“Ashley!” Her mother’s voice reached her from far, far away. “Ashley! We need to leave for your game in fifteen minutes!”
Ashley groaned and rolled over in bed. Today was her birthday, and the last thing she wanted to do was to jump out of her bed and rush around getting ready for a soccer game. She loved soccer. But it was a little too much of late. Too many teams meant too many practices. Didn’t a girl deserve a little R and R on her birthday?
Rest. Not leaving her bed.
And relaxation. Listening to her favorite BTS song. Or…songs. And chatting with her best friends online.
Not only was today her birthday, it was also the beginning of March break. Which meant she’d have more time for soccer practice. She groaned again. Just as her mother’s voice sounded once more.
“Ashley!”
“I’m coming,” the brand-new adult responded as she stretched her arms over her head.
She had woken up this morning a legal adult. So why didn’t she feel any different?
She glanced down at her fingernails. They didn’t look any different. Her eyes slid up her arm to find the waves of her honey hair flowing towards her waist. Her long tresses didn’t look any different either. She climbed from her bed to cross her room. She headed for the bathroom. One glance in the mirror proved what she already suspected. She didn’t look any different. Her eyes were still a sweet shade of honey brown. Why had she expected today to be any different from yesterday?
She sighed and grabbed her brush. Time to draw all that honey hair up into a ponytail. The world awaited. The soccer world, that was. And soccer waited for no man. Or girl. Not even on her birthday.
—
It had been a long day. A soccer game. Followed by soccer practice. Her friends had surprised her with a cake. She had the pictures to prove it. They were filling up her Photos in her phone. Still, she felt a little down. Though she didn’t understand why.
“Ash?” her mother’s voice greeted her as she jumped into their vehicle.
Ashley glanced expectantly at her mom.
“Want to grab a bite to eat?”
Ashley nodded. “I’m starving!” she muttered as she tossed her shin guards onto the floor.
“Poutine?” her mother suggested.
Ashley grinned. “Absolutely.”
—
Dipping her last French fry into a puddle of brown gravy, Ashley was still seated at the outdoor café when her mother got a phone call from a distressed friend. She listened halfheartedly to her mom’s end of that sad conversation. Finally, her mother ended the call and glanced her way.
“Can I drop you at home? Sandra needs me. Just for a little while.”
Ashley sighed. She’d heard that before. Sandra never needed her mother for just a little while.
“I’m sorry, honey. It’s just—”
“Fine, Mom. It’s fine. But you don’t need to drop me at home. I’ll walk.”
“Are you sure?” Her mother’s brow bent in concern. “You spent half the day running.”
“I’m fine. I want to enjoy the fresh air.”
“Suit yourself. I’ll see you later.”
Another sigh escaped Ashley’s mouth as she glanced around. She wished Nani and Zee were here. And that she had another fry.
“It’s sad, isn’t it?” a soft voice spoke from behind her.
She turned her head and glanced up at a tall man hidden behind a pair of sunglasses and beneath the hood of an oversized sweatshirt. He looked familiar.
“What?” she asked as her mind tried to make sense of the vision before her.
“That you just ate your last fry.”
“Oh.” She giggled as her eyes traveled to the pile of gravy on her plate. She nodded.
“I mean all that gravy and no fries to sop it up.”
“Do you have a solution?” she asked, shocked that the words left her mouth.
“I do, in fact. I happen to have some very lonely fries right now.”
Another chuckle left her lips as she glanced back up at him. “Lonely fries?”
“Yes.” He leaned over and picked up a plate from the table behind hers. “I ordered plain, boring fries.”
“Why would you ever do that,” she asked teasingly, “when you could smother them in gravy?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t the foggiest idea.” He glanced down at her table. “May I sit with you?”
She nodded. Again, wondering what on earth she was doing. She didn’t know this man. And she was just a kid….
No, she wasn’t. She was a bona fide adult now. But that didn’t mean she wanted to share a meal with a perfect stranger. Especially one who appeared a decade older than her. However, before she could deny him a seat, he drew off his sunglasses, and she gasped as her eyes collided with his dark brown ones.
“Jin?” she exclaimed.
His eyes grew wide, and he glanced sharply to his right before his gaze swept the patio cluttered with tables. “You recognize me?” he whispered before his eyes collided with hers once more.
She nodded. “Of course!”
“Please…don’t say anything more about it. I’m trying to enjoy my vacation.”
“Vacation? Here? In this little town?”
His chin bobbed up and down. “I was hoping it was remote enough that no one would recognize me.”
His eyes grazed hers again before sliding to her right and widening. She followed his gaze and groaned. Her waitress was approaching them. And she was brandishing a huge slice of chocolate cake. Crowned by a lit candle.
“Happy Birthday to you,” sang the server.
Ashley grimaced.
Jin’s eyes grew round. “Today is your birthday?”
“It is,” Ashley admitted grudgingly.
His lips spread into a broad worldwide handsome smile. “Happy Birthday!” Then he began to sing with the server, and Ashley’s blush deepened.
