[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 306 & 307. (Patreon)

Chapter 306: Presents (Part 2)

Mila and Grace both loved their gifts, which was a relief. Next, however, came the one I was dreading the most: Sarah.

Thing is, Sarah was simultaneously the easiest and hardest to pick a gift for. You see, my thought process for picking their presents was if whatever I would give them would make them happy or not. After all… I was dating five rich girls. Whatever they wanted, they could easily buy. Of course, I couldn’t be stingy and buy cheap stuff, either, mostly because I’d feel bad about it, but the fact remained that I couldn’t impress them with expensive gifts. So with that in mind, I had to make their presents more personalized, think hard about things they’d really, really like.

I had the perfect gift for Sarah. It came to me the moment I started thinking of what to get her. Problem was… I only had a strong feeling she would like it, not outright certainty like I did with Mila’s and Grace’s gifts. On top of that, it was relatively cheap. Certainly cheaper than Mila’s necklace. And to top it all off… It was an embarrassing, possibly offensive, maybe even distasteful present to give.

My solution? Two gifts that when put together would be worth about the same as the other presents. That way, if she didn’t like one, at least there was another.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Sarah asked me when I gave her her present. It was a small, black bag. “Your face is red.”

“It’s… You’ll see.”

“What? Did you get her something naughty?” Alice teased.

Unable to hold her curiosity any longer, Sarah opened the bag. She took out the first gift.

“Perfume?” Sarah asked, mostly surprised, as she examined the white box.

“I know you’re not a big fan, but… Try it. I think you’ll like it.”

Sarah took the small bottle out of the box and sprinkled a bit on her wrist. A nice smile crossed her face when she smelled it. “Oh wow. It’s really subtle. Lightly sweet and woody.” She closed her eyes and smelled it again. “Mmm. Yes, it’s amazing. What the hell? I didn’t know you had good taste in perfumes,” she teased, poking my stomach.

“...The lady at the store recommended it, but I really did think of you when I tried it,” I admitted. “And… there’s something else in there.”

Sarah blinked and stuck her hand inside the bag again to take out a smaller, flatter box. She opened it to find a thin, black leather choker with a small metal ring at the front.

“Aaaah, I see.” Alice chuckled. “No wonder your face was red.”

Sarah looked at it, tracing her finger along its length. She then looked at me with serious eyes. “Did you… read my mind or something?”

Huh? “What? W-What do you mean?”

“I… I was thinking of how to ask you to give me one of these,” Sarah admitted. “But asking for it would’ve felt weird, and yet…”

“You’re joking,” I said.

“I’m not!” she insisted. “I’ve always thought chokers looked nice, but never wore one because…”

Mila grinned and spoke in whispers. “She was embarrassed and afraid people would think she was submissive.”

“Beat me to it,” Grace said.

Sarah blushed madly, then glared at her friends for spilling the beans.

“I didn’t read your mind, I swear,” I told her. And it was true. Would’ve been much easier if I had, but the times I read their minds were still random. “I… wanted to give it to you, but was afraid you’d…” I didn’t finish the sentence. Sarah understood.

She put the perfume bottle down on the coffee table, then immediately put the choker on. She was still blushing and looked bashfully at me.

“H-How does it look?”

“It’s perfect.”

Sarah looked down and fidgeted shyly.

“You’re making too big a deal about it,” Grace told her easily. “It’s just a choker. plenty of girls use them.” She then smirked. “That it has an extra meaning for you two is an entirely different thing.”

“Alright! Next present!” Isabelle said loudly. She was also blushing deeply. “God, did you all forget I’m here, too!?”

I blinked. “I… kinda did, yes. Sorry.”

Isabelle pouted with arms crossed. “Rude.”

Sarah sat down and ran her fingers along her new accessory, smiling bashfully.

Anyway, yes. Next present. Noelle’s present. The first one I tried to get, yet the hardest one to find. It was a medium-sized box, smaller than Isabelle’s PC tower. I picked it up and gave it to Noelle, who accepted it with blushing cheeks.

“T-Thank you,” she said, yet she looked away from me as she received it.

{He’s giving us presents but his isn’t here. He probably feels anxious… God, I feel so bad.}

I blinked again, surprised. See? Totally random, but… fitting. If any of them would feel some guilt over a scheme like this, it would be Noelle. Still, this meant there was a present for me after all.

…

Maybe.

Like mom, Noelle carefully removed the wrapping to preserve the paper. When she finally got it, her jaw dropped with eyes as wide as plates. The box was that of a model kit of those robots she liked to build, one that she’d told me she was looking for but seemed to be sold out everywhere.

“I looked around all the hobby stores in town!” she told me, her smile growing by the second and her eyes shining with the threat of tears.

“I actually found it at a toy store,” I told her sheepishly. “I asked at hobby stores, too, but then got a tip from a guy working at one, saying he’d seen some random model kits at an old toy store on the other side of town. I figured it was worth a look, and I found it.”

Noelle giggled and examined the box all over with a big smile. “This is one of the newer kits, and it’s apparently so good that it sold out immediately, even before I could get one to review it in my channel. This is perfect. Thank you, Oliver!”

Noelle set the box aside to throw herself at me and give me the strongest hug her small frame was capable of. I hugged her back and kissed her forehead.

“Glad you liked it.”

“I love it. It’ll have the most special place on my shelf!”

“I’ve never understood why you like those so much,” Alice said with a soft giggle. “Your room is full of those.”

I flinched and winced, and regrettably I wasn’t able to hide it. Alice looked at me, seeming afraid that she’d said something wrong.

