"Missed you too,” I say with a smile that probably looks half-deranged spreading across my face.
We pile into the trailer, and suddenly it feels too small with all five of us. Like we've outgrown it somehow in the months Tank and Kade were gone. Kade's eyes scan the decorations—the banner, the cupcakes, the streamers—and his face softens.
"You did all this?"
"Jinx helped," I say, suddenly self-conscious. "And Cyrus... hindered."
"I was quality control," Cyrus protests, already reaching for a cupcake.
Kade’s eyes land on my desk through the open door where my two wrapped packages still sit, collecting dust. His mouth quirks into that smirk that means trouble.
"So," he drawls, "gonna open your presents now? Or are they decorative?"
"I can't open presents atyourwelcome home party," I protest. "That's fucking weird."
"Bullshit." He's already moving toward them when Jinx darts past him, snatching both packages with the speed of someone who's been waiting for this moment.
"Got 'em!" He waves them above his head like trophies.
"Jinx, what the fuck?" I ask.
"What? The suspense has been killing me." He shoves them into my hands with zero ceremony. "Open Kade's first. He's been talking about it for months."
Kade’s face twists in an embarrassed grimace in the moment it takes for him to direct murder eyes at Jinx. "I haven't been talking about it."
"You literally asked me twelve times if I thought she'd like it."
"Shut the fuck up, Jinx."
My hands shake slightly as I unwrap the first package. The paper falls away to reveal a small box, and inside?—
"Holy shit," I breathe.
It's a bracelet. But not just any bracelet. This thing is gorgeous. Five beautiful, perfect small charms dangle from a delicate silver chain. A silver flame that flickers in the dusty light. An anatomically accurate heart. A delicate feather. A tiny pair of glasses that actually have miniature lenses. And a crown, perfect in its miniature majesty.
"Kade, this is..." I can't find words.
"Made it in the metal shop," he says, shoving his hands in his pockets like he doesn't know what to do with them. "It's not a big deal."
There's a note tucked in the box. My fingers tremble as I unfold it.
"Every fire needs something to burn for," Cyrus reads over my shoulder, because privacy is a foreign concept to these assholes. "Damn, Kade. That's almost poetic."
Every fire needs something to burn for.
The words feel like a truck slamming into my chest. Since when is Kade a fucking poet?
No, since when does Kade write poetry forme?
"Fuck off," Kade growls, his face going red. "I didn't think she'd be reading it in front of everyone."
But I'm already throwing my arms around him, bracelet clutched in my fist like someone might try to take it from me. "I love it. It's literally my favorite piece of jewelry ever."
"Yeah?" His voice is soft against my hair.
"Yeah."
"Good." He pulls back, that dangerous smirk returning. "Because I gotsomuch shit for making that in metal shop. Apparently real men don't make jewelry."
