“I didn’t know if-”
“It’s perfect.” He reassured me, giving me a big squeeze.
“What the hell did she get you?” Ethan asked getting up off the couch. Asher didn’t say anything, he just kept hugging me.
“Oh, that was real fucking scary,” I admitted, the shaking slowing down. He chuckled as he pulled back.
“Whoa.” Ethan’s voice drew everyone’s attention. Asher looked at me.
“How did you get the dates?” Asher asked.
“What?” Zeke asked leaning over to look in the box.
“Miles, of course.” I smiled at him.
“Fuck, that took balls.” Zeke’s voice was impressed.
“Okay, tell us what it is,” Isaac demanded from next to me. Both Asher and I started laughing. Asher looked at Isaac.
“It’s a box. For Mom’s flag.” He said, his voice a little thick. Then he eyed me. “Custom made from what I could tell.”
“I don’t know what you're talking about,” I said innocently. Asher leaned forward and kissed my forehead. Then got up and went back to his spot.
“I think Lexie won the best present giver game today,” Isaac announced. Asher sat down with a smirk on his face.
“Let’s not call it yet,” Asher suggested leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. I raised an eyebrow at him. Hmmm, intrigue. I started opening mine, everyone was watching now. It was a plain white box. I was scared to open it. I shoved the fear away and took the lid off. My heart slammed in my chest, my throat closed. Tears immediately started to fill my eyes. Dad’s face looked up at me. He was in his dress blues, and it looked like an official portrait, but it was him. I sat stunned for a few heartbeats. My heart bursting I put the box on the coffee table and got up tears already running down my face as I moved around the table. I practically tackled Asher as I hugged him around his neck. He lifted me to sit sideways in his lap and squeezed me tight. He rested his cheek on the top of my head. I couldn’t say anything.
“What is it?” Miles asked in his calm voice.
“A photo,” Isaac said confused.
“Of her Dad,” Asher answered for me, I was still crying too much to answer. He kept holding me tight as I cried into his shoulder. “Her mom left all that stuff behind when they lost the house. She wouldn’t let her take anything.”
“Shit,” Ethan said softly.
“How?” I asked my voice tight and cracking.
“Rory,” Asher said. “He got me in touch with your Dad’s old fire house. I told them what happened and they sent that out overnight.”
“Thank you, thank you so fucking much.” I was still crying, but it was slowing down. I could cry later if I needed too but right now I needed to stop. “You have no idea…”
“You're welcome, Ally girl.” He whispered back with another squeeze.
“Okay, Asher wins the best present giver game,” Isaac announced. Everyone laughed, even me. When I had more control, I pulled back and wiped my face. I gestured toward the photo on the table without looking at it.
“Could someone put the lid back on?” I asked desperately. “Or I’m not going to stop crying.” Someone moved, tissue paper crinkled.
“It’s on, Beautiful.” I nodded and climbed out of Asher’s lap. Miles handed me tissues as I passed. I laughed and took the whole fucking box with me back to my seat. I wiped my nose with a tissue as the guys kept watching me.
“Stop staring.” I snapped weakly at them. They all chuckled. Everyone was done with presents, so we picked up the paper and threw it into the fireplace. I reminded Miles to move the painting before lighting it.
“So, where are you hanging your Lexie original?” Ethan asked.
“Bedroom, right above my desk,” Miles answered instantly. I smiled. I was so happy he liked it. Everyone was talking while the paper burned down to ashes. I was about to tell them about Rory’s gifts when the guys all looked at each other with smirks. That couldn’t be good.
“What?” I asked. “Don’t tell me you guys all ate Dylan's cookies.” The guys burst out laughing.
“No, we didn’t eat his cookies,” Asher reassured me.
“We got you another present, from all of us,” Miles announced. I raised an eyebrow and got excited.
“I get to hunt Ethan through the house with a paintball gun?” I asked really hoping this was what was happening. Everyone burst out laughing.
“Why me?” Ethan asked still laughing.
“Okay, Isaac too.” I agreed with fake frustration.
“What the…?” Isaac trailed off, just shaking his head. I smiled at him.
“No, it’s not that,” Asher said. “Though that would be awesome to watch.” Miles looked over at Zeke.
“Zeke?” Zeke got up and headed upstairs.
