Page 56 of Carver
I’m silent for so long that Ginny elbows me. I shake myself. I don’t have to force a smile. “It’s okay. Stuff like this happens. It makes the day memorable. Cake is cake. You probably know that, though. You’re wearing half of it.”
Raiden lifts his hand slowly. Ella grasps his shoulders and turns him around. His back is covered in white frosting and bits of confetti cake. “Don’t freak out, babe. We’ll get your jacket cleaned up.”
Raiden’s face immediately hardens, getting a little murderous, but Ella knows exactly how to diffuse him. She takes his hand and whispers near his ear, but I still catch enough of it that I hear her say something about licking it off of him.
Great. Now my food fantasies are back full force, and I have a room full of people looking at me. It doesn’t help that a parade of images all themed around the teenage style edging that Dom and I have done to each other over the past ten days, smash into my brain like an airdrop all at once.
It’s still pretty quiet in here. Grave steps out of the kitchen with Tyrant right behind him. I’ve never seen Tyrant mad, and everyone says that he’s one of the nicest, kindest people anyone could ever meet. He still strikes me as this curious dichotomy because he’s so young, but he knows so much and he’s in charge of so much.
At the moment, he doesn’t look mad, but he’s clearly annoyed. Lark, in a billowing vintage prairie dress that I adore, hovers on the periphery, holding her daughter in her arms. It’s a good strategy. Tyrant visibly melts when he catches sight of his old lady and their daughter. He winks at her, but keeps a straight face when it comes to Grave.
The twins are big and beefy. They’re well over six feet and look like the typical jock gym rat type. I know that one of them—and darn it, I’m going to have to figure out which one is which—has a jacked-up truck. They’re just that type.
“Sorry about the firecracker, everyone.” Grave clears his throat, pushing out the words like a scolded toddler. “I thought it would be a funny prank. I didn’t know it would make the cake explode.”
“The cake exploded?” Someone exclaims near the back.
“Asshole,” someone else grunts.
“That’s because you’re mentally five.” That comes from Odin, who crosses his huge arms over his massive chest and stances himself out like a bodyguard. “And a dumbass.”
“At least you’re apologizing,” Tarynn offers from beside Crow. He’s the type that I’d normally file undercategorically scary. He dresses all in black—not odd for a biker—but he has long black hair and a dark resting scowl to match.
He loops his arm around Tarynn’s waist and it’s impossible to miss the tenderness between them, even before he drops a kiss on top of her pink hair.
“Run out and buy a new cake. Or like… ten, and we might forgive you,” Willa shoots at him from beside Atlas. He’s standing behind her with his arms looped around her waist. “And apologize to the little baby whose first birthday you fudged up.”
To his credit, red splotches start creeping up Grave’s neck.
Dom appears in the kitchen doorway. He leans causally against it, and catches my eye behind Grave. Dravin pushes through the small opening Dom leaves. He’s still wiping himself down with a wet towel. Dom has cake bits in his hair and on his shirt.
Grave might be a big old baddie, but he walks right up to my parents and bows before Ellie. “Sorry, Elowen. I should have known better. That wasn’t funny. I promise you a free bike when you turn sixteen to make it up to you.”
I clear my throat. Dom clears his throat. Half the room clears their throats.
“That was a joke,” Grave protests. “But Iwillgo get you a new cake. We should have got a biker one anyway.”
“Grave, for god’s sake,” Raiden mutters. “You need to get back to the club and figure out how to get my jacket cleaned up. So… cake. Club. Jacket.”
“Yeah,” Grave mutters, the red splotches spreading to his face. “Sorry again. I’m going now.”
At least he does, taking his partner in crime with him.
“That’s hot,” Ginny leans in and whispers. “A man who can admit when he’s wrong. Mmm.” She licks slowly along her bottom lip.Horrifying. She’s anightmare.
“He’s a brat,” I hiss back. “An overgrown man-child.”
“Where can I sign up?” Ginny sticks the tip of her tongue out at the scowl that I shoot her way. “What? He’s just a little bit rough around the edges. He could use a woman’s sweet touch. Did you see the size of him? He’d definitely go hard.”
I slap my hand over her mouth, but not in time. The words still escape.
“Live out your fantasies,” she garbles out from behind my palm. “Life’s too short to be boring.”
Dravin claps his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Cake’s obviously going to be late, but the rest of the food is ready. So… let’s eat! We’ll do the happy birthdays as soon as Grave is back with his humble pie apology cake deal.”
“It had better be at least ten,” Raiden huffs. He strips his jacket off and sighs over the mess. “And this had better come off.”
Ella whispers something in his ear that makes his lips part, but he seems to forget all about his caked up jacket. He sets his hand on her lower back and ushers her through the kitchen. Since the windows are open, I can see them leave through the back door.
