A surge of tingles ran up my thigh and up my spine. Why did his touch have this effect on me?
The chef introduced himself and explained the omakase—a multi-course tasting menu where he’d decide what we ate based on the freshest ingredients. All I had to do was trust him.
There was that word again. Trust.
“You good with fish?” Thad asked.
“I’m good with food. Period.”
He smiled. “That’s what I like to hear.”
The first course arrived. Yellowtail with truffle and a tiny dollop of something I couldn’t identify. It melted on my tongue.
“Oh my God,” I breathed.
“Told you.”
Course after course came. Salmon. Tuna. Sea urchin. Something called A5 Wagyu that was so tender I almost moaned out loud. Each dish was a work of art—tiny, perfect, delicious.
But it wasn’t just the food.
It was the conversation.
Thad asked me questions. Real questions. Not the surface shit men usually ask to fill the silence before trying to get in your pants.
“What do you want out of life?” he asked between courses. “Like, really want?”
I took a sip of sake. Thought about it.
“I want to go to college,” I said. “Get a degree in business. Maybe open my own spot one day. Something that’s mine.”
“Why haven’t you?”
I shrugged. “Life got in the way.”
“Life, or a person?”
I looked at him. Those dark eyes saw too much.
“A person,” I admitted. “Someone I was with for a long time. He didn’t want me to have anything that was just mine. No education. No career. No friends. He wanted me dependent on him.”
Thad’s jaw tightened. “What happened to him?”
“He’s gone. Out of my life.”
“Good.” The word was sharp. Final. “A man who holds you back isn’t a man. He’s a cage.”
Something shifted in my chest. Nobody had ever put it that way before. A cage. That’s exactly what Ahmad had been.
“What about you?” I asked, wanting to shift the focus. “What do you want out of life?”
He was quiet for a moment. Stared at his sake glass.
“I want to be different than my father.”
“What was he like?”
“A monster.” He said it simply, like he was stating a fact. “He hurt people. Hurt my mother. Hurt me. I grew up watching him destroy everything he touched.” He looked at me. “I swore I’d never be like him.”