The slice of chocolate cake came to land beneath her nose on the tabletop. Ashley glanced up at the waitress as the song came to an end. “How did you know?”
“Your mother told me before she left,” the girl replied.
Ashley looked down at the huge piece of cake and felt her mouth watering. “Uh, I don’t have any money to pay for this.”
Her server’s eyes flew wide open. “Oh, no! It’s on the house! A birthday present for you!”
Ashley smiled at the girl. “Thank you.” Her eyes slid towards Jin for a moment before she glanced back at the waitress. “Do you happen to have another fork?”
The girl nodded and drew one from her apron. She held it out to Ashley before asking, “Can I get you anything else?”
Ashley glanced at Jin.
“I’ll have a cup of coffee.” He turned his pretty gaze on her. “Would you like anything?”
Ashley looked at her glass of water. “No, thank you. I’ve got some water.”
He beamed at her before flashing that beautiful smile at the waitress. The girl blinked rapidly before turning around and fleeing towards the kitchen.
Ashley’s eyes meshed with Jin’s. “Would you like to share my cake?” She held the fork out to him.
His eyes lit up. “I love chocolate cake!” he exclaimed as he reached for the fork, his fingers grazing hers.
Ashley gasped at the electricity that flowed from his skin into her own, and their eyes tangled. “I know,” she breathed.
“Do you like chocolate?” he queried as he continued to gaze at her.
“Who doesn’t?” she whispered. Though, she wasn’t sure how she accomplished that feat. His fingers had stolen the air from her lungs a moment before. Jin was even more gorgeous in person than he’d been on the screen.
That pretty smile still gracing his lips, he drew the tines of his fork down through the tip of their cake slice. For a moment, Ashley was tempted to be perturbed. Jin was going to eat the first bite of her birthday cake! Then she shrugged. He was, after all, Jin.
“How old are you?” he asked as he turned the fork and his eyes towards her.
“Eighteen.”
“An adult.” He beamed at her. “This calls for a celebration indeed!” He held the fork up to her lips.
And her heart melted. Jin was going to feed her a bite of cake?
She felt oddly embarrassed. Yet her mouth opened of its own accord, and the richness of chocolate frosting was soon delighting her tongue. But not as much as Jin’s smile was delighting her heart.
“How is it?”
She blinked. And savored that sweet bite. “Amazing,” she murmured. “It might be the best cake I’ve ever eaten.” This was certainly the most extraordinary moment of her life. Being fed a bite of cake by Jin. Her heartthrob.
She watched as he took his own bite. He seemed to lose himself in its taste for a few moments. “It’s pretty good. But I’ve had better.”
“Have you? Where?”
“There’s this little store in the center of Seoul. The lady there makes the best cakes.” He rolled his eyes in appreciation. “She even adds chopped candy bars to the top of them sometimes.” He paused a moment before remarking, “I opened a Mars bar once. Do you know why?”
Confused, Ashley frowned. “Why?”
“I discovered Martians love Jin.”
Ashley giggled. “Gin? Or Jin?”
“Hmm. Both, I suppose,” he shrugged before taking another bite of her cake. After a moment of chewing, he admitted, “I try to eat a little chocolate every day.”
“Why?”
“Because seven days without chocolate makes one weak,” he muttered.
Ashley chuckled and shook her head. Truthfully, Jin’s lame dad jokes were one of her favorite things about him. “I heard a chocolate joke the other day. But it was weak. It got only Snickers out of me,” she replied.
And Jin guffawed.
She laughed in earnest then. For some chocolate frosting was stuck to his upper lip, and he looked adorable. As his tongue appeared to steal it away, she smiled at him.
Then she arched her eyebrows at him. “In case you were wondering,” she continued, “chocolate identifies itself as female. Her preferred pronouns are her/she.”
Jin snorted. “That’s a good one!” He tilted his head to the side and queried, “Do you know how I sneak my chocolates into the movie theater?”
She shook her head.
“It’s easy. I got a few Twix up my sleeve.”
She chortled. “I bet you do,” she uttered dryly.
And Jin quirked his eyebrow at her.
She studied him for a moment. But before she could question him, he queried, “Are you doing anything special for your birthday?”
She nodded. “Sharing a slice of chocolate cake with my bias.”
Jin’s eyebrows fled skyward. “I’m your bias?”
“Yep.” She took another bite of cake.
“I’m honored.” He tipped his head towards her.
“You should be. I don’t share my birthday cake with just anybody, you know.” Her lips quirked upwards in a teasing smile.
And his own broadened. “Don’t you?” That sculpted eyebrow was flying towards the heavens again.
She shook her head, and her ponytail slapped her cheek. Drawing his gaze.
“Your hair’s so pretty,” he murmured. “It’s like…honey.”
“Honey?” Her eyes tangled with his.
“Mm-hmm. May I call you Honey?”
She giggled.
“Why are you laughing?”
“My mom calls me honey sometimes.”
“I can see why.”
“Why?” she quizzed him, confused.
“Because…you’re sweet.”
