“What’s all this?” I ask, looking over the huge skull chocolate cake, and table full of gifts.
“We wanted to surprise you,” Tee says cheerfully.
“Yeah, since you forgot to mention it was your birthday,” Ryder says, his eyes narrowed.
“That’s cos it’s not a big deal,” I tell him, eyeing the snacks I only just noticed.
“Thank you all so much, this is lovely,” I tell everyone, giving each of them a grateful hug. When Jet’s hug lingers a little too long, Ryder growls and calls out an indignant “Hey!”
“Calm your farm, Ry,” Tee calls out.
“Layla, I assume you baked all of these,” I say gesturing to the cake, cookies and cupcakes.
“Yeah, I hope you like them. We argued between a skull or a guitar cake, and skull won out,” she says with a grin. She looks stunning as always in high waisted jeans and a peach colored blouse.
“It was actually Ryder’s idea,” she whispers to me, giving me a wink. I thank her and give her another hug.
“Where’s Cole?” I ask her.
“Chase is watching him tonight, so I can have some fun!” she says. Tee cheers from somewhere around the apartment.
“Are you going to open your presents?” Ryder asks me. I can’t help but check him out in his distressed jeans and tight black shirt. The man is magnificent.
“I can’t wait to unwrap you, that’s for sure,” I murmur to myself.
“Careful what you wish for, darlin’,” he says in response.
I’m about to respond when I see Tee walking out, carrying a carton of beer. “Tee!” I gape.
“What?” she asks, confused. I gesture to the beer.
“What? It’s a party!” she calls out loudly. Layla cheers.
“I just realized that we mustn’t have any friends, Tee, because the only people here are your family,” I say with a chuckle. Tee glances around, only now noticing. She shrugs and pulls out a funnel.
“Tee! You are not funnelling beer!” I tell her.
“No, I’m not, but you are!” she says with that evil smirk of hers. “Oh, who am I kidding, I am too!” she says. I palm my face, and look over at Layla, who is pouring tequila shots. Innocent Layla! There’s a knock on the door so I walk over quickly to answer it, my mouth opening in shock at the person standing on the other side.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him.
“Happy birthday, Lexi!” Kade booms, pulling me in for a hug. He moves past me, and walks into the apartment, acting like he’s been here before. I follow him into the kitchen, and curse when I see what’s been going on while I was answering the door. Tee is funnelling beer, and Sasha is pouring it down for her.
“What do we have here?” Kade asks, walking over and grabbing the funnel.
“Kade, what are you doing here?” Layla asks him, frowning.
“Chase sent me to babysit you,” he smirks.
“He's so ridiculous,” Layla says.
“Oh come on, I’m the life of the party! Come pour the beer down for me!” Kade calls out to her.
Layla hesitates, and then grins as she walks over and starts pouring the beer, as Kade gulps it down. Ryder comes up behind me, and wraps his arms around me.
“You smell good,” he whispers into my ear, causing the hairs on my nape to stand on end.
“Do you think they'll notice if we sneak away for a few moments?” I ask him.
“Lexi girl, I think you and I both know I can last longer than that,” Ryder teases. I tickle him on his ribs, giggling as he slowly walks with me, steering me towards the bedroom. I wince when Kade points out our departure and starts to sing ‘Birthday Sex’ by Jeremih.
“Leave them alone, Kade! It’s her birthday and she deserves some good lovin'!” Tee adds with an encouraging nod. I hide my face into Ryder’s chest. I know he's silently laughing, because I can feel his chest rumbling.
“Are we hitting a club?” Jet asks us all.
“After we do the tequila shots,” Kade suggests, causing Sasha to do a little booty dance.
“Where’s Nikki, by the way?” Layla asks Kade as she downs a shot. I giggle when I see the graphic shot glass she's using. It has a naked man on it with a 3D penis.
“She’s visiting her parents,” Kade tells Layla.
“Why does she even let you out alone? Or doesn’t she know you’re out tonight?” Tee taunts. Kade maturely sticks his tongue out at her. I glance up at Ryder, and nod at him when he slyly motions to the door. He locks it behind him after we both enter.
“Those sneaky sex fiends!” I hear Kade call out.
“Don’t be a c**k block, Kade!” Layla calls out in return.
I can’t contain it anymore, I burst out laughing. Kade is such a character. Ryder pushes me against the wall and fuses his lips to mine. I forget about anything but him for the next hour.
I tip toe outside of the room, and head into the kitchen. Everyone headed out to the club after banging on my door and telling us to meet them there. I sit at the table and open all of my gifts. I feel a little overwhelmed; I've never really had anything like this done for me before. I slowly open each and every card and gift, loving and appreciating everything I was given. I'll definitely treasure it all.
I open Ryder’s gift last and my mouth opens in a gasp when I see the stunning gold chain with the word ‘LEXI’ written in the middle. It’s beautiful. There are two small gold skulls on each side, with diamonds in each pair of eyes. It’s so me, and I love it that Ryder knew how much I’d adore it. Ryder walks out just as I’m trying to put it on, and he silently takes the chain out of my fingers to clasp it for me.