Chapter 15
15
SUMMER
As the birthday song crescendoed, my friends and family all lending their voices, I leaned over and blew out the candles on my cake. Closing my eyes, I made a wish.
I want a birthday kiss from Asher.
Opening my eyes again, I smiled at everyone gathered around me as they cheered. Beside me, Toby began to clap, counting off the years of my age. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he’d timed this well. He’d already blown out his candles, so it was too late for me to retaliate in kind.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” Mum said, giving me a squeeze and kissing my cheek. She handed me a knife. “Cut the cake.”
I set the blade to the chocolate frosting and glanced up, my eyes locking with Asher’s. He stared back with an intensity that made me shiver. Toby yanked me into an embrace, his feet thudding against the wood of the deck outside Mom and Dad’s house.
“I could have stabbed you,” I squeaked as he knocked the air from me.
He scoffed. “You handle sharp tools all the time. You wouldn’t make an amateur mistake like that.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. “Usually, I handle them around animals that are already unconscious and, you know, not moving.”
“Psh. Details.” He waved his hand like it didn’t matter.
I sliced into the cake and cut several segments, then took a portion for myself and stepped aside. If there were fewer people here, I’d serve everyone individually, but there were too many—it seemed like half of Destiny Falls had turned up for our birthday party—so I’d just let them take what they wanted.
Bailey appeared beside me. “What did you wish for?”
I raised my eyebrow at her. “You know I can’t tell you or it might not come true.”
I glanced at Asher again, but he was no longer looking my way. Instead, he was smiling at Liam, his sexy mouth hooked up at the corner. How would it feel to kiss him there?
“Someone’s superstitious,” Bailey said. “I bet I can guess what it is, but it’s more fun to leave it as a secret.”
Gratitude surged through me. I suspected Bailey could, indeed, guess exactly what I’d wished for, and I appreciated her for not pushing the matter.
“I heard that Zane offered to set Asher up with his cousin, but he refused,” Bailey murmured, low enough for only me to hear.
My eyes found Asher again, inextricably drawn to him. We hadn’t spoken since he’d told me he wasn’t interested in me, and the wound was still fresh. It didn’t stop me from wanting him, but it stung nonetheless.
“That’s surprising,” I replied.
Asher didn’t seem to have any qualms about dating as many women as possible. Not that he was a playboy. I doubted many of the dates progressed beyond a kiss on the cheek, but he certainly wasn’t choosy about whom he took out.
Other than me.
“Maybe he’s already interested in someone else,” Bailey said, bouncing her eyebrows meaningfully.
Hope zapped through me, but I ruthlessly stomped it down.
“If he is, it isn’t me,” I said.
She looked disappointed. “Why do you assume the worst? You never know. Maybe he’s finally come around.”
I sighed. “Or maybe he’s in his thirties and has less energy to date all the time.”
A group of Toby’s friends rushed past, heading for the empty fire pit. The sun had dipped beneath the horizon and apparently they’d decided it was time to light the fire. Toby was in the thick of it, tossing wood and beer boxes into the pit while one of his friends messed around with a box of matches.
“Sometimes I wonder if they’re still twelve,” I said.
Bailey rested the side of her head against mine. “It’s nice that they still get excited about things.”
“I guess.”
The fire flickered to life. One of the guys opened a massive bag of marshmallows and they were all sticking them onto skewers to hold over the fire.
“Want to toast some marshmallows?” I asked.
“Definitely.” She flashed me a dazzling grin. “Cook off?”
“You’re on.”
We strolled over, making our way through the cluster of people around the marshmallow bag. A cooler of beer stood nearby, although I doubted there was much point in using it. The air was already crisp. Hopefully the fire would take the edge off the cold.
I grabbed a skewer and poked it through a marshmallow, then held it just above the fire, rotating the marshmallow slowly to achieve an even spread of golden brown. Bailey’s marshmallow joined mine, but she dipped it too close to the flame and it caught on fire and fell into the pit.
“I win!” I cried, pulling mine out.
“Here you go, Bailey,” a younger guy said, shyly offering her his perfectly toasted marshmallow.
She beamed at him and plucked it off the skewer. “Thank you, Tim.”
I opened my mouth, then shut it again. “That doesn’t count.”
She smiled smugly. “Doesn’t it?” She popped the marshmallow into her mouth. “It tastes like it counts.”
I bit into my own marshmallow, humming as the warm, gooey interior burst onto my tongue, coating it with sweet goodness, then licked my fingers clean.
“Call it a draw?” I suggested.
“Sure.”
