I couldn’t help but smile. I didn’t know what I’d done in my life to deserve someone like him. Always so loving and nurturing, putting my needs above all else. Some sick part of me was happy he’d witnessed that. As strong as I was, and as independent as I’d become, a small piece of me still yearned to be taken care of. To know I wasn’t alone. It was exhausting keeping up the appearance of someone who was strong and unaffected.
Though, sticking up for myself for the first time last night had to count for something. Maybe my strong fa?ade was being replaced by true strength and determination to move past this. I didn’t know when this transformation had taken place, but I had to believe the man sitting before me had everything to do with it.
I couldn’t view this night terror as a setback. I wouldn’t. It would only thwart my progress. I owed it to Blake and to myself to try. To see the good in this. The truth of how I suffered was out and it felt liberating. And it put me one step closer to being one hundred percent open with Blake. To accepting what’d happened in my life. I didn’t want to hash it out yet, though. I wanted to enjoy Christmas with my first boyfriend. That asshole didn’t deserve to continue consuming every aspect of my existence.
I cupped Blake’s face in my hands and kissed the tip of his nose. “You’re an amazing man, Blake Turner.”
A broad smile spread across his face. “Thank you, Evangelina Angel Ricci. You rock pretty hard yourself.”
I wrapped my arms around the back of his head and moved onto my knees, kissing him deeply. Then I drank in his scent, pushing my chest into his, wanting to get as close as I could.
Blake broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to mine. “Time and place, Angel. I don’t like to start things I can’t finish.”
I exhaled, bringing myself back down. “Okay.” I raised an eyebrow. “Want your Christmas gift?”
“Here? Now?”
“Looks like morning to me.” I smirked.
“You know I love surprises.” Blake sat back on his heels as I scrambled off the bed. I rummaged through my bag until I found the bundle discreetly rolled into my jeans.
“Sneaky, sneaky.” Blake smirked.
“I try.” I hopped on the bed, tucking my feet beneath me and handed him the shiny gold package.
He turned it over, examining it and raised his eyebrows at me.
“Just open it,” I said.
Blake slipped a finger under the tape. He peeled the paper back, revealing a silver corner, then pulled slowly, ripping a line down the center until my gift was fully exposed. His eyebrows drew together while he studied the picture frame in his hands. The crease pinched between his eyes began to slacken as he looked up to meet my hopeful gaze.
“Is this for real?”
“For really real.” I smiled a toothy grin, proud of my well thought out gift.
Blake ran his fingers over the engraved scroll at the top.
Laughter is Timeless, Imagination has no Age, Dreams are Forever ~With Love, Angel
The Walt Disney quote stood out to me, perfect for Blake and all he believed in, but I knew the most important part of the gift was tucked beneath the glass.
“How did you afford this? I . . . I can’t accept this.” Blake’s eyes glistened as he stared down with bowed shoulders.
“You can and you will. What’s done is done. You’re registered and you start next month. Now say thank you and give me a kiss.”
“Angel, you can’t afford professional photography classes. We’ll get a refund and put it toward your tuition. Thank you. It was the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received in my life. But I just can’t.” He placed the registrar’s paid bill down beside him and my eyes fell on it.
I’d saved every possible penny to afford those classes. He would have been able to take them for free at Columbia, but I couldn’t chance his dad finding out, so I’d bought him a semester at the New York Institute of Photography instead. The fact he was refusing my gift made me irate. I walked on my knees until I met him on the bed. “Blake Turner, I love you and I put a lot of thought into this gift. Now, you will accept it, or I will not even open your gift. You feel me?”
Blake let out a small laugh, swiping his forearm under his nose and sniffling. “Look at you all forceful and shit. You’re scaring me again. It’s not Tuesday, is it?”
“Hardy har har. You done ruining my gift now? I was happy a moment ago.” I narrowed my eyes, pretending to pout. A smile split Blake’s gorgeous face.
“Well, if you insist.”
“I double insist.” I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed. “Are you excited?”
“Honestly, I’m numb right now. I can’t feel my toes. This is right up there with sex.”
“Hey, now don’t talk crazy.”
“You’re right.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what I was thinking. C’mere.” Blake tugged on my arm, and I fell into him. He wrapped his arms around my back and dipped me, kissing me softly through smiling lips.
I lost myself in the sweet moisture, his soft tongue gliding in and out of my mouth.