Page 114 of His Greatest Muse

Oakley smiles knowingly at me, and I laugh beneath my breath. Noah’s terrible with wrapping gifts. It’s usually easy to recognize which are his, even in a giant bundle of presents, so I know that it was his father who wrapped this one.

“Open it,” Noah tells me.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Mom giggles. “There’s my girl.”

She and Dad got me a custom hoodie with Fast Track written across the chest and a list of all my fight wins so far on the back. I had to suck back tears at the thought that went into that gift. I’ve always loved special gifts like that the most. The ones that take thought and care. That’s what makes this one so special to me. It’s a reminder that regardless of the shit going on right now, I’ve been kicking serious ass as a professional boxer. I refuse to let anything take that from me.

Adalyn is the one who shoots out of her seat and brings me the silver present. I take it with an excited grin and set it in my lap. Tugging the bow first, I watch it come apart and then brush it away. I slip a finger beneath the corner of the wrapping paper and pop it up before tearing it away.

The box beneath the paper is a simple black one with a matching top. Noah’s stare digs into the side of my face, watching my reaction instead of the busy movements of my fingers. The rumble of satisfaction that grows in his chest when I pull the lid off and gasp at what’s inside makes goosebumps spring to life on every inch of my skin.

“You needed ones to match your robe,” he murmurs, lips brushing my jaw.

I hesitate to touch them. The silver boxing gloves are too perfect, too beautiful, to risk smudging with fingerprints. My fingers hover above them before carefully tracing the ink-splotch designs that have been splattered over the silver. They’re a perfect match for my shorts and robe. A completed set.

“Show us!” Mom claps.

“They’re yours. Touch them all you want,” Noah rasps, the words just for me.

So, I do. My fingertips glide along the curve of one before I lift it up and stare at it with blurred vision. Blinking back tears, I make out the words Fast Track inscribed along the wrists. My heart skips too many beats as I quickly grab the second glove and look at the exact same place.

Golden Girl.

“Noah,” I croak.

“Those are gorgeous, Tiny,” Ava says.

I tuck both gloves to my chest and shift my body so I’m facing Noah. He’s already watching me, and when our eyes connect, I make out every emotion running through his mind. I’m feeling the exact same ones.

“I’m sorry there was no party yesterday,” he mutters.

I frown. “This is perfect. It’s everything I wanted.”

He searches my eyes for any hint of a lie, but there is none. “Okay.”

“I feel like we all just lost the best-present-giver title again this year,” Adalyn notes.

I exhale a laugh and find her in the room. She’s pouting, but there’s nothing unhappy about her right now. My best friend is the sweetest, most supportive person I know. Even now, when our lives are so drastically different and we’re thousands of kilometres away from one another every day, I know that I can count on her always. I’ve always known how lucky that makes me, to have not only one best friend who would do anything for me but two. Having her here today is everything I didn’t know I needed.

“We always lose that title,” Maddox corrects her.

His sister blows a raspberry. “Good point.”

Maddox is the only one not sitting. Instead, he’s standing to the side, leaning against the wall. His leg hasn’t stopped bouncing since the moment I entered the room, if not long before that. Maddox isn’t a fidgeter. He’s the cool, calm, and collected sibling. The one with confidence and pride to spare. That’s most likely why I flagged his odd movements. Well, that and the fact he hasn’t stopped staring at Noah’s side for longer than a second.

If I didn’t know better, I would have taken his anxiousness as him missing his family back home. But I’ve been around him long enough to know that’s not it. While he might miss his family in bundles, this goes beyond that. It’s what happened to Noah that has him out of sorts. Noah and the torn pieces of their relationship that neither of them has bothered to repair yet.

“It’s a loss we take in stride,” Mom says.

My brother snorts. “Speak for yourself.”

“You’re turning green, Easton,” Noah replies coolly.

I roll my lips to hide my smile when Easton flips Noah the bird. “I’d rather be green than get stabbed. How’d you do that, anyway? Did my sister piss off one too many Noah Hutton fangirls, so they came at you with knives?”

The room goes cold with silence as our families gape at his gall. He’s never feared digging into Noah, and it goes both ways between them.

---