“You’re welcome,” Jayden said, with a regal nod that cracked me up.
Next was a sketchpad from Rory and Tyler and a charcoals case from Riley and Jessica. Yeah. That was a fucking lump in my throat. My cousins looked as awkward about the whole gift giving as I felt, with Tyler making a point to mention that everything was Rory’s idea.
“So if it’s stupid, don’t blame me,” he added.
God, we were all such brats when it came to emotion. Why were any of them insane enough to be with us?
Rory frowned at Tyler. “Really?” she asked him.
“That didn’t sound right, did it?” he asked.
“No. It didn’t.”
He shrugged. “I’m sorry. But this . . .” He gestured to the food, the paper party plates that declared “Happy Birthday!” and the cake that had been airbrushed with a cobra on it. “We aren’t used to it. We don’t know how to act.”
“My plan wasn’t to make you uncomfortable,” Robin said, looking upset.
“You’re not,” I assured her. “It’s just that no one has ever done this for me. For any of us. I’m . . . what’s the word?”
“Touched?” Kylie suggested.
I winced. That sounded so . . . tender. But it was the truth and Robin deserved to hear that. “Yes. Touched.”
Jessica burst out laughing. “You sound agonized. It’s ridiculous. But Phoenix, we understand. Everyone has baggage, just in a different brand. Now let’s eat cake. You can open your gifts from Robin when you guys are alone because I have a feeling that’s going to make all of us uncomfortable.”
“Good idea,” Riley said.
“Cake!” was Easton’s opinion.
Robin said, “I forgot a knife.” She moved toward the stairs and I followed her.
“Hey.” I took her hand. “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
There were tears in her eyes and I felt like shit.
“I should have asked you. I’m sorry. But I just thought you’d like it.”
“I do like it.” I pulled her to a stop and into my arms. “Robin. Why do you do that? Why do you always think that what you do isn’t enough, or important, or whatever? This is perfect. The best birthday I’ve ever had.”
“Really?”
“Really.” How could she think otherwise? I kissed her softly, loving the way her lips felt beneath mine. “Mm. Who needs cake?”
“Easton will implode if we don’t cut it,” she said with a smile.
“True.” I pulled a knife out of the drawer.
She went in the freezer. “One more thing.”
She pulled out a box with a bow on it. Dilly Bars from Dairy Queen. “Holy shit, how did you know I love those?”
“Because when we first met you said you’d probably spend your birthday eating one by yourself, enjoying your freedom.”
“I did?” I asked, stunned that she remembered that. I didn’t even remember saying it. But she was right. That was exactly how I had imagined spending my birthday. I had a lot more than that, all because of her. “Babe. You’re the best. I love you, do you know that?”
“I love you, too.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out as we walked back upstairs. And smiled when I saw the text.
Happy Birthday Turd. Mom
So she had remembered after all. It meant a lot, maybe more than it should. I showed the screen to Robin. “My mom remembered my birthday. And Turd was her nickname for me when I was a kid. Cute, huh?” I answered with a “thanks.”
“She loves you,” Robin said simply. “Even if she isn’t always good at showing it.”
“I know.” I did. Expecting more was asking too much.
Upstairs Jessica was on the couch and laughing as Riley pinned her down. It looked like he had cake smeared on his mouth. “I cut the cake,” she said, wheezing as he bounced her up and down on the cushion. “Sorry, Phoenix. I should have waited.” Riley gave her a cake kiss and she screamed and turned her head.
But I was actually relieved. It took the pressure off a whole candles/cake-cutting thing where everyone would be looking at me. A corner of the cake was already missing and Easton was swiping his finger across the wax paper and eating globs of frosting left behind. “No problem.” I took the knife from Robin and cut a chunk out and held it up with a grin. “Come here, babe.”
I expected Robin to dart away, but she surprised me by moving so fast I didn’t react. She lifted my arm and slammed the cake right into my face. It was creamy and crumbly, and I jerked back as Robin grinned at me.
“Is that what you mean?” she asked.
Which of course everyone found hilarious.
“Badass, huh?” Tyler snorted. “You can hear breathing in a dark room but you can’t beat your girl in arm wrestling?”
“Suck my dick.” I wiped my face. “Hey, by the way, look what I did today.” Fingers covered in frosting, I lifted my shirt up and showed them my new tattoo. “Pretty awesome, huh?”
“Dude.” Tyler nodded in approval. “That is killer. You draw that?”
“Yep.”
“OMG!” Kylie screamed. “Robin, that’s you!”
Robin laughed. “I know. It would be pretty awkward if it was someone else.”
I snorted. “Cute.”
Riley shook his head. “You’ve screwed us all, man. Now they’re all going to expect portraits.”
“I’m not tattooing your girlfriend’s face on my body,” I told him, expression deadpan.
Riley laughed and gave me a slap on the back. Hard. “When did you become such a comedian?”
“That’s Robin?” Jayden asked, bending over to take a closer look. “I thought it was Selena Gomez.”
Jessica shot pop out of her nose and started choking as she laughed.
“Christ, you’re killing me,” I said, holding my side. Damn, laughing made my tight skin pull even harder.
But there was no way not to laugh.
“I do not look like Selena Gomez!” Robin said, giggling.
“It’s a compliment,” Rory told her. “She’s very pretty.”
“Muy caliente.” Robin grinned. “And that, my friends, is sadly the bulk of my Spanish. Oh, and feliz cumpleaños.”
“Gracias,” I said. “But I think you’re way hotter.”
“Don’t tell me you know Spanish.”
“A little. I took it in high school.”
Robin laughed. “You’re probably better at it than I am. It’s my personal failing.”
Cutting another piece of cake, I bit it. “Cosita, we all have plenty of those.” I held the cake square in the air like it was a glass. “Here’s to another birthday above ground.”
“Cheers,” Robin said with her Diet Coke.
Chapter Fourteen
Robin
When I was a kid, birthday parties followed the same pattern—lots of food, lots of people, lots of inexpensive presents, a massive cake, and running around the yard like we were filming a remake of Lord of the Flies. There was a lack of parental supervision and an excess of sugar. They were perfect afternoons, and the only thing that changed from year to year was the decoration on the cake. My mother didn’t go in for big themes or extravagant luaus or bowling parties or water parks. She thought spending hundreds of dollars on a kid’s party was beyond their budget and created unreasonable expectations for the next year.
I never missed having a bounce house or pony rides. Birthdays were about the joy of running wild and tearing off wrapping paper and the added bonus of accidentally nailing my brother with the piñata stick. It worked for me.
Which was why I was relieved when Jessica broke the ice at Phoenix’s party by swiping some of his cake. He had been so painfully uncomfortable opening his gifts that I had known I had messed up. I should have warned him about the party. He wasn’t the kind of guy you sprung a surprise on, as was obvious when he attacked Riley thinking he was a burglar.