I pay her no mind, assuming Jace needed something. But when she comes back in a flurry of energy, she grabs my arm and hauls me up from the couch.
“Come on!”
“What? Where are we going?”
She shakes her head at me and smiles, not giving me any sort of answer. I follow along anyway, knowing I really have no choice. Where Sal goes, I go.
We take the stairs down to her basement and we approach the back door, which leads to the pool and patio. I notice the string lights around the pool are all brightly lit and I squint out against the halos playing in my line of vision.
She yanks open the door, and seated at a table is Theo.
I practically squeal, running and jumping into his arms before he can say a word. I almost knock him over with the force of my momentum, but he picks me up, gripping me under my thighs, and spins me in a circle. I press my lips to his, hungry to taste him. It’s only been a week, but it feels far longer than that.
He pulls back finally, softly whispering, “Happy birthday, beautiful.”
My cheeks heat at his sweet words, my body buzzing with excited energy. “You’re here!”
“I am. Your best friend found me on Facebook, and fuck if she isn’t persistent. But I jumped at the chance to see you today.”
I kiss him again, but then Sal clears her voice from behind me, and I remember we aren’t alone. I disengage myself from Theo’s embrace and turn towards her.
“Well, you two lovebirds have fun. I’ll be upstairs when you’re done.”
I blow her a kiss, hoping she can see the gratitude in my eyes for everything she does for me. “Best friend ever” doesn’t even begin to cover it. She turns and heads back inside, shutting the door behind her. Finally, we have privacy, and I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present.
Theo takes my hand and leads me to the patio table where a spread of varied Chinese takeout boxes litter the surface,along with paper plates, and a box that looks like it contains a birthday cake. My eyes flit to his.
“I can’t believe you did this, and that you came… despite the risk.”
His eyes connect to mine, his love for me shining through. “I wouldn’t miss your birthday for the world, Sophie. I wish I could have done more, but for tonight, this will have to do,” he shrugs sheepishly.
“No, this is perfect. I don’t want anything but you.”
We sit down and Theo pulls his chair right next to mine, our knees touching. I lean into him, bumping him with my shoulder, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in a week. He begins opening takeout boxes, letting me take my portions first before doling out his own.
“Yummm,” I try to say with a mouth full of food. He bursts out laughing.
“What was that?”
I roll my eyes, swallowing the bite. “You know what I meant.”
“I do, Trouble,” he smirks. “I just love messing with you.”
We alternate between eating and chatting, catching up on our week. We ignore the elephant in the room, the heaviness that lingers over us both—the fact that we are not yet out of the woods. Instead, for tonight, we just have fun.
I set my plastic fork down on my styrofoam plate, having finished about five servings of rice on my own. It was too good. I couldn’t stop. Theo moves our plates out of the way and grabs the cake box, opening the lid.
It’s red velvet, my absolute favorite. I must’ve mentioned it at some point, or maybe he asked Sal, but my mouth immediately begins watering at the sight. I reach out to grab a plastic fork, eager enough to dive right in without even cutting a slice, but he grabs my hand.
“Hold on!” He retrieves a bag I hadn’t even seen from the ground and pulls out candles and a lighter. One by one, he counts out and places twenty candles on the cake, meticulously spaced.
“Why twenty?”
“Nineteen for your age, and one for good luck,” he smiles.
“Huh… I’ve never heard of that. I like it! Honestly, it’s been a minute since I’ve blown out candles on a cake.”
His eyes flick to mine and I see a shadow of sorrow hidden in their depths. “Sophie, you deserve to be celebrated. Every year. Actually scratch that, every damn day.”
