Page 55 of Knot All that Glitters: Part 1

Which I guess maybe it is.

I look up and catch Ren’s eye, her cocked eyebrow. A subtle shake of my head and then I smile at Hale. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.” I don’t say I’ll never wear it. Where would I wear it? I can’t put it on before a gala or an event with my father. He’d wonder where I got it.

On my other side, Creed grunts, and Hale glares at him. Neither of them actually say anything.

Jude whistles and slides his gift across the table to me. “Here, open mine. You’ll like it a thousand times better.”

I try not to let it show, but I like it a thousand times better than Hale’s. It’s a journal, with a foiled cover and gilded edges, with a set of pens that match. “I noticed you’re always scribblingin that notebook of yours. I thought you might like something a little fancier.”

I have spent a lot of time writing in my journal, wanting to capture every moment of this week so I don’t forget it. So I can open the pages to this time of my life and read about it in my darkest moments.

But more importantly, he watched my habits this week, learned about them, about me and bought a gift based on that. “Thank you, Jude. I love it.”

“My turn,” Tic hands over a thin envelope. “It’s maybe not as exciting as a diamond choker and a journal.” Is it my imagination or does he sound nervous? Tic never sounds nervous.

When I open the folded paper and pull out what’s inside, tears fill my eyes. Happy tears. The kind I very rarely get to cry these days. “Tic.”

He shakes his head and rubs the back of his neck. “It’s silly.”

“No,” I lunge forward and grip his hand in mine across the table. “No, it’s not silly. It’s really thoughtful.”

“What is it?” Ren asks, eying the envelope like she might rip it out of my hands.

I laugh. “It’s a coupon for six cooking lessons with Atticus Calloway.”

Hale frowns. “That’s not a real present.”

I smack him on the chest with the back of my hand. “Stop it. It is a real present.”

“It’s not! He could just give those to you anytime.”

“Yes, and he’s giving them to me now for my birthday.” Hale seems agitated by this, but I don’t understand why. Still, I want him to feel better, so I say. “I asked him to teach me. This is him giving me what I want.”

Hale’s still frowning, but his face softens when he glances at me. “Really?”

I nod. “Yes, really. I don’t have the faintest idea how to do anything more than boil water in an electric kettle. All my meals are prepared for me by a nutritionist. But it’s something I’ve always wanted to learn. Tic has the skills and the patience to teach me.”

“I was thinking we could do one lesson a week for the next six weeks,” Tic says, bracing his elbows on the table. “We’ll start with something simple and move up in complexity.”

I nod, but disappointment gnaws at my stomach. I won’t be able to adhere to that schedule. Or to any schedule, for that matter. My ability to sneak out depends entirely on when my father goes to one of his late running dinners. Something tells me Tic isn’t going to be okay with me calling him up at seven pm and telling him I have the evening free for a lesson. He’d need more time to prepare than that.

“Haven?” Creed sounds like he’s seen something in my expression he doesn’t like, but I don’t know what to tell him.

“I’ll have to check my schedule with my father and see what nights I have free.” Is what I finally say. “If that’s okay?”

Tic looks as disappointed as I feel, but he nods, squeezing my fingers. “Of course.”

Sensing I need a subject change, Ren blows out a breath and takes a sip of her drink. “Now that we’ve got that settled. You already got your presents from me, so that just leaves…” She slides her gaze toward Creed, who is clenching his fist tight around his glass, his knuckles going white. Concerned he might shatter the glass and hurt himself, I brush my fingers over the back of his hand.

He flinches, pushes to his feet and swallows what’s left of his drink in one gulp. “I’m going for a smoke,” he mutters before striding out of the restaurant.

“You should go after him,” Hale says, leaning into my side so his lips brush the shell of my ear with every word.

I frown in the direction Creed stalked away in. “I think he probably wants to be alone.”

He chuckles, low and dirty. “No, little mouse. He wants you to follow him. He wants you to corner him. And he wants you to make him break. Trust me.”

I shake my head. “If he wanted me, he would say it, Hale.”

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