
Thirty minutes later I stood at his parents’ front door, watching Riot climb into his father’s SUV as they left to get him a rental car. He waved, a forced smile across his face, and I waved back. When the car was out of sight, I let out a sigh. I turned to Rachel, who’d been standing with me, and gave her a sad smile.
“He’ll be okay,” she said. “Let’s go inside. Would you mind if I looked at the album Mara made for you?”
It hadn’t occurred to me that anyone else would want to look at pictures of Marcus, but it meant a lot to me that Rachel had asked.
“Sure,” I answered, the smile on my face turning from sad to bright. So Rachel and I sat at the kitchen table, flipping pages and looking at photos. She was genuinely curious about him, and listened to me as I endlessly told stories that the pictures conjured up. Before I knew it, I had spent two hours telling Rachel, my sister, all about my brother, and I’d laughed and smiled the whole time.
Kevin had joined us about an hour in, sitting across the table, listening, and laughing along with us. Halah and Mara were in the kitchen, preparing food for the feast Mara had promised, and even though I was missing Riot, it was still one of the best Christmases I could remember.
About two and a half hours after Riot had left, the doorbell chimed.
“Kalli, sweetie, could you get the door for me? I’m a mess.”
Mara lifted her hands and she was, indeed, elbow deep in food.
“Of course,” I replied. When I opened the door I was met with a giant bouquet of beautiful red roses.
“Are you Kalli Rivers?” the deliveryman asked from behind the enormous arrangement of flowers.
“Um, yes.”
“These are for you,” he said with a groan, handing the large vase to me. I understood his grunting when I took it; it weighed a ton.
“Are you sure? I’m confused.”
“Yes, there’s a card in there somewhere.”
“Riot called and ordered flowers? Why are you even open on C
hristmas? I’m really sorry, I don’t have any cash for a tip. Let me see what I can do…” I turned away from the door to see if anyone in the house had cash I could borrow.
“Don’t worry, Ms. Rivers, the tip has been taken care of. And we usually aren’t open today, but Mr. Bentley called two weeks ago to arrange this. Paid a mint for it too. The tip covered Christmas gifts for all four of my kids. I’m happy to deliver these flowers,” he said, tipping his trucker hat at me as he turned to walk down the driveway.
“Merry Christmas,” I called after him, still really confused. I walked into the kitchen, trying not to trip and fall since I couldn’t see where I was going.
“Oh, my word,” Mara said breathily.
“Holy crap,” Halah cried.
“Whose are they?” Rachel asked.
I let out a breath as I set the vase down on the table, my arms aching from the strain. “Apparently they’re from Riot.”
“He must feel really bad about having to go to work,” Rachel sighed.
“The delivery guy said Riot ordered them two weeks ago.” I searched through the flowers, not able to ignore the wonderful scent of the roses as I found the card. I opened it quickly, eager to find out what he’d done, and read the handwritten note.
Kalli,
By now I’ve left and trust me when I say, leaving you on Christmas was probably harder for me than it was for you. But I did it with good reason. I love you. More than any necklace or long-stemmed roses can say. Throughout this year we’ve hit a lot of bumps in our road, but we’ve also stopped to admire a lot of views. No matter what happens, Kalli, remember the beautiful views we’ve seen together.
Now, there’s one more view to add to the list. Please pack your bags and meet me at this address. Come alone, but come knowing I’ll be waiting for you.
Love,
Riot
There was an address at the bottom of the card, but the address was all the way back in LA. I looked up to find every person in the house staring back at me.
Never Tied Down (The Never Duet Book 2) Page 22
