Kota returned to the car twenty minutes later, with two small black boxes cradled carefully in his hands.
The cold air had turned his cheeks pink, and there was a slight bounce in his step that he couldn’t quite suppress.
Elliot, who had been scrolling through his phone with his feet propped up on the dashboard, immediately perked up when he saw the boxes.
His ginger eyebrows shot up, his grin spreading into something deeply, dangerously curious.
“Ooo, what are those?” Elliot asked, leaning over the center console like a cat stalking a laser pointer.
“Nothing,” Kota said, sliding into the passenger seat and carefully placing the boxes on his lap.
“That’s not nothing.
Those are definitely something.
Something small and mysterious and probably romantic.” Elliot’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Let me see.”
“No.”
“Let me see, let me see, let me see.” Elliot’s hand shot out with the speed of a cobra, snatching one of the boxes before Kota could react.
He flipped it open, his eyes going wide.
Inside, nestled on a bed of black velvet, was a silver ring.
It was simple and elegant, polished to a mirror shine, and engraved on the inside in delicate script was a single name.
Theo.
Elliot’s grin became absolutely feral.
“Oooooo, is this what I think it is?
Are you proposing already?
It hasn’t even been a month since you started dating!
This is moving way too fast, even for this family.
Not that I’m judging.
I think it’s hot.
Very bold.
Very romantic.
Theo’s going to lose his mind.”
“It’s not an engagement ring,” Kota said, snatching the box back with a glare.
“It’s a promise ring.”
“Is it though?
You’re still putting a ring on him.
That’s like, ninety percent of the way to a proposal.
The other ten percent is just getting down on one knee and picking out a wedding venue.” Elliot leaned back in his seat, utterly delighted.
“My brother’s getting a promise ring.
This is so cute.
I think I’m going to vomit.
In a good way.” This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
Kota closed the box and held it protectively against his chest.
“Just drive, Elliot.”
But Elliot wasn’t done.
His eyes flicked to the second box still sitting on Kota’s lap.
“So if that one’s for Theo, then the other one must be for me, right?
I mean, I’m obviously your favorite after Theo.
We’ve shared so much.
I gave you a ride.
I’ve been very supportive of your whole polyamorous thing.” He made a grab for the second box.
“Let’s see it.”
“Elliot, don’t—”
Too late.
Elliot had already snatched the second box and popped it open.
His expression shifted from gleeful to dramatically offended in the span of half a second.
“SEBASTIAN?” He looked up at Kota with mock betrayal.
“Seriously?
The English teacher?
The guy who quotes Shakespeare and can’t even walk straight after one round?
I thought we had something special going on, Kota.
I thought I meant something to you.”
“You don’t,” Kota said flatly, taking the box back and tucking both of them into the gift bag with the chocolates and flowers.
“Now drive.
We’re on a schedule.”
Elliot stuck his tongue out, childish and unrepentant, before starting the engine.
The car roared to life, and he pulled out of the parking lot with more speed than was strictly necessary.
The city blurred past the windows, the morning sun glinting off the hood, and Elliot drove like a man who had never once worried about traffic laws.
He weaved between cars, ran a yellow light that was more orange than yellow, and took a corner so sharply that Kota had to brace himself against the door.
“Can you drive like a normal person?” Kota asked, his knuckles white on the armrest.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Elliot shot back, grinning.
“Relax, cutie.
I’ve never crashed.
Well, I’ve never crashed badly.
Well, I’ve never crashed with someone else in the car.
That’s basically the same thing.”
Twenty ish minutes later, they pulled up to the Hawthorne mansion.
The massive estate looked different in the daylight, the stone facade warm and golden under the February sun.
The front gates swung open automatically as the car approached, and Elliot guided them up the long, winding driveway, past the manicured hedges and the frozen fountain.
The house loomed ahead, all marble columns and towering windows, looking less like a home and more like a monument to excessive wealth.
Kota gathered his gifts and stepped out of the car.
“Is Theo going to be downstairs anytime soon?”
Elliot killed the engine and hopped out, stretching his arms over his head.
“Nope.
He’s gonna take at least two more hours, plus another hour deciding what to wear.
He’s been in and out of that bathroom all morning.
I think he’s trying to achieve the perfect ‘effortlessly beautiful’ look, which, as you know, requires an enormous amount of effort.”
Kota smiled.
“Good.
That gives me time.”
“Time for what?”
“To get everything ready.” Kota headed toward the west side of the house, the one with the garage entrance that the staff used.
“Where’s Beckett?”
Elliot’s expression flickered with amusement.
“Same place he always is.
Basement room.
He’s been holed up down there ever since he caught the flu.
I think he’s turned it into some kind of quarantine bunker.
He’s got crystals arranged in a protective grid and everything.”
Kota rolled his eyes.
“Of course he does.” He pushed open the side door and stepped into the west garage.
The space was cavernous, filled with a dizzying array of vehicles, from classic cars to modern sports cars to what looked like a small helicopter tucked into the far corner.
But Kota barely noticed them.
His attention was fixed on the far end of the garage, where a familiar figure was bundled in what could only be described as an excessive number of blankets.
Beckett was wrapped so thoroughly that he looked less like a person and more like a human burrito.
Only his pale face was visible, peeking out from between layers of fleece and wool, his dark hair sticking up in every direction.
His eyes were half closed, his expression blank, and he was surrounded by a circle of crystals that glowed faintly in the dim light.
The scene was so absurd that Kota couldn’t help but laugh.
He walked over, his footsteps echoing on the concrete, and stopped in front of the blanket-wrapped femboy.
Beckett’s eyes drifted up to meet his, completely unbothered by the intrusion.
“Over reacting much?” Kota said, his voice dry with amusement.