“My present is upstairs?” I asked suspiciously. The guys just grinned at me, not giving me a hint. It was a couple minutes before Zeke yelled to us.
“Coming down the stairs!”
“Lexie, close your eyes,” Miles ordered me. I eyed him then did as I was told. I heard Zeke on the stairs. My heart was racing. What did they do? It was obviously unwrapped, so what the hell was it. I bit the corner of my bottom lip trying not to peek. Zeke’s footsteps come into the living room.
“Seriously guys, if it’s something weird....” I warned them.
“You’d love anyway, and you know it,” Ethan said. I nodded. Yeah, he was probably right. Zeke’s footsteps stopped in front of me. Butterflies were in my stomach. Let me look!
“Okay, Lexie. Open your eyes.” Zeke told me. I hesitated.
“If someone's ass is in my face, I will punch you,” I warned them. The guys laughed.
“Lexie, just fucking open your eyes.” Zeke’s voice was still laughing. I opened my eyes and looked up. At first, I didn’t see it. The color almost completely blended in with Zeke’s shirt. Then I saw it. It was a big puppy. My jaw dropped. The puppy was black, with short hair. A wrinkly little face and had skin folds here and there. The puppy was laying on Zeke’s arm, looking perfectly content to stay there. Its long legs were dangling around Zeke’s forearm.
“Holy shit.” I couldn’t help it, it was so fucking cute. And not your average cute, weird cute. The folds on his little face told me he was going to be a little funny looking. I loved him instantly. The guys were laughing at me. “You guys got me a fucking puppy?” The puppy heard me, it opened its eyes and blinked at me with light blue eyes. He reached out from Zeke to sniff at me, its tail starting to wag. Zeke smirked as he handed it to me. I took the little guy and rested him against my body. “Hi, baby.” I cooed. Yeah, I fucking cooed at the puppy. The guys burst out laughing again. The puppy’s butt was in my hand as it sat on my stomach, it’s front feet standing on my chest. It went on a sniffing spree. “Rory’s gonna kill you guys,” I said in a sweet voice as the puppy sniffed my cheek. The guys burst out laughing again.
“Rory already knows,” Miles assured me. “We got permission first.” I peeked at the puppy’s junk. It was a boy.
“Oh, my fucking God you guys.” I couldn’t believe this. He was sniffing my neck now. “What kind is he?” Zeke went back to his spot as everyone kept watching me with the puppy.
“Neapolitan Mastiff,” Zeke answered. I looked up at the word mastiff. The puppy gave me lick on my neck, making me laugh. Then he snuggled down on my chest, looking very content.
“Mastiff? As in that huge fucking dog?” I asked wondering if he was messing with me. The guys started laughing again. I ignored that as I petted the puppy’s head.
“Yeah, he’s going to a big guy,” Asher answered.
“I saw his dad, he was a huge fucker,” Zeke admitted. My eyebrows went up. He pointed at the now sleeping puppy. “And that little shithead is a cuddler, he seriously was hogging my pillow all last night.” I laughed at the image of Zeke struggling to sleep with a puppy in his face. It was awesome.
“I don’t care about the cuddling, but how big are we talking her
e?” It was starting to sound like this dog would be giant. The guys snickered. Zeke stood up.
“His dad went to here.” Zeke put his hand at his hip. My mouth dropped. The dog's head was going to reach my belly button? Holy shit. “He also weighed around 180 to 190 lbs.” This dog was going to outweigh me. Fuck. Miles saw my face.
“He might not get that big, genetics are funny. But he should be around your hip when fully grown.” Miles explained calmly.
“I’m gonna need a bigger bed,” I said honestly. The guys burst out laughing. The puppy just kept sleeping on me. He was like a big ball of love. “This guy’s going to outweigh me?” I was kind of worried about it. Zeke gave me a grin.
“Lexie, with training he will be easy to manage,” Zeke assured me. “I’ll work with you to train him. When we’re done, he can be at a full run and will come to a dead stop on command.”
“And walks?” I asked because this guy was going to be yanking me everywhere. He smiled.
“I’ll help you leash train him, that’s all part of it,” Zeke reassured me. Okay, I felt better about it. Of course, it helped that he was so fucking cute.
“Why did you guys get me a dog?” I asked smiling down at the puppy, who was stretching out across my chest.
“I had an idea,” Miles began drawing my attention away from the puppy. “That if a dog slept next to you, you wouldn’t have so much trouble sleeping at Rory’s. That he would work like the twins.”
