45. Eva

Cole had cooked us all a huge breakfast of bacon, sausages, and pancakes with fresh berries. The guys ate so much food it was a wonder they weren't all grossly overweight, but I knew for a fact none of them carried a spare ounce of body fat.

That thought made me blush, and of course, Cole noticed. He winked at me, guessing which way my thoughts had gone. My cheeks heated even more in response. Gah. I was like a teen with her first crush. Oh wait. These guys literally were my first crushes.

Before I could embarrass myself further, I hopped down from my stool and carried my plate to the dishwasher. Cole always ended up with cleanup duty, and I was trying my best to be more helpful around the place. Since it looked like I was sticking around for a while, I needed to pull my weight. We hadn't discussed it, but if I was ‘mated' to the guys, surely I'd have to? Even if I didn't, I wasn't sure I could leave anymore.

"Hey, I got this, sweetheart." Cole plucked the plate from my hand and kissed my cheek.

"Cole, you gotta let me do stuff!" He was like a mother hen sometimes. Not that I was complaining all that hard. It had been a long time since anyone looked after me, and truth be told, I loved it.

"Nope, I don't. Go sit down by the fire. Once the kitchen is clean, you can open your presents."

I wanted to bitch and whine at him, but it was pointless. I could tell. Tanner stood a few moments later. He shoved his now empty plate at Cole and picked me up like I weighed nothing at all.

"Come sit on my lap, baby. Pretend I'm Santa. I want to hear whether you've been naughty or nice."

Cole scowled at him. "For fuck's sake, she's not a doll, you idiot!"

"No, she's my mate!" Tanner growled, and I rolled my eyes. He was so possessive it was unreal. At this rate, I probably wouldn't ever need my legs because he insisted on carrying me everywhere like a teacup chihuahua.

I glanced over at Silas, but he sat studying his phone and chewing, ignoring us. The fact he was deliberately staying out of the conversation hurt. I missed the teasing and ribbing. He was usually the joker, the guy who made me smile. Today, though, he was quiet and introspective, and I hated it.

Tanner stroked my hair while I closed my eyes and relaxed against his broad chest. "Do you normally celebrate Christmas?" I asked.

He snorted. "No. It's a religious festival and we're not religious."

"So how come you have this year?"

He looked at me with a faint smile. "Because you're here."

"But I've never had much of a Christmas before, so I wouldn't have minded if it was just a regular day."

The smile fell away, and he frowned. "And that's exactly why we're making it special for you."

Tears pricked my eyes. "Thank you." It meant a lot that they'd gone to so much effort. First, the tree, and now gifts. I just wished Gran was here. I still missed her, even though she'd been gone for years. She was the only bright spot in an otherwise miserable childhood.

"OK, it's time." Cole strode into the living room, pulled a small box wrapped in pretty gold paper and red ribbon from under the tree, and handed it to me.

"Is this for me?" I blushed for the zillionth time.

"Yes, sweetheart. Open it." He looked a little nervous, and I wondered what he'd got me. Hopefully, it was nothing stupidly expensive.

I couldn't stop a happy little smile from breaking out. The paper fell away to reveal a small box, which I opened with shaky fingers. Inside was the most beautiful gold charm bracelet. On it hung four delicate little charms: a moon, a wolf, an angel, and a star.

"Cole…" I was speechless. "It's beautiful!"

"You can add more charms to it whenever," he said in a gruff voice, like he didn't care whether I liked it. But from the faint pink tinge on his cheeks and the softness in his eyes, he was delighted I loved his gift.

"Thank you." I stood and kissed him.

"My turn!" Tanner stalked over to the tree and picked up a large box wrapped in green and gold paper. I ripped off the paper and opened it. Inside, a layer of pale pink tissue paper hid a stunning lilac silk night gown trimmed with delicate lace.

"I want you to wear this later," he told me, the heat in his eyes telling me he couldn't wait.

"So, um, this is a gift for you, not me?" I asked in a deadpan voice.

His mouth dropped. Panic flitted across his handsome face when I cocked an eyebrow and frowned at him.

"No, it's for you, baby girl. I thought you'd like the color…"

A small chuckle burst from my lips. It was impossible to tease him for long, not when he was trying so hard.

"It's gorgeous." He exhaled a shaky breath and relaxed again. "Thank you," I said before kissing him. Being Tanner, he tried to deepen the kiss, but I pushed him back. "No, I have Silas's present to open. Behave." There was some pouting, but he did as he was told.

Silas watched as I took his gift and carefully peeled off the silver paper to find a journal bound in buttery cream leather, along with a silver fountain pen.

"I thought you could use this to record your thoughts. I read that journaling can help people heal from trauma."

A lump of emotion lodged in my throat, and for a moment, I struggled to breathe. It was clear he'd put a lot of thought into choosing a gift that was useful as well as pleasing to look at. They'd all chosen gifts that had meaning in different ways. It meant more to me than words could say.

I went over to Silas and hugged him. He hesitated for a few seconds, then his arms wrapped around me and he hugged me back. Like always, his citrus and pepper scent calmed and soothed me. I didn't want the hug to end, but eventually, he gently pushed me away, leaving me bereft.

Was he deliberately putting distance between us? If so, why? I wasn't sure, but before I could ask, Tanner slid a brawny arm around my waist, tugging me backward into his embrace. Silas looked sad for a second, and then the shutters came down.

"Let's watch a movie," Cole announced. "Eva's choice."

It turned out there wasn't much to choose from. The guys were clearly fans of action movies and little else. Still, I'd not seen any of them, so it was no great hardship to spend the next two hours ogling hot actors doing stupidly dangerous things on a huge flat screen TV.

It would have been the best Christmas ever if not for Silas keeping his distance, but I was at a loss for how to change things. Maybe if I were a more confident woman, I would have forced him to talk to me, but I wasn't.