Approximately One Year Ago…
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Val, happy birthday to you.” Cameron, James, Adrian, and Gabriel sing to wake me up. I pull the blanket over my head and groan but also smile. No one’s ever stood in front of my bed with a cake and sang to wake me up.
“Come on, Val, it’s your eighteenth birthday. You’ve got to get up and blow out your candles,” Cameron tells me with his thick Australian accent and removes the blanket from my body. I wipe my face with my hands before I do as I’m told. Adrian and I flew to Palma de Mallorca to celebrate my birthday, and all of my friends decided to join us.
“Happy birthday, my love,” James says and hugs me tightly. He presses a kiss to my cheek and lets go of me so Adrian can congratulate me too. Cameron hugs me as well, and when I get to Gabriel, I’m nervous.
“Happy birthday, Valentina,” he simply states and wraps his arms around me. My heart does three jumps when he puts his hand on my cheek. The moment lasts about two seconds, and then he retracts his hand and moves on.
“Go and get ready because I have a full day planned,” Adrian lets me know, and I smile. All the boys are already dressed, which is why I run into the bathroom and get ready in record time. I put on some long, loose pants and a simple white top, brush my teeth, and add light makeup.
When I leave the bathroom, the four boys sit on my bed, discussing something to do with work. My eyes drift to Gabriel, and I finally acknowledge how attractive he looks today. He put on some light blue denim shorts, which are slightly ripped on his thigh, and a white t-shirt, which allows me to admire his handsome muscles underneath. Gabriel loves wearing white shirts. He also put on a bandana, letting his sexy and messy curls fall over it effortlessly. When he sees me stare, he cocks an eyebrow, but then for a second, his eyes wander over my body, too.
James gets up from the bed and walks over to me before he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. “Hey,” I complain, but he simply chuckles.
“I got her, boys, let’s go.” James carries me to the elevator and finally puts me down when he sees people approach. I smack his chest playfully but can’t keep the smile off my face. We all step into the elevator seconds later. “Sorry, luv, but as soon as they’re gone, you’re going back over my shoulder.”
“Is that right? I guess you gotta catch me first,” I say, press all the buttons, and run out of the elevator right before the doors close. If they want to play, I’m game for it. I run toward the staircase and make my way down to the lobby when I hear Gabriel walking up the stairs toward me. I get out on the second floor and close the door. There is a small slit of glass that allows me to look through it and into the staircase. Luckily, Gabriel runs past and further upstairs. I smile victoriously and get back to running.
“Valentina,” he sings through the staircase, and my heart stops, and so do my feet. “Come on, Val, where are you?” On my tiptoes, I keep going and open the door to the lobby just to get caught by James and thrown back over his shoulder.
“Hey, there are people around,” I complain, but James doesn’t seem to care any longer.
“Too bad, we’re kidnapping you for today, and you are going to have to deal with it.” My hands are on James’ muscular back. I finally look up to see Gabriel, Adrian, and Cameron all walking either next to or behind us. They’re laughing at the picture in front of them, which makes me a little mad but also smile. “By the way, Valentina, your arse is blocking the road on my left side completely. Now, not that it’s not a hot view, but my good God,” he says, and my mouth drops.
“You’re just jealous because yours isn’t that nice and trained,” I fire back, and he laughs.
“Maybe you’re right,” he agrees, and I look over at Gabriel, who is smiling at our conversation. Gabriel has a nice ass… I shake my head and push my subconscious back into her horny corner.
Eventually, James puts me back on the ground, and I start walking by myself. They bring me to a breakfast place near the hotel, and we order within minutes. All of us seem to be extremely hungry.
“Are you ready for your presents?” Adrian asks, and I frown.
“No, because I don’t want anything. We’ve been over this, I-”
“Yeah, yeah, shut up and open the presents,” Cameron chimes in and hands me a box. I smile at him before opening it and pulling out a beautiful purple dress. I would have never expected to get a dress from Cameron, but it is breathtaking. The fabric is soft between my fingers, and I can tell it must have cost him more than I would like. They shouldn’t spend any money on gifts for me. I made that clear more than once. Yet, I know if I complain, they will only be disappointed.
So, I simply get up and say, “Thank you so much,” before I hug him and press a kiss on his cheek.
“Damn, is everyone going to get a thank you like that?” Gabriel asks, and I want to tell him ‘No’, but I’ll use any excuse to feel his skin against mine.
