“He’s important to you.”
“He’s my brother. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him.”
Her smile told me she understood. “He’s lucky to have you.”
“No.” I picked up the chopsticks and attacked the beef. “I’m lucky as fuck to have him.”
After struggling with the chopsticks, she used one of the spoons to scoop up some rice. “I often wonder what it would be like to have a sibling. It’s such a foreign feeling that I can’t even imagine it.” She swallowed and took a drink. “You come from such a big family, whereas it’s just Gran and me. It’s a strange comparison.”
“Not strange at all.” I popped a piece of broccoli into my mouth. “Sometimes, having only one person in your life can feel like a million. Gran is your mother, father, and siblings, all in one. I suspect she’s more than enough.”
She stared at me, not eating while I spoke. “You’re right.”
“Listen, when I was growing up, my sisters and I fought like hell, and that’s all we ever did. Family dinners were loud, and they took forever. There were three women in my house, so I never won a single argument.” I laughed. “Don’t yearn for the way I grew up because if life suddenly changed and you were stuck in a family of five, I guarantee you’d want to switch back.”
“You’re probably right.” She set down her spoon and put her hands on her stomach. “I’m so stuffed. I don’t think I can eat another bite.”
“You have to save room for dessert.”
Her eyes widened. “There’s more?”
She looked like a kid who had just realized there was more than one present for her under the tree.
“It’s at my apartment. This’ll give you some time to digest before I fill you with cake.”
She wrapped her hand around the glass of cider and sipped it. “This is magical.”
“No …” I stood from my chair and held out my hand. Once she grabbed it, I brought her over to the edge of the balcony. “This is magical.”
“I’ve never seen Boston this way before.”
Even though I was standing behind her, holding her body against me, I positioned my neck in a way where I could see her profile. Like I’d done in the taxi, I was experiencing the city through her eyes, a view far more mesmerizing than the one in front of us.
I gently wrapped my arms over her chest, the back of her head resting against me. “How do you normally see it?”
She was silent for several seconds, but a change of tone eventually broke through. “Where I live, there’s someone homeless every few feet. Drug dealers on the corners. Violence in the streets, screaming behind closed doors, gang signs spray-painted on every surface. When I take the train to school, I rush inside a building and then hurry to work.” She paused. “I never stop to notice the beauty.” She looked over her shoulder at me. “Not until today.”
She kissed me, taking her time.
“Thank you for bringing me here and for giving me the best birthday I’ve ever had.” Her eyes opened as she whispered against my mouth, “And for making me stop running.”
Twenty-Two
Before
Pearl
“Happy birthday, Pearl,” Ashe said as he placed a cake on the table. There were two chocolate tiers and twenty-one candles lit along the top, my name written in sparkly icing with flowers frosted around it. “Make a wish.”
I stared at the small fires, a thought coming into my mind. There was only one thing I’d ever wished for year after year.
I hope I’m able to move Gran out of here and give her a better life.
I sucked in as much air as I could hold and tried to blow out every candle, but a few were so stubborn that it took another breath to put those out.
Just as I finished, he took my face into his hands and kissed me. “I can’t wait to taste the peanut butter on your lips.”
His smile caused a flutter in my chest, and so did the feel of him on my cheeks.
“That’s the flavor you got?”
“It’s your favorite.”
Details.
Ashe paid more attention than anyone I’d ever met, making it one of the sexiest, most endearing qualities about him.
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed him. “From every bit of my heart, I thank you.”
“Don’t feel like you have to keep saying that.” His voice was so tender. “You’ve shown your appreciation since the moment you arrived at my apartment tonight.”
That felt like days ago.
Because never had I expected this evening to turn into this.
But maybe I should have.
From the very beginning, Ashe had shown me how wonderful he was. And each day, he’d continued to prove that he was the type of man who would decorate a rooftop with flowers and candles, play music, and feed me Chinese. At this point, I truly believed he would do anything to make sure I had a memory to hold on to forever.
“I don’t think I’ve shown you enough,” I whispered.
“Trust me, you have.”
Trust.
That word hit me hard, rolling all the way to my stomach, heating and bubbling like the oatmeal I’d made Gran for breakfast. It was a word that had held no value for most of my life, every promise made to me broken until I’d moved in with Gran. She was the only person who made me believe in trust.
Ashe wasn’t far behind.
He grabbed a long knife from the drawer and handed it to me. “Do you want to do the honors?”
I smiled. “I’ll let you make the mess.”
He laughed, carefully sticking the blade into the center of the cake and dragging it to the edge, repeating the motion until there were several slices. He used the flat side of the knife to lift the large pieces and plate them. Once we each had one, he took out some vanilla ice cream and spooned that on the side.
“As kids, we always had ice cream with our cake,” he said, sitting next to me at the table. “My mom used to buy us strawberry. I think that was her way of trying to get us to eat more fruit.” He took a bite. “But I think vanilla tastes best with this.”
I dipped my spoon into the creaminess and added some of the cake, making sure a frosted flower made it in as well. All of the flavors mixed together in my mouth, and I moaned, “You’re not wrong.”
“You like it?”
“Love.” My eyes closed. “Really, really love.”
When I opened my lids again, he was grinning, and he reached across the small space, rubbing his fingers over my cheek. “God, you’re beautiful.”
My face warmed under his hand. “Are you going to cut a piece for Dylan?”
I hadn’t asked if he was here when we first arrived. I just assumed he was in his room.
“He’s gone for the night. But I assure you, he’ll dig in the second he gets back in the morning.”
“Do you have eggs?” When he nodded, I added, “Good. Then, I’ll make you guys breakfast, and we can have the cake for dessert.”
He stared at me for several seconds. “You’ve decided to stay?”