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"Do you want like pancakes or French toast or something?" Ty asked Inya.
"Sure."
"Really?" Ty was shocked.
"Well, it's Christmas," Inya said.
"Okay then," Ty said, pleased.
He quickly decided on French toast since there was actually bread in the house. When they had decided they were going to spend the three day Christmas break from the tour in LA Inya, had asked Ty what he wanted for food in the apartment so she could tell the housekeeper. Ty had asked for too much, probably, but he missed cooking. The cook top in the RV was really more for show than anything else. Ty grabbed the eggs out of the well-stocked fridge and felt guilty. There was no way they would eat all that by the time they left to go back to the tour tomorrow. Assuming Inya went with him, although if she didn't, (Ty was always in the dark about her travel plans) she wouldn't each much of it anyway.
"I think I asked for too much food," Ty said, as he started slicing the bread. "You have cinnamon or something?"
"That I have," Inya said pointing to a cabinet. "I use it in the smoothies sometimes. Though cardamom is better." Ty found the cinnamon and went back to the fridge for some milk. "Don't worry about the food. I'll tell the staff to take it when we leave tomorrow."
The apartment building came with a concierge service so basically anything Inya wanted was delivered and placed in her apartment. It was a convenient service, but Ty still found it a little unnerving.
They ran into a little roadblock, when the French toast was ready and there was no maple syrup. Inya offered up a bottle of agave syrup, which she said tasted the same. Upon trying it, Ty disagreed. He had grown up on fake maple syrup, but his dad had a friend in New Hampshire who tapped maples and bottled the syrup. Ty had developed a love for the real stuff. The agave was good enough, however, and Ty was thrilled to see Inya eating real food again, even though she only ate half a slice of French toast and used the syrup very sparingly.
Things had been much nicer since the fashion show drama had ended. Ty hadn't enjoyed the after party much, but he supposed that was at least partially his fault, for sulking over the loss of the steak dinner. Ty had gone back to the tour and Inya had flown off to work on some business deal for a couple of weeks, but then she had spent most of December with him on tour and it had been nice. She was much happier and more relaxed and Ty enjoyed having her around. There still wasn't much to do on the tour, but Inya had bought herself some yoga mats, so she could work out, while Ty went running with Connor. They filled a lot of the free time with sex and Ty had no complaints about that.
Ty finished his French toast and Inya's too, without asking her. He knew she wasn't going to eat anymore. Inya sat there watching him eat, getting up once just to refill her coffee.
"So, are you ready, already?" Inya asked.
They hadn't opened presents yet. When they had arrived at the apartment there had been numerous boxes under the tree. Ty had started worrying the moment he saw the pile. He had a couple of small gifts for Inya. She was incredibly hard to buy for, not only was she swimming in money, but if there was ever anything she wanted she bought it for herself without a moment's hesitation.
Ty had felt downright helpless trying to shop for Inya, but finally settled on a selection of vintage perfume bottles he had stumbled on in an antique shop at one of the stops on the tour. They had been expensive, at least Ty thought it was a ridiculous price to pay, for empty bottles, but even he had to admit they were exquisite in the cut of the glass and the color. The shop owner had also offered up a mirrored tray that the bottles could be displayed on, to set on a vanity or dresser. Ty had also bought Inya some pink lingerie, some warmer pink pajamas (she was always cold at night) and a bracelet made out of pink diamonds. The jewelry saleswoman had called it a tennis bracelet, but Ty had no idea why. The bracelet had cost almost five thousand dollars, but Ty knew that was spare change to Inya.
"Okay, sure," Ty said, figuring he couldn't get away with stalling any longer.
He had kept her in bed once they had woken up, although he was apt to do that any morning they woke up together. Then he had insisted he was starving and had made them breakfast. "It probably wasn't a big deal to her," Ty thought. She had to know his finances, though by most standards had risen to exceptional, were nowhere near hers.
Inya bounded off the kitchen stool and over to the tree. Ty joined her a little more slowly, his apprehension growing. Inya handed him one package and Ty opened a watch.
"It's from my new men's line," Inya told him excitedly. "What do you think?"
