Page 187 of Power Shift

He shrugs while Briar peers up at our pack leader. She cups his cheek, and he nuzzles into her hand.

“He wasn’t completely wrong. I told Sadie we’d be there in thirty minutes at least twenty minutes ago.”

Landon stands there for another moment before slowly stepping aside, revealing the gift he’s been fussing with. The rest of us watch while Briar blinks at the overflowing basket.

“Are all of these . . . paint-by-number sets?”

“Yeah. Sort of.”

There are at least thirty of them. Split between colouring books and thin packs of individual themed sheets, I doubt she’d run out of them for years. Maybe even a decade.

Landon’s even gone all out on the paints and brushes. The tiny containers of paint, from white to black, pastel to neon, and every colour in between, take up the majority of the basket. I’d say there’s a healthy number of options there for her.

Despite all of that, I think what steals the show is the custom brush case he got her.

Not only is it her favourite colour, but he’s had it monogrammed with her name and bedazzled with real diamonds. The lemon and cookie designs that were added to the inside of the case stole my breath for a second when he first showed it off to us.

The entire thing is really fucking thoughtful. He should be proud that he pulled something like this together for her. If I wasn’t so confident in what I’ve done for her, I’d be feeling nervous.

“And they’re for me?” Briar asks softly, dropping to a crouch in front of the basket.

Timidly, she reaches a hand into the basket and runs a finger along the front cover of the first book.

“You mentioned that paint by numbers was your favourite hobby, so . . .” He trails off.

“So, you decided to buy me hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars’ worth of them? And this case—oh, my god. It’s gorgeous.”

Landon’s expression is loose, open. His eyes are fixed on Briar, watching her pull the brush case out of the basket. She drops to her knees and sets it over her lap before tracing her name.

“You deserve to have an endless supply of the things you love, Briar. We want to spoil you. It makes us happy to do that,” he says.

She sniffles, making me stiffen. “I did my makeup today and everything.”

“And you look beautiful, with or without it,” Jasper murmurs.

“Thank you. I just wasn’t expecting to cry it all away, let alone already. This is incredible.”

Briar cranes her head back to peer up at Landon. The grip she has on the case is enough to explain how much she loves his gift. But when she pulls it into her chest, that sends him toppling.

“I’m never going to stop courting you. None of us are,” he declares.

She shakes her head, disbelief filtering through the blue in her eyes. “I only need you to love me.”

“That’s the bare minimum. We’re always going to go beyond and above for you. That’s the deal, take it or leave it,” Ronan says.

“Oh, is that so?” She sets the case back into the basket almost reluctantly before rising off the floor. “I guess it would be silly to keep fighting you on it, then.”

Ronan smirks. “You still could, if it would make you happy.”

“I think it would make you happier,” I poke.

Briar’s cheeks pinch with a smile. “You’re all ridiculous.”

“Yet here you are.” Jasper twirls a piece of her hair around his finger. “Standing here continuing to give us all a hard time after we just spent the last five days in bed together.”

“Oh, it was such a hassle, was it?”

“I’ve never been hassled with something I can’t wait to do over a thousand more times,” Landon chimes in.

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