Strawberry.
“Delicious.” I licked my lips suggestively, meeting her eyes.
“Kai, come here.” Ashton waved frantically from a table a few booths away.
Grabbing my hand, Kai started running, dragging me with her. Ashton was at a table full of big tubs of ice. In them were chunks of fish on little trays, along with containers of little orange round things, some kind of green salad with sesame seeds, pink vegetables, and all sorts of other items.
Kai’s eyes lit up. “Oh, wow.”
“He says the fish is all sushi quality.” Ashton looked very pleased with himself.
Kai squeezed his arm. “This is perfect–if you still want me to make sushi for you tonight.”
“I think that sounds great. Were you thinking of making a sushi appetizer and then I can still grill some steaks or a full sushi dinner? I don’t want to put extra work on you,” I said, menu-planning in my head. “But I’m excited to try it.”
Kai examined the fish closely, asking all kinds of questions.
“I think I’ll do a sushi snack appetizer with two different kinds and while I’m making it, Steven could grill steaks? If he’s willing. We could have surf and turf while we watch our movie.” She beamed.
“I like that idea,” I agreed. “We’ll go to the steak man and get something next.”
Ashton paid for the sushi makings, they had just about everything she needed, and I placed a delivery order for the rest.
We visited the steak man, and I selected some nice ribeyes, and then we chose some fresh vegetables to grill.
“What about dessert?” Kai asked as we passed a booth full of little cakes.
They were all decorated beautifully. A little bit big for one person, but probably perfect if split between the three of us.
“I’ll get the cake? Then we’ve all contributed?” Kai offered. “How about chocolate?”
Yes, I think I’d only be able to eat a third of that one. Maybe less–it looked very rich.
She glanced over at Ashton. “Do you like chocolate cake? I remember you ordered vanilla ice cream. They have a bourbon butter cake.”
"That's one of our specialties,” the woman explained proudly, offering us a tray with bites of cake in tiny, clear cups. “Have a sample.”
Ashton’s look went hungry as we all tried the cake.
“Could we try that one? I like a little chocolate, but this is delicious,” he said.
“It is.” Kai got out her wallet. “We’ll take one.”
I went to pay for the cake, but Ashton gave me a look. Okay, I suppose we could let her buy it. Especially since she genuinely wanted to contribute.
We finished our shopping and got back into Ashton’s truck with all our stuff.
“Who taught you to make sushi?” Ashton asked as we drove.
“One of my dads. He learned to impress my mom when they were dating.” Her shoulders slumped a little.
“What happened to them?” I asked.
“Car accident. They were coming back from a date. With both of us out of the house, they started going on more regular dates. They were all together. There was a drunk driver.”
“I’m so sorry.” I reached over and squeezed her hand.
“Me too,” Ashton added.
