I felt kind of ridiculous smacking my fingerprint on there but since Liam seems borderline obsessed with them, I feel like I made the right choice as his finger trails over the engraving. He seems almost entranced by it.
“Stop… staring at it,” I say, feeling weirdly vulnerable. I force it on his wrist before he can stare at it some more.
Liam lifts my hand and kisses the tip of each of my fingers. “I love it. I love it so much. Can I give you your engagement ring now?”
“Did you already buy one?” I ask in disbelief.
“How would you prefer me to answer this question?” he teases.
“I don’t know,” I admit.
He just smiles at me and kisses my palm before lifting me up so he can lay me down on the bed. “I adore every inch of you.”
“I love you too.”
“It’s been so long since I celebrated Christmas. I forgot that it could be kind of fun,” he says as he drags me on top of him. I lay my head on his chest while his hand slides under my shirt and rubs my back. “I mean… not the family stuff. No thanks. But this? I can handle this.”
I grin. “Yeah? I think I can handle it as well. How about you promise me that you’ll be here for me for many Christmases to come? I never want to spend one of them alone.”
“I promise. We’ll be together until the day we turn to ash. I’ll never leave you, Gabriel. I’ll love and cherish every moment with you.”
I squeeze him to me, feeling like my heart is pounding out of my chest and my thoughts are running wild, but here in his arms, everything seems perfect.
TWENTY-TWO
Liam
“Isn’t there a rule that you don’t have to answer calls from annoying humans on Christmas?” I ask.
“Huh, let me check the Christmas manual,” Gabriel says sarcastically as he pulls away from where we’ve been cuddling on the couch while watching the most ridiculous Christmas movies. There’s no violence. No blood. No gore.
What kind of holiday cheer is this festive bullshit?
Oh, but Gabriel loves them.
“Hello?” Gabriel answers before quickly putting it on speaker.
“I need you two over here now. I just got home and… fuck. Now, please,” Jesse says.
“So needy. Are you being murdered? Blink twice if you’re being murdered,” I mutter.
“This isn’t a video call! You can’t see my fucking face!”
“Obviously, Santa delivered him coal,” I grumble as I follow Gabriel out the door.
Honestly, I’d rather watch this festive bullshit than run out to deal with Jesse’s drama… although his drama has been rather… murdery lately.
We hurry out to the car and drive to his house in record time. When we get out of the car, Jesse hops out of his own car that’s parked along the road.
“What’s going on?” Gabriel asks.
“Whitaker was here,” I announce. I feel like I do a very good delivery of it.
“How did you know?” Jesse asks.
“What else would freak you out like this? What did he leave you? Is it a body?”
“No, he just… apparently wanted me to know he’d been in here,” Jesse says before he pushes the front door open and we step inside to where I’m almost immediately greeted by a TV that’s playing a rather interesting video. It shows the foyer we’re standing in and then the kitchen that’s to the right. Then whoever is recording it goes upstairs and slowly walks down the hallway, making not even a single sound as they walk. They stop when they reach the second door on the right before they point the camera through the cracked door where they zoom in on Jesse’s sleeping face, watching him while the man remains completely unaware of who is in his house.
