Page 114 of The Casanova Complex

“Well, that’s okay…” I trail off, smiling so big that my cheeks actually hurt as I toss back over my shoulder, “Because I got you something too.”

I turn back and blow him a kiss.

So much for the whole no-present thing.

A few minutes later, I’m sitting beside Elliott on the floor, having a creative discussion about which movie we should actually start with, when Bennett strides into the living room, holding several wrapped presents.

“Sweet! Is one of those for me?” Elliott asks, waggling his eyebrows.

Bennett chuckles. “Could be.”

I reach over and smack Elliott in the head. “Don’t be rude, Elliott.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles, and Bennett just shakes his head, laughing. “Of course one is for you. Might be the coolest one, if you ask me.”

It makes something powerful stir beneath my ribs.

Something that seems to happen a lot whenever Bennett is around.

He sits down beside me and places the presents onto the coffee table, taking the one sitting at the top off his pile. It’s wrapped in a gorgeous bright red, metallic paper with little candy canes on it.

When he reaches past me and hands it to Elliott, his eyes widen, and his entire face lights up.

I feel Bennett’s hand sliding over mine, lacing our fingers together, and I flash him a smile, all while my heart is nearly skipping its beat.

We both watch Elliott rip into the paper, boyish excitement shining on his face in a way that almost brings tears to my eyes.

God, these moments feel few and far between nowadays. The older he gets, the more it feels like he’s almost embarrassed to get excited about things. Like he has to be cool about everything, even when I know he’s internally losing his mind.

Once he finally gets the wrapping paper off, his eyes go comically wide, and he freezes, slowly glancing up at Bennett.

“Holy sh— What?”

Bennett just shrugs. His expression is cool, but his eyes are sparkling delight.

Elliott nearly levitates off the floor, picking up the box to get a closer look.

“What is it?”

He holds up a brand-new Nintendo.

My jaw falls open.

Holy shit?!

Elliott has been wanting this for months. I heard him talking about it with his friends, but he didn’t ask for it for Christmas.

He probably knows that it’s not exactly in our budget right now and didn’t want to make Dad feel guilty.

I cannot believe that Bennett bought this for him.

My gaze whips to Bennett, and he’s beaming, his smile so wide and bright it’s infectious. But then it falls slightly, and panic flits across his face. “Shit, is it too much?”

“Is it too much? I whisper hiss, even though Elliott’s sitting right next to me and can obviously hear everything that I’m saying. “Bennett, those are like a couple of hundred dollars at least. They’re so expensive. You didn’t have to do that.”

Bennett looks past me at Elliott. “Do you like it? Is that the one you were talking about the other day in our chat? Because I couldn’t remember. But I was fairly sure you said it was this one because it’s the limited-edition color, right?”

Elliott nods eagerly. “Yes. Oh my God. This is like the coolest thing I’ve ever gotten in my entire life. Thank you.” From where I’m sitting, it almost looks like tears welling in my little brother’s eyes.