"Um, it's great," Ty said, putting it on.
It was a very nice watch, but Ty didn't wear a watch and if he did he probably wouldn't choose something quite so...flashy.
Most of the boxes contained clothes which were also from the new line. Apparently that was what Inya had been off working on in the latter half of November.
"You get them first," she said, holding up a shirt. "Look at this one, I thought you could wear this on stage."
"You mean with the band?" Ty said, trying to keep the disbelief out of his voice.
"Yes, well, you don't have to, of course, you don't have to," Inya said. "It's up to you, but it would really help the line if you did and if you wore some of the clothes when we are out together. Just try them on later and see what you think. They are really nice."
"Okay," Ty said, not wanting to rock the boat on Christmas.
After he said it he hoped she had understood that he meant "okay" to trying them on, not "okay" to wearing them in public. He was a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy and though he wasn't against dressing nicer, when the occasion called for it, neon green plaid pants could not be considered nice or called for on any occasion, at least not as far as Ty was concerned.
Inya seemed to genuinely like all the gifts Ty had gotten her and raced off with the box of lingerie, promising to be back in a minute. When she returned she had another, large present in front of her. Ty didn't really care about the present, unless it was something else from her line that she expected him to walk around in public in, but he was looking forward to seeing her in the items he had picked out. Her body was totally blocked by the huge box. She held it out from him and he took it from her, vaguely noting that it was too heavy for clothes and set it aside so he could look at her.
"You have to open that!" she squealed, as he grabbed her and started kissing her neck.
"I'll open it later," he said.
Ty was very pleased with what he had picked out for her. She looked phenomenal in it.
"No, open it now," she demanded.
She was squirming to get away from him, which was pretty hopeless. Ty tried his best to get her interested in what he wanted, but that was equally hopeless. When Inya wanted something there was no changing her mind. He released her and picked up the present.
"Soon as this is open, I'm taking you on that couch," he told her.
"Soon as it's open, you can have me on the couch," she promised.
Ty ripped off the paper and quickly figured out it was a guitar case. He sat down on the couch so he could open it carefully. Whatever it was, an instrument deserved respect, at least as far as Ty was concerned. He looked up at Inya and she was beaming. She was a beautiful sight to behold. He forced his attention back to the case and opened it. Then he gasped.
It was a Fender Broadcaster. He couldn't believe it.
"It's a fifty-one," Inya said, referring to the year of the guitar's production. "I don't know that much about it, but that's a good one, right? I tried to research as much as possible."
"I've always wanted this guitar," Ty said quietly. "Thank you."
"What's wrong?" Inya said.
"Nothing," Ty said quickly. "Nothing at all."
"I thought you'd be more excited," Inya said, her disappointment obvious.
"I am," Ty said, trying to shift gears. "I'm just totally surprised. You blew me away, that's all. It's too much really, too expensive."
Ty knew the guitar had cost at least fifty thousand and probably closer to one hundred. Somehow it just bothered him, that Inya could throw that kind of money around without a second thought. At least that is what Ty told himself. Inya took the guitar out of his hands and put it back in the case. Then she climbed into his lap and Ty wrapped his arms around her.
Later when Inya was getting dressed for her friend's party and Ty was waiting for her in the living room, feeling completely ridiculous in the clothes she had wanted him to wear (Ty had drawn the line at the plaid, that was never happening) he had taken the guitar out of his case. He examined it carefully and strummed it gently. Then he stored it and snapped the case shut.
Ty wasn't sure what to do. It was a fabulous guitar and an amazingly generous gift. Maybe he should just take it on the tour and mess around with it, every day, on the bus, until it just became a guitar. Because right now it wasn't just a guitar.
Ty couldn't play it or look at it or think about it without thinking about his last birthday and the guitar cake Sara and Ben had worked so hard on. A fender broadcaster in cake form. Ty had wanted that guitar as long as he could remember, but seeing it in cake form on his thirty-ninth birthday he had suddenly realized that it didn't even matter that much anymore. He somehow had ended up with everything he had ever needed, even though he hadn't known what it was he really wanted. He knew that day, he had never been happier. And that thought, right now, made him incredibly sad.