All Her Broken Pieces

Chapter 25

Gabe seems to be suffering similarly, as I note the straining tendons of his neck followed by an angry flush and subtle eye twitch as he stares down his best friend. The clueless surfer look alike just looks at us with confusion.

"What? What did I say?"

I swallow heavily. "You just forgot to mention that Sang is here? When you just let her Christmas present run away?"

His eyes widen in realization and I can't help but laugh at the speed with which he disappears from the doorway. I share an exasperated look with Gabe before we both chuckle and follow him, seeing nothing more than a blonde blur as Luke tears down the hallway looking for the skunk.

We're not even 30 seconds into our searching when a loud shout echoes from downstairs. "Is that a fucking skunk?" Looks like Brandon and them are finally here as well.

Without delay, Gabe, Luke and I hurry to the giant living room of Uncle and Erica's house where our giant crowd of family has gathered. There's some raised voices from the guys we forgot to let in on just what kind of pet we'd gotten for Sang, and some placating murmurs from the others. The one sound that can be heard through everything else, that settles into my heart and quiets my raging brother, is Sang's beautiful giggle.

Our crowd immediately settles at the sound and eventually, the testosterone sea parts enough for me to get a look at the cutest freaking scene in the world. My gorgeous girl stands in the middle of the room, cradling the baby skunk in her arms as she smiles down at the animal with a look of pure adoration and love on her face. The emotions clear as day in her expression make my heart catch in my chest and I wish more than anything that one day she could look at me even half as fondly. I know that she's told us she loves us all, but it's hard to see myself as part of that, that she could really care for me like the others, like how I feel for her.

We all watch on with rapt attention as she coos at the baby skunk, who of course lays perfectly still in her arms, watching her every move with reverence. Sneaky little bastard, I think mulishly as she cuddles him close to her chest before looking to us with a bright smile.

"Where did he come from? He's so cute!"

Everyone smiles at her, but Gabe is the one to answer. "Well technically he came from an animal rescue, but just now he escaped like a fucking madman while Marc and I were putting on his bow."

I add on to that when she still looks partially confused as to why we had a skunk and were dressing it with bows. "That little guy is all yours, Gorgeous. Merry Christmas from me, Luke and Gabe." Not exactly the way we'd planned it to go, but hey, she's smiling and happy so that's good enough for me.

"Really?" Her eyes are wide with disbelief and hope as she stares down at the fuzzy creature with new appreciation.

"Really, Trouble," Gabe says with uncharacteristic seriousness and she wraps him in a tight hug, careful of the precious bundle in her arms before pulling back to lay a sweet kiss on his mouth. The open affection between them is new, and shocks me before I'm captured in a hug of my own as well, followed by my own kiss that is over far too quickly, leaving me staring in what I'm sure looks like baffled adoration.

She blushes prettily before turning and repeating the process with Luke. He responds much faster than I did, the dick, and dips her back into a deeper kiss before releasing her with a laugh at her shocked face.

Soon, Uncle and Erica join us in the living room, followed by Jessica and her boyfriend Colin as we all settle around the couches and Christmas tree and ripping into the ridiculous pile of presents filling the space.

The wild unwrapping fiasco takes all of five minutes, each person opening gifts altogether instead of taking forever by taking turns with this many people as became tradition even before we'd joined teams. We'd explained it to Sang why we do it this way before so she joins in with a strange glassiness to her eyes, almost like tears but she smiles so I don't worry too much.