Page 93 of The Casualty of Us (Philosophies of the Heart Duet #1)

Chapter Forty-Six

I watch O finish opening up Ollie’s present, pulling the top off and tossing her head back with a laugh that has my lips lifting automatically.

Completely transfixed by the way she seems to be bubbling over with joy today and immediately loving Christmas even more because of it.

She pulls a jeweled pink stun gun from the box that has the grin on my face growing wider and her mother chuckling from beside Ollie on the couch.

Their father is in the chair next to him, and O is in the one on the other side of the couch, with me choosing to sit on the floor so that I can still be touching her in some fashion instead of taking one of the other chairs.

Most of the presents are already open at this point, and there’s a small stack beside me from Ollie and O’s parents despite my protestation.

The guitar she gave me yesterday is still sitting upstairs, and the entire accessory pack that she had me open this morning is behind the chair.

I push up off the floor and walk over to the tree, quickly snatching up the two green presents that are stacked together and bound by a white ribbon in one hand.

My other hand goes for the white box with the red ribbon that has Cartier scrawled along it in gold that’s hidden behind the rest. I turn back to see O’s eyes moving between my hands before she zeros in on the white box quickly.

Her gaze lifts to mine as I take that first step back toward her, and her voice comes out a little scolding. “What is that?”

I tilt my head at her, teasing while closing the distance, “Why? What do you think it is?”

The flash of panic on her face has my grin spreading wide, and a quiet laugh follows with my next breath.

I come to a stop in front of her and place the green presents in her lap before setting the white one in the seat beside her so that the order is clear.

She holds my gaze for another moment, narrowing her own playfully before dropping it to the first gifts and observing quietly.

“I see we’re sticking to the two-gift trend. ”

“I’ve decided on a three-gift tradition, actually, but one wasn’t ready yet.” I shrug when she glances back up at me through her lashes. “One for the mind, one for the heart, and one for the crown.”

Her eyes stay on mine, a little spark in the blue there coming before she breathes. “Which one do I have to wait on?”

“The heart.”

“Of course.” Her lips lift, eyes dropping back down as she finishes pulling the white ribbon loose.

Carefully unwrapping the top present to reveal the first edition of The Handmaid’s Tale that I tracked down for her.

A smile slowly lights up her face as she stares at it until it’s like she’s transcendent, knocking the fucking breath from me as she opens the front cover to blurt out, “You didn’t.

” Her gaze immediately comes back to mine before stating it, like she’s checking to be sure. “This is signed.”

“Huh,” I tease, arching a brow and looking down at it. “Is it? I wonder how that happened.”

Her eyes drop back to the book, a happy noise leaving her before she picks it up gently and unwraps the second to find the same thing with a copy of The Testaments .

The sound comes more loudly this time right before she launches herself at me, arms going around my neck with a book in each of her hands.

I close mine around her with a quiet laugh, picking her up until her feet are dangling as she whispers, “This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She nods against my shoulder. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Freckles.”

I set her down just as Ollie snorts, “Suck up.” The sound of the smack coming next is followed a little oomph before he mumbles, “Great present, Flynn.”

O giggles against me before stepping back, holding the books close to her chest like she doesn’t want to ever let go of them and making me scoff with amusement.

I save her from having to put them down since she’s acting like Gollum with the ring and reach for the Cartier box myself.

Unwrapping the ribbon from it and popping the wax seal they add before I pull out the red leather box from within.

I look back up, playing around with the box in my hands while explaining, “I asked your dad if I could be the one to replace the jewelry you sold for me.” She blinks at me, blue eyes going wide before moving between her dad, the box, and me a couple of times.

“It’s not exactly what you sold, apparently, but I thought it was more fitting these days.

” I pop the box open to reveal the gold cuff inlaid with tiny pieces of onyx and diamonds, its band almost meeting in the middle and one of the sides sculpted into the delicate head of the panther that’s winking up at us through its emerald eyes.

“The first of three, to remind you that you’re always the hunter and never the prey. ”

“Hayes.” Her lips part around my name, brows falling as she stares at it. “This is a lot more than—”

“Ophelia,” I cut her off, not wanting her to gain some steam down the price tag road and instead pressing. “Do you like it?”

