that before.”
When she spread her lips, it wasn’t a smile, more like a sign that she was in agreement.
I put my hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention back to me. “Fifteen minutes, Pearl. That’s all I’m asking for.” Once her eyes were on mine, they didn’t move, and I could feel her wavering. “You shouldn’t go home and study after the performance you just had. You deserve to celebrate … with me.”
She took her time in answering. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not going to stop until I say yes?” Only then did her lips finally tug into a smile.
I laughed, feeling accomplished as hell, and moved my hand to her lower back. “Come on. I know the perfect place.”
Ten
Before
Pearl
Ashe had watched my performance. As we walked to get coffee, I tried to wrap my head around that.
Aside from Gran, he was the only other person who had ever come to see me onstage. A man who had appeared in my life, completely out of nowhere, and now, every time I was around him, my chest tingled. My hands wanted to link with his just to feel the warmth of his skin.
But each time, I stopped myself, not letting myself go there. There, I had learned, would be the end of everything I had built. I just had to get through the next two years of school, and then I would be packing up our apartment and getting Gran out of here.
As Ashe held the door open to an all-night diner and I walked in from out of the cold, I was going against every rule I had set.
Fifteen minutes, I promised myself, and then I’m out of here.
Things were over between us before they even had a chance to start.
A waitress saw us come in and pointed to the large dining room. “Sit anywhere. I’ll be over with menus in a minute.”
I led us to a booth and slid most of the way in while Ashe took a seat across from me.
“This place has the best pie,” he said, eyeing the counter, where there was a display case, several pieces sitting on plates inside. “Are you a fan?”
“Of pie?” I shrugged. “Sure.”
“What’s your favorite kind?”
I crossed my legs under the table, my hands resting on top of them, fingers clinging together. “I’ve only ever had pumpkin.”
I thought of the pie Gran used to make for the holidays every year before her hands hurt too badly to bake. That dessert would be our treat for the whole week, and we’d split a piece each night. My stomach would feel so full from the thick creaminess that when it was time to go to bed, I would almost instantly fall asleep.
Ashe rested his arms on the table, and even though we were separated by a few feet of Formica, it felt as though our bodies were touching. “What? Only pumpkin?”
“I’m not much of an experimenter when it comes to food.”
Conversation.
It could be my worst enemy at times, like now, as he opened boxes he didn’t even realize were closed. Ones I’d moved into the attic of my brain, taped multiple times with several inches of dust resting on top. Where most attics were full of clothes and keepsakes, mine overflowed with memories.
Moments that I didn’t care to revisit with him—or anyone.
“We need to change that,” he said right before the waitress came to our table, placing menus in front of us.
“Just coffee for me, thank you,” I said, handing back the large, laminated sheet, not needing to be tempted by any of the descriptions when I’d spent money on the food I had at home.
“Same,” Ashe replied, “and a slice of every flavor of pie you have.”
“We have six kinds,” the waitress said.
He smiled at me. “Then, we’ll take six pieces.” When the waitress left, he said, “You’re going to be an experimenter tonight.”
I took in the light blue of his eyes, wondering how difficult it was going to be to avoid him in the future if he continued pulling stunts like he had tonight. “You’re too much.”
“I want to see your expression when you try them. I assure you, there are much better flavors than pumpkin.”
“But that’s such a classic.”
“I’m not saying it isn’t good. I’m just saying there’s better.” He spread his arms out a little farther, making it feel like he was now on top of me. “I want to know more about you, Pearl. I’ve seen the girl onstage, who poured her heart out.