“Uh oh… Don’t tell me…” Isabelle understood what happened in an instant.

************

Chapter 307: Presents (Part 3)

Sarah was the hardest to think of a present for because there was a possibility that she wouldn’t like what I wanted to give her, so I had to think of a backup. In contrast, Alice was actually the hardest because I didn’t know what to get her at all.

Alice’s ultimate passion was cars. There was no doubt about that. But what could I give her that was within my budget and that would make her happy? A full tank of gas? New windshield wipers? Hell no. It was during my quest to find Noelle’s gift that I ran into something that I thought Alice would love.

M-Maybe I was wrong. So with an apologetic smile, I gave her her present. It was a smaller and lighter box than Noelle’s.

The exchange was awkward. I had an urge to apologize as I was giving it to her, and Alice looked ashamed and riddled with guilt.

“Th-Thank you…” the blonde said. She unwrapped her present slowly, with care. Then relief washed over me when I saw her eyes light up. “W-W-Wait! They sell these too!?”

It was a model kit, too. One that you had to assemble yourself. However, this wasn’t a robot. It was a model kit of Alice’s RX-7 FD3S.

This was one of the many times that the mind reading and the connection between us was a life saver. Alice smiled and looked the box over, examining the pictures. If not for our connection, I would’ve thought that her reaction was an act to make me feel better. But it wasn’t. Alice saw that her present was a small, model version of her favorite car and was brimming with excitement.

Mila and Isabelle let out loud sighs of relief.

“Safe…” Mila said.

“I understood that you’d getten her a model kit, too,” Isabelle said. “But I thought you’d bought her one of those robots.”

“When I saw that they also had cars, I knew I had to give you one,” I said sheepishly. “But I understand if you don’t like it. You do have to take the time to assemble it, after all.”

Alice chuckled. “I spend like three to four hours after school working on an actual car. I think I can make time for this.” She set it aside, too, and came up to me to give me a hug. She rested her head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry. Should’ve kept my mouth shut.”

“N-No. It’s fine. You’re not obligated to like my present.”

“But I do like it,” she said, kissing my cheek. “I really do, okay? I didn’t know they made cars, too. In fact…” Alice turned to Noelle, pouting. “Why didn’t you tell me they had cars?”

Noelle stood her ground, crossed her arms and frowned. “Because you said before that you didn’t see the appeal of model kits and you never said you were into cars until just recently!”

“Okay, that’s fair.” Alice laughed. “But… I don’t know how you build these. Would you teach me?”

Noelle smiled brightly. “Of course! I have tools you can use. And paint.”

“Ah, I did buy some nippers for her, too,” I told them.

Alice smirked and poked my ribs. “Buy a kit for yourself and we’ll make it a date.”

“Deal.”

Grace chuckled. “You agreed rather quickly, didn’t you?”

It was when I turned around to say something back to her that I noticed. Mila and Sarah were gone. “Wait, where are…?”

As if on cue to my question, there was a knock on the door. The last thing I saw was Isabelle going to answer before Alice covered my eyes from behind.

“Um… What are you doing?” I asked.

Alice whispered closely in my ear. “You didn’t think we’d forget to get you something too, didn’t you?”

“We had to hide it in Sarah’s car because it’s too big and would draw too much attention,” Noelle explained.

“Cover his eyes well,” I heard Isabelle say. “He can still peek from under his glasses!”

Ugh, caught. Alice moved her hands to leave as little space for me to see as possible. I also heard the sound of footsteps coming from the front door… and from the stairs. Someone started running.

“Curious?” Grace asked me.

“Just a little,” I said, trying to play it cool but failing. I was fidgeting a little too much. It got a giggle out of the girls.

I heard people moving things around, like the presents and the discarded bags and boxes. Heavy sounding things were being set over the coffee table, too. What on earth did they get me?

“Alright, Oliver. Are you ready?” Alice asked me.

“S-Sure.”

I heard mom chuckle. So she was here too, then. “He doesn’t sound too sure. Maybe he should wait a bit longer?”

“I’m ready!” I told her.

The girls laughed and Alice let go of me. Now able to see clearly, it was impossible to miss the four huge boxes on the coffee table, all of them neatly wrapped in colorful paper. Well, two of the boxes were longer than the others, about half my height and somewhat flat. The two others were more square-ish.

Mila was standing across the table, grinning. “These two,” she started, touching one of the longer boxes and another square-ish box, “are from Grace, Sarah, Alice, Noelle and me to you.”

My chest was tight with anticipation and elation, but also a tinge of anxiety. Remember what I said before. I was dating five rich girls. A single one of them had access to more capital than I did in three months of savings, likely even more. If they pooled their money for this.. Not to mention the shape of that long box…

“Come on, open them,” Sarah told me. “I know what you’re thinking, but let it go. We put a lot of thought into this.”

I sighed. Yeah, I could tell from all the setup alone. Well… Nothing for it.

The bigger box called me first. I carefully undid the wrapping, and under it found both what I was fearing and hoping for. I felt my eyes itch with the threat of tears, so I pursed my lips in an attempt to hold them back.

An Ep. Les Paul Custom model electric guitar. A… ‘budget’ option to the top of the line GBSN guitars, but every bit as good and not all that ‘budget’. My lips quivered as I opened the box and looked it over. An almost hourglass body of shining, pure black mahogany with that iconic single-cut design and a dark rosewood fingerboard.

It took all I had not to cry, but a couple tears still fell.