A beat passes before her eyes lift back to me, cheeks a little red as she breathes out softly. “I love it almost as much as you.” Her nose wrinkles. “Well, and the books, honestly, and probably Ollie, but—” My lips lift as she takes a quick breath. “It’s stunning, thank you.”

“Always, baby.” I drop my lips to hers with a quick kiss before she jolts, jumping back from me with her eyes going wide again.

“Fuck.”

“Ophelia Sage!”

“Sorry.” She cringes before looking down helplessly at the books and then to me. “Here, I love you, and you’re perfect, but take these real quick for me.”

She doesn’t give me much choice in the matter when she somehow manages to even shove them carefully into my chest, only waiting long enough for me to wrap a hand around them before turning back to her seat.

“Ollie, you have to open your present now, or you’re going to be late.” She picks her phone up, quickly swiping until a soft ding fills the room, and looks up at her brother. “Check your phone.”

I turn my head in time to catch the confusion that takes over his face as he goes to dig his phone out of his pocket with their mother looking over his shoulder and following along.

He pulls up whatever it is that O just sent him, going still and staring down at his phone with the confusion etching itself even deeper.

His eyes rise back up to her with a questioning look and a quiet word. “Atlanta?”

“Your plane takes off in just over three hours, so I’d get moving if I was you.” She gives him a grin. “Go get the girl, Ollie.”

He continues to stare at her, the hair along my neck prickling as they seem to tap into their own frequency, and a whole minute or so goes by before he blurts, “What if she won’t let me in?”

“Her mother is apparently a Southern debutante, and you’re Oliver Fitzroy,” she snorts, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out a way to get your foot in the door.”

“And then?”

“Sneak a drink at the airport and get all in your feels.” She shrugs, waving a hand at him to get on with it. “Think up a really good speech on the plane.”

“Fuck.” His brows fall. “Really?”

“Really.” She nods, lips lifting again, and the next words leave her as if they’re the most obvious thing in the world. “One of us can’t be happy without the other one too, silly.”

“Not to interrupt,” her mother drones, soft sarcasm to her voice drawing both of their gazes. “But where are you trying to ship your brother off to?”

“He messed around with Marley and made her feel cheap,” O tosses back, pointedly ignoring the look of horror on Ollie’s face. “I’m honestly not sure how he managed it after pining away for her for over a year, but here we are.”

“Well,” her mom sighs slowly, exaggerating the sound before lifting a brow while glancing at Ollie. “I expect the speech to be quite good in that case, darling.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He nods quickly, another beat passing before he shoots up off the couch and looks around aimlessly. “Fuck.”

“Language.”

“Fu—sorry.” He shoots his mom a guilty look. “Okay, I’m going.”

His head turns back to O, but she’s already moving, both of them coming together in a hug that I think will probably always be like two parts of a whole in its own way.

“Go be happy, Ollie,” she breathes out suddenly. “Get the girl and be so happy for me, okay?”

“Okay.” He nods, pulling back to give her a wide grin before grabbing her cheeks and kissing her forehead. A smile lights up her face again, leaving her with a happy look on her face as he runs from the room. “Bye, Dad!”

“Oh, don’t mind me,” their dad scoffs, rolling his eyes and clueing me in as to who they got that habit from. “Not like I might have some advice or anything.”

“You can call him,” O’s mom sighs at him sympathetically. “It’s the nature of things, love.”

“Don’t worry, Daddy,” O calls out joyfully. “You’ll like Marley way more than you did Hayes at first.”

That makes me narrow my eyes at her, debating whether she’s ready for round three, and the wink she throws my way lets me know she’s definitely on the same page.

“It’s so pretty,” O sighs happily, stretching her hand up out of the bath to admire the panther cuff wrapped around her delicate wrist. “I’m going to have to socialize more to find places worthy of taking it.”

Round three having been excruciatingly enjoyed in the slowest way that I could possibly manage.

“You’ve been socializing just fine.” I laugh quietly, reaching up from behind her to twist it around. “There will be plenty of places and plenty of more pieces to choose from.”

“Hmm.” She sighs a little deeper this time, her back moving against my chest as she does and dropping her hand back to the side of the tub. “You planning on dragging me to a ball sometime soon?

“Or a date,” I scoff.

Hating that the entire world doesn’t already know we belong to each other.