“I’m still getting my fucking cuddles, dog or no dog,” Isaac said sounding grumpy. The guys chuckled.
“That is brilliant Miles.” I was majorly impressed. I started thinking up names. He was so fucking adorable. “Thank you, so much. I love him.”
“No problem, Red.”
“Of course, Beautiful.”
“Glad you like him, Ally.”
“Your welcome Lexie,” Miles said sweetly.
“You owe me a pillow,” Zeke told me. I snickered.
“What, did he pee on it?” I asked smiling.
“No, he fucking ate it.” Zeke’s face was dead serious. I burst out laughing, accidentally waking up the dog. He lifted his head and moved till he was against my throat then snuggled back down.
“I’ll get you a new one tomorrow,” I assured him. Zeke didn’t really seem to care. His eyes went to Miles, and he tilted his head towards me. Was there more? “Okay, what’s up?”
“Well, there’s a reason why you got this breed of dog,” Miles began. I smiled.
“Because it’s a guard dog and it’ll be huge?” I asked like it was obvious. “Zeke was involved so I figure he’d pick the most protective animal on the planet.” The guys burst out laughing. Zeke looked completely unrepentant about his protective streak.
“No, but that was a factor he insisted on,” Miles admitted. He pointed to the puppy. “There’s an interesting bit of history with this breed. The myths about them are that they were originally called hellhounds. That they guarded the gates of the underworld, keeping souls where they needed to be.” My eyebrows went up. “The whole Cerberus guarding the gates of the underworld myth was supposedly a Neapolitan Mastiff.”
“But with three heads.” I pointed out. Miles smiled at me.
“Yes, so I thought there must be a reason the myth came about.” He leaned forward a bit, bracing an arm on his knee. “I did some more digging and found that this breed is believed to keep the souls of the dead away.” My jaw dropped. Was he serious? “And there was a bit about keeping away evil, but I wasn’t focusing on that.”
“So, you guys think this little guy can keep the ghosts away and the nightmares away so I can sleep,” I said just wanting to be clear. The guys nodded.
“If lore and mythology have any bit of truth in it at all, then yes,” Miles answered. I blinked at them stunned. If this worked... even if only the nightmares stopped then it would be amazing. I could get a full night's sleep all the time. I wouldn’t have such a big coffee budget.
“Total game changer,” I said amazed at the idea. The guys chuckled. I looked down at my puppy and realized what he really meant. I could actually sleep. “You buddy got a big job description on your little head. Physical guard dog, spiritual guard dog and nightmare guard dog all in one.” I said to the puppy in a cute voice.
“This is the most girly we’ve ever seen you, Red,” Isaac said sounding stunned. I looked up at him and shot him a look.
“Fuck off.” The guys burst out laughing.
“And she’s back,” Isaac said smiling. I smirked at him.
“Thank you so much, guys. He’s amazing. Even if he just helps with nightmares, it’ll be awesome.” I told them earnestly. Then something occurred to me. “Wait a minute. Is this why Rory got all of you to help put up the backyard fence before the ground froze?” The guys smiled.
“Yes. That was part of the deal.” Miles said. “You don’t need to worry about food or anything tonight, Rory has it all hidden in his bedroom.”
“Along with chew toys, we made sure to get the kind without squeakers,” Asher added. “Including a crate.” I scoffed at that.
“I’m not crating him,” I said bluntly.
“It doesn’t hurt the dog to crate him, Ally.” Asher pointed out. I shot him an ‘are you nuts’ look.
“Dogs shouldn’t be cooped up in a fucking crate, they should be able to go anywhere in their area that they want to at any time. Would you like to be forced to sit in one spot for hours? No. You wouldn’t. So, no crate.” I told him, slightly ranting. Asher shook his head and looked to Zeke.
“Will you tell her that crating is okay?” Asher asked Zeke. Zeke looked at me then back to Asher.
“I’m with her on this one,” Zeke said. “I don’t crate my dogs, those guys run around all they want, it keeps them healthy and happy.” I raised an eyebrow. Zeke had dogs? How did I not know this? Asher threw his hands up in defeat. I decided to change the subject.
“Okay, we need names,” I announced.
“How about Cerberus?” Isaac offered. I winced.
