The Amber Shift

Thirteen

Noelle

"Noelle, love," a voice is murmuring in my ear. A sexy British voice.

Asher.

"Hey, beautiful girl, wake up." His lips brush my cheekbone and I open my eyes to meet his emerald gaze.

"Oh, hey," I say, my voice thick with sleep. A quick glance out the window at the blackened sky peppered with glittering stars let me know that my nap was longer than I had planned. "You guys finally done with your...project or whatever it was?" I ask, sitting up and pulling the covers over my lap.

He grins and holds out his hand to me. "Come take a look for yourself."

My eyebrow dips and I place my palm in his, letting him pull me to my feet. Glancing in the mirror, I find my hair is hanging in wild waves down my back. "Hang on, let me fix my—"

"You're perfect. Come on."

With a little huff, I tug down my cutoffs and follow him out the door and down the stairs. "Where are we going?"

He looks up at me and clicks his tongue. "Love, you ask a lot of questions."

"Well, I'm just curious about what y'all were distracted with the past couple of days. What could have been more important than me?" I say, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

He slides his arm around my waist as we approach a set of double doors I've never seen before. "This." Asher pushes the doors open, and when we step over the threshold, my jaw drops, and my heart feels like it's going to fly out of my throat.

The room we are in is gigantic, almost like a ballroom, but with wooden walls and adornments, beautiful, hand-carved rustic furniture, twinkle lights, and cream-colored ceiling drapes made of full, fluffy tulle hanging from the rafters.

It's magical, like something out of a fairy tale. I'm almost expecting Tinkerbell to come flitting in front of my face. In the center of the room is a table with an enormous birthday cake with light pink icing and candles placed on each of the three tiers. There's a table covered in beautifully wrapped gifts, a Bluetooth speaker filling the room with soft music, and in front of the massive fireplace are the other three men who my uncle has trusted with my life.

Who have thrown me the most gorgeous birthday party in the history of the world.

Not to mention, kept it a secret.

"Oh my God," I breathe, looking up at Asher. "This is what you guys have been busy with. A party for me."

"Trying to keep an eye on you while planning a party was maybe the most difficult thing we've ever done. And trust me, we have dealt with our fair share of impossible."

Remi hands me a bubbling flute of champagne. "Happy birthday, baby."

My jaw drops and my heart falls to my feet. I was so horrible to Remi earlier, and he had been doing nothing but preparing to give me an incredible birthday party. God, I am a bitch.

I take the champagne and throw my arms around him, squeezing him around his ribs until he lets out a grunt. Tears run out of the corners of my eyes, and I shake my head, cupping his cheek in my palm. "I am so sorry, Remington. I was so mean to you earlier, and you didn't deserve any of it." I look around the room, taking in how much work all of this was, and I feel about two inches tall. "I hope you can forgive me."

"I figured you would forgive us once you saw what we were working on. I'm sorry we made you feel like shit while we were putting it all together. If all of us weren't needed for this, we would have spent more time with you."