A clang behind me caught my attention, and I looked around. Kennedy and Grace were lifting the lid from the spa pool and had dropped it a little too heavily.
“I’m surprised Nate and Liam let their pregnant wives lift anything,” Bailey observed.
“I doubt they know.” I laughed as Nate ran onto the deck from inside the house, waving his arms at Grace. “I might join them in the spa. Want to come?”
She considered for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I’ll stay here. Maybe there will be some dancing soon.”
“Okay. Have fun.” I kissed her cheek and left her, scooting past Kennedy and Grace, who were engaged in a heated discussion about what they should and shouldn’t do with their husbands, before entering the house.
I went to my old bedroom, where Mum still kept some of my clothes, and changed into a black bikini. I slung a towel over my shoulder and stopped at the refreshments table to pour myself a mimosa, then I took the glass out to the spa pool.
By now, Liam and Nate were nowhere to be seen, and Grace and Kennedy were lounging in the pool. Kennedy wore a pink bikini while Grace was in a one-piece that must have been a maternity design or else I had no idea how she’d fit her massively pregnant belly into it.
Music started playing through the speakers positioned around the edge of the deck, and I set my glass on the side of the spa pool and climbed in. Warmth engulfed me, and my muscles instantly relaxed, although the water didn’t seem as hot as usual.
“I think you girls have the right idea,” I said, sliding into a seat in one corner and grabbing my glass again. I sipped the mimosa and closed my eyes. “It’s so nice in here.”
Kennedy laughed. “I know. It would be lovely if we could have it hotter, but we set it to a lower temperature so it would be safe for the babies. Anything above body temperature can be dangerous to them.”
“Huh.” I drank again. “I didn’t know that.”
“Are you enjoying your birthday?” Grace asked, crossing her legs, which were extended along one side of the pool.
“I am. It’s been a while since Tobes and I had a big party, so we’re probably overdue for this.”
“Hopefully Toby doesn’t get too crazy,” Grace said.
I shook my head, not worried about that. “The others will keep an eye on him.”
By unspoken agreement, keeping Toby out of trouble was not my responsibility on our birthday. The rest of the time, I couldn’t say the same, but this was my break.
My chance to let loose.
Kennedy, Grace, and I chatted for a while. Bailey dropped by and replaced my drink, and Mum did the same a little later. I was pleasantly tipsy by the time I got out. The cold sobered me a little, and I dried myself and pulled on a pair of thick tights beneath my dress to combat the falling temperature.
Several couples, and a group of women, were dancing now. I made my way over to the fire pit and spotted Blair hovering near the dancers.
“Would you like to join them?” I asked him, a faint buzz still thrumming through my veins.
He took my hand. “Are you up for learning another Latin dance?”
I grinned. “Absolutely.”
He let me go and jogged over to one of Toby’s friends, who was controlling the music. A new song began to play with a distinctly Latin beat. Blair returned and tugged me toward the other dancers. He demonstrated the first few steps and then repeated them with me.
“You’re really good at this,” I said.
He looked bashful. “It’s a musician thing. We have to have a good sense of rhythm.”
“That doesn’t make it less impressive.”
He pivoted me around and I caught sight of Toby, near the fire pit, mooning over a pretty blonde woman in a short, tight dress. I had to admire her strength. I’d be frozen if I were wearing that outfit.
“Have you seen Toby?” I asked Blair. “He seems to be smitten.”
He pivoted me around again and made a sound of agreement. “New winter fling?”
“I think so.” I sighed. “It seems like he falls in and out of love every other week.”
Blair’s hand grazed my lower back as he prompted me to turn. “Meanwhile you’ve been hung up on the same guy for…how long exactly?”
“Most of my life,” I admitted.
I sought out Asher. He was sitting near the fire pit, with Liam on one side and Zane on the other, but his dark eyes were locked on me. I tore my gaze away, my cheeks blazing.
I noticed Blair looking the same way, and at first, I thought he was studying Asher too, but then he asked, “Does Zane still have a boyfriend.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “You sly guy. No, he’s single. This song is about to end, and Zane loves to dance. Why don’t you ask him for the next one?”
He hesitated for a fraction of a second, but then nodded. “You’ll be fine on your own?”
I swatted his arm. “I’m not helpless. I’ll find Bailey, and we can dance together.”
“Okay, then.”
As the music tapered out, Blair and I separated, and he headed toward the fire pit. I scanned my surroundings, looking for the best place to sit for a few minutes until I could locate Bailey. I started moving forward but stopped abruptly when the most gorgeous man alive appeared like a vision in front of me.
Asher’s expression was unreadable, but he held his hand toward me. “Dance with me?”