“Dogs will understand two syllable names. Go any higher, and he won’t know who you're talking to.” Zeke informed us. I didn’t know that.
“I like the idea of a mythology name, though.” I pointed out. I tried to remember what I knew about Greek and Roman mythology.
“Aries?” Miles offered.
“Pluto, I’m not saying mythology I mean the cartoon dog.” Isaac offered. I smiled, that wasn’t bad. The guys went around till I got one that was perfect.
“Hades.” I looked up at them. “Hades, God of the Underworld.” The guys all smiled.
“Okay, that’s a bad ass name,” Ethan said to everyone. I looked down at the puppy.
“Are you a Hades?” I asked him, the puppy woke up and looked at me. “Hades?” His little tail started to wag. I smiled. “Hades it is.” The puppy started licking my face excitedly. I smiled and kept him away from my mouth. “Okay, no more kisses,” I told him. I pulled my head away, and he stopped then looked at me with his head tilted. I smiled. “You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?” I mumbled. The guys snickered at me. Hades laid back down on my chest apparently ready to continue his nap. I decided it was time for Rory to surprise them.
“By the way.” Everyone looked at me. “Rory got you guys presents too, they are in the back of the Blazer.” They all went still, every one of them looked stunned, like a fish on land. All wide eyed and gaping. I snickered. “Come out and get them cause I’m not carrying.” I carried a sleeping Hades with me as I headed out to the foyer and pulled my jacket on. I heard the guys following. I made a point to keep Hades under my coat where he’d stay warm. I opened the back of the Blazer, and I gestured at the packages. “I got a puppy, so, you guys carry them in.” The guys were quiet as they picked up the big boxes that had each of their names on them. Miles hesitated, he looked uncomfortable.
“Why did he get any of us a present?” Miles asked, the others stopped heading in and turned back tow
ard us. They must have wanted to know too. It broke my heart that he had to ask. I gave him a gentle smile.
“He basically told me… you guys are great. Your dads are dicks, and there are gifts that you guys shouldn’t miss out on.” I had to bite the tip of my tongue to stop my eyes from filling again. Rory was pretty amazing. Miles' face was blank, his body tense. It was his ‘I’m controlling an emotion’ stance. He always went still when he didn’t know what to do. He swallowed hard.
“Do… we... get him a gift now?” He asked looking confused. “Should we…?” I smiled at him.
“If you want to.” He looked like he was struggling with something and the others weren’t moving either. “He wasn’t looking to-”
“I know,” Miles assured me. “Rory’s not like that. It’s… just-”
“It’s new,” Ethan answered for him from behind Miles. I looked over at the others, each of them seemed to be deep in thought. It made my heart ache. So, I was a smart ass.
“Guys, he could have filled the boxes with stuff that pops out and scares the shit out of you. This is Rory we’re talking about.” That had them chuckling and moving again. The prank war had extended to Rory after a month or so. Ethan accidentally got him instead of me with a stink bomb. Rory soon retaliated by replacing the cream filling in Oreos with toothpaste. It was funny as hell. Miles picked up his box and gave me a small smile before heading in. I closed the back of the Blazer and hurried in behind them. I wanted to know what Rory got them, the curiosity was killing me. Everyone got back in their spots as I was taking off my jacket. The boys were all looking at each other, and Rory’s gift like it was going to bite. I needed to make this easier for them. I hurried back in with Hades smiling. “Come on, come on. Open them! I wanna see.” I said in my excited kid voice. The guys chuckled as I slipped past Ethan and sat in my spot again. “Come on! The suspense is killing me.” I raised a finger. “But if there is a live snake somewhere, I’m climbing one of you like a tree.” They guys burst out laughing. Yeah, I wasn’t joking about that. I’d take my puppy with me too. The guys started opening their boxes, and I visibly cringed, looking like I expected an explosion. The twins kept laughing at me. I peeked over into the boxes and realized they didn’t get just one present. Rory had filled the boxes with stuff. The room was quiet as they looked in their boxes, they all seemed to be frozen again. “Any live snakes? Spiders? Scorpions? Seriously tell me here.” I pulled my feet up onto the couch and moved to sit on the back of it clutching Hades to me like I was expecting crawling stuff any second. The guys looked at me and burst out laughing. The tension in the room disappeared, and the guys started pulling out their presents from Rory.
When the Dead Come a Knockin' Page 39