Page 140 of Where Sinners Repent

Kaleb’s hands are so damn careful as he places the drawing aside.

“It’s perfect,” he mutters, even though his face looks hard.

“Okay, okay,” she sniffles again, turning away from us. “Moving along!”

She runs back to the tree, but I’ll never move along. Not after this.

This time, when she returns, her smile is cheeky, watery eyes sparkling. Two small boxes in her hands.

She passes over one each.

Ash stomps into the room, carrying a laughing Maddison with her legs wrapped around his waist.

“There you fuckers are!” He stops with his Santa hat askew. “I was about to send out a search party.”

Maddison’s eyes widen at the gifts in our hands, and her smile erupts. Almost as sly as the one on Roxy’s face.

“Oh, we are staying for this, babe!” She cheers. “Open it already!”

With the girls laughing, we open it slowly, like it might be a bomb. With the way they are reacting, I wouldn’t be fucking surprised.

The paper falls away, and in the box is a mug.

Kaleb holds his up. It says, MY GIRLFRIENDS HAS A BETTER ASS THAN YOURS.

He glances at mine, which says, SO DOES MINE.

Kaleb’s mouth curves into a slow smirk.

I glance at his again, before lifting mine up. Something breaks free from my chest. An unexpected sound rumbles in my chest before I can stop it. My head falls back and I’m... I’m fucking laughing.

It feels so foreign, the real, free laugh tearing from my mouth, rough from disuse.

Everything goes silent. Kaleb stiffens beside me. Even Roxy’s smile disappears. Every person in the room is staring at me like I’ve grown a second head.

Ash’s eyes are so wide I can see the whites around them, his mouth gaping at me. Even Maddison has frozen, hands curled in Ash’s red jacket.

“You laughed,” Roxy gasps.

I fucking laughed.

My body feels odd. Like something has been released. Something that has been trapped for two decades.

“What?” I mutter, looking back down at the mug and smirking. Fuck it. I shrug, “Well, my girlfriend does have an amazing ass.”

Everyone lags, as if they don’t know what a joke is. But when it eventually sinks in, everyone bursts into laughter. Ash nearly loses his grip on Maddison as they collapse in a fit of giggles, and Roxy clutches her stomach.

Even Kaleb’s hard expression falters, a rough sound passing his lips as she shakes his head.

“Eighteen fucking years,” Ash mutters, shaking his head at Roxy. “Eighteen years and I haven’t gotten these fuckers to laugh. And you walk in and make them laugh. Over a fucking mug.”

He rolls his eyes, but his dimples are out in full force.

“Welcome to the Devils, you crazy fucker,” he winks at her before dragging his old lady to his bedroom.

Roxy’s expression falters. Flinching back like someone hit her. But when she looks back at us, she can’t help but smile.

She might not want to accept it yet, but she’s more Devil than half of the fuckers downstairs. She is one of us, whether she likes it or not. I’ll just have to get her to see it.