“No,” he started, throwing a dart. “Our sixth-month anniversary is in a few days, but I wanted to give her a gift while we were here.”
“I thought you were following in Marco’s footsteps with a quick engagement,” Javier jested. “Didn’t both of your dads pop the question at six months too?”
“Just mine,” Marco responded. “But Uncle Lorenzo wasn’t far behind. It was what? Eight months?”
“Nine,” Elias corrected.
“Well, you still have time. You know they say, like father, like son, and your cousin proved it,” Ricardo teased.
“My mamma would love that,” Elias said.
“Careful, her senses might start tingling, and she might start meddling,” Marco replied. “But back to my original question.”
“I’m giving it to her tonight after dinner,” Elias answered. He planned on taking her on the lift and giving it to her as they ascended.
They played several rounds of the games before heading to wake the women up, so they could get ready to go to Ashcroft Ghost Town.
“Careful, baby,” Elias said as he helped Eri into the lift car after dinner. Once they were both in, they began to ascend to the top of the mountain.
“It’s such a pretty sight at night,” she said, looking out of the window as she sat across from him.
“I agree,” he responded as he watched her. When they were halfway to the top, he pulled the jewelry box out of his pocket. She turned to look at him, and he held it out to her.
“What’s this?” she asked, taking it from him.
“An early anniversary gift.” He watched her open the box.
“Oh, my gosh. Babe, it’s gorgeous,” she stated, pulling the locket from the box. She opened it and smiled at the picture of the two of them inside it. “Thank you, baby. I love it.” She leaned across the middle, and he met her, kissing her. “I love you.”
“I love you, Amate.”
They rode to the top and then back down to the bottom. When they got off, they walked hand in hand to their room. Once inside, he turned on the electric fireplace and pulled her to sit on his lap to cuddle as they warmed up. As they did, he thought back to the discussion they’d had in the game room. He wasn’t opposed to marriage. Not the way he liked to let his mother believe when he shut her down, and who knew what the next six months held.
40
Elias watched the siblings load the motorcycles they’d commissioned from him into the truck. It was the first time they were all available to come together. Not that he would have cared if they picked them up one by one, but it seemed they’d wanted to get them at the same time since delivery was not something he offered yet. However, if business kept growing the way it was, he would look into it in the future.
Once they were gone, Elias went back inside, locked the door behind him, and went up to the office. He kicked his feet up onto the desk to continue working on the sketch he’d started while he waited for them. He didn’t have any plans for the day, and had they not called, he likely would have spent that Sunday lazing at home, watching movies.
Eri had gone to visit her dad for the weekend and wouldn’t be back until later that afternoon. So, he’d been left to his own devices.
He was over halfway finished with the sketch when his phone rang. He checked the screen and found that Rei, a streamer he’d made a motorcycle for last year, was calling him.
“Hey, Rei. What’s up?” he answered.
“Hey. You busy?”
“Nah, I’m not.”
“I was calling to invite you to this year’s Halloween party on Saturday. I know it’s a bit last minute. I wasn’t going to have one this year at first, but thought, why not? You can bring your friends too if they want to come,” Rei informed.
Elias thought about it briefly. The actual holiday was on Thursday, and he didn’t have any plans for Saturday night after he finished his tattoo appointments.
“Thanks for the invite,” he responded. “I’ll let them know. Text me the info.”
They spoke for a little while longer, with Rei explaining a streamer event he wanted to host. Elias took the opportunity to pitch his girlfriend, recommending the person Koa used for her last merch designs.
Elias knew that had he told Rei that Eri was his girlfriend, the other man would have felt inclined to contact her for that simple fact. He knew her talent would speak for itself once Rei saw what she’d created. He was only steering the man in the right direction.
