I didn’t like her turning the conversation back to me, but I gave in anyway and smiled. “Thank you for the compliment, but I’ve been out of college for a while now.”
Her nose scrunched adorably. “Ugh, just how old are you?”
I’d be hurt if I weren’t so charmed by her playful honesty. “Thirty-four. And you?”
“Depends.”
Uh … “Depends?”
“Depends which ID I’m usin’.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Is that so? And what does your ID say tonight?”
“Well, it says I’m twenty-one, but my goody-goody of a cousin got me a virgin drink earlier.”
I gasped, playing along, then said, “I see. Bit of a bad girl, are you?”
We both stopped and faced each other. The shock of my flirting tone had to be plastered all over my face, and she seemed equally unprepared for it.
“I apologize. I didn’t mean that to …”
“To what?” Ashley smirked. “Scandalize me? Is this the part where you promise to make an honest woman of me?”
I huffed and cursed the heat in my cheeks. “Sorry. I’ve a bit of my mother’s voice in my head, chastising my crude forwardness.”
“Then I’ll save you only this once and politely decline your proposal of marriage. I’m much too young to be chained to a man such as yourself.”
I chuckled at her teasing, then asked, “A man such as me? And who do you think I am?”
Ashley sniffed and lifted her chin as we started walking again. Even as absurd as being paraded around as an eligible bachelorsounded, we were playing right into it by publicly courting each other as they might have done two hundred years ago.
“You, sir, are far too handsome not to know it. I’d bet you’re hounded all day long, never able to get in an honest day of work for dodging eager mommas and their even more resourceful daughters. I won’t be grouped into that category.”
“So you’re declining me on principle? Hardly seems fair. What if we’re soulmates?”
“Do you believe in such a thing?”
I’d never given it much thought, but I kind of liked the idea. “Yes, maybe. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that decision made for you? To not have to worry if you’re making a mistake?”
“But how else are we to learn if we don’t make mistakes? To have it handed to you makes a person lazy. I don’t believe in soulmates. At least, not in the fated ones. I think you can find your soulmate, but only through hard work. When I find mine, I wanna be cherished, not taken for granted.”
I stopped again. “You’re much too mature for a sometimes-twenty-one-year-old.”
Ashley laughed. The sound was deeper instead of higher-pitched. I liked it. It had notes of genuine happiness and not faked as I’d heard far too many times. My inner ear tingled as the melody, dark and secretive, faded.
“You aren’t the first person to tell me that.”
A bit of jealousy burned in my gut for no good reason at all. I wasn’t attracted to her in a sexual sense, but I didn’t want to be one of many to her either. I wanted to leave a mark as she had on me.
“I’m the oldest of too many siblings and have far too many cousins to count. Sometimes I feel like the shepherd watchin’ over a wayward flock of cats. It’s made me a bit of a cynic at times, and at others, too much of a realist to believe in fairy tales any longer.”
“That’s sad. I think everyone should have fantasies.”
Ashley chuckled. “There you go, flirtin’ with me again.”
“Sorry—”
“Luke? Why don’t you introduce me to your friend?”