“Mine next,” James chimes in and hands me a smaller package than Cameron. Somehow, I know whatever’s inside is going to be three times more valuable. The package is heavy. My fingers wrap around the ribbon, and I undo it in a swift movement. I open the box, and my mouth drops to the floor. Inside it sits a helmet, the size of maybe a small melon, in the helmet design I drew when I was twelve years old. The flowers run from left to right, and the blue and red colors harmonize perfectly. The number nine is written on the sides, and a yin and yang symbol is in the center of the back. Tears flood my eyes, and I stare at James in disbelief. “Do you like it?” All I can do is nod and look down at the small helmet again.
“I love it,” I eventually say and get up from my chair. James gets up too and hugs me tightly. I’ve always wanted to get the full-sized one, but I didn’t get to choose when I was racing in Formula Three. Gabriel, Adrian, and James know why this is so emotional, but I’m still a bit embarrassed about my reaction. I wrap my arms around James’ torso.
“I’m so sorry you haven’t yet gotten the chance to get your full-sized one. You more than deserve it,” he says, and I almost let a sob escape me.
“Thank you,” I whisper, and James pulls back to press a kiss to my forehead. We sit back down, and I take the helmet into my hands one last time before placing it back inside the box. My eyes drift to Cameron and Gabriel, who are looking at James with a confused expression. “Sorry, guys,” I mumble when I pull myself together. They assure me it’s not a problem and all smile at the same time.
“Here, although I don’t think it’s as good as James’. He should have gone last. Now the expectations are fucking high,” Gabriel jokes, and I laugh a little. He hands me an envelope, and I take it from him with a grin. His stubble makes my heart stop for a second before I can focus on the present in my hand again. I open the envelope and take out two tickets to Les Misérables. They are for next year, August, which is more than a year away. I smile because I remember the first movie Gabriel and I watched together was Les Misérables.
“Does this mean I have to take you with me?” I ask, and he laughs.
“You can take whoever you want but remember who got you the tickets and who is a huge fan of the musical,” he says with a wink, and I melt.
“Okay, fine, I guess I’ll take you,” I reply, and he chuckles.
“Does that mean I will also get a kiss?” I roll my eyes and watch Adrian’s face change.
“Careful,” he warns Gabriel, who simply lifts his hands in surrender. I get up for the third time and give Gabriel a hug, then a swift kiss on the cheek. I know Gabriel is just teasing since he is very happy with Kira. Adrian hands me an envelope, too, and I shake my head. “I know you didn’t want a present but trust me on this.” With a soft sigh, I open it and pull out the card. It reads: I gave James your drawing, so I kind of helped with his present. I laugh, and my brother smiles at me. I blow a kiss at him and put the card back into the envelope.
The food arrives, and we finish it much too quickly. Before anyone else can take out their credit card, I go to the front and pay for the meal. We get into a taxi and drive for a while until we arrive at Catedral-Basílica de Santa María de Mallorca. Excitement shoots through me, and I can’t wait to get out of the car and go inside the beautiful cathedral. I love architecture, especially European architecture from hundreds of years ago.
“Isn’t this a great way to spend your birthday?” Adrian asks, and I nod enthusiastically. We walk inside, and I gasp.
“It’s breathtaking,” I mutter, and I hear Gabriel mumble something which sounds like ‘so are you’, but I’m sure I misunderstood. Maybe it was wishful thinking.
The cathedral looks like many I’ve seen before, but it doesn’t make it any less gorgeous. The ceilings are high, the columns are square cut, the choir stalls are close to the altar, and the way the light shines into the cathedral through the rose windows is beautiful. The benches, on which the people may sit, are normal wooden ones. The sculptures and paintings are unique and incredibly pretty, and it takes us an hour to walk around and look at the entire cathedral. The boys’ stomachs start to growl, and I laugh.
“Lunch?” I ask the four guys, and they nod. Athletes, I think to myself and smile. “Okay.” I hook my arm through James’.
“What are you doing?” My grandfather asks, and I look up from my paper to answer his question politely. He has taught me that when somebody speaks to you, you should give them the respect of making eye contact.
“I’m drawing my dream helmet,” I inform him. He sits down next to me, his light eyes scanning the drawing. I asked Adrian to print out a plain helmet, and I’ve spent the past two hours drawing on it.
“Looks lovely.” I am not terrible at art, especially not at drawing flowers, and since most of my design includes such, it looks stunning. At least to me. “How come you wrote the number nine on it?” I stare back at the helmet and shrug.
“I’m not sure. I think the number picked me,” I say, embarrassed, and Grandfather puts his hand on my shoulder.
“Then it is your number.” He walks away, leaving me to finish my design.
