Page 100 of Ashes

Jamal lit all the candles as he and Kai proceeded to sing me happy birthday in English, Spanish, and Jamal even sang it in French.

Valentina simply stood to the side, her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the counter. She didn’tjoin them, but for her to be here was more than I could ask for.

I focused my attention back on the singers and my heart erupted at the sight of them singing off-key. For me.

Once they were done, I closed my eyes for the second time tonight and exhaled a deep breath. I usually didn’t wish for anything, but this time, this time surrounded by people other than myself, I wished for one thing.

Happiness.

I’d spent my whole life living for others, making sure everyone else was happy, but it was time for me to think of myself and make sureIwas happy.

A small smile tugged at my lips and I blew out the candles. When I opened my eyes, the stream of white smoke billowed in front of my face. Unable to help myself, I dipped my finger into the frosting between two layers and brought it to my mouth, sucking it off.

Damn, this is actually good.

I heard Jamal groan and I looked up at him, watching his jaw clench, his eyes laser-focused on my lips. My eyes glimmered with mischief, knowing exactly where his mind went.

He cleared his throat. “I have something for you,” he said, reaching for his back pocket and handing me a white envelope.

My cheeks flushed as I took it from him. “You didn’t have to get me anything.” I almost wanted to give it backbut stopped myself from doing so. I wasn’t used to receiving gifts, so I didn’t know how to react.

I opened the envelope and pulled out what was inside. A pang hit my chest once I registered what the pieces of paper were for. “Jamal…” I trailed off, glancing up at him. My eyes fell again on the tickets in my hands, my fingers brushing over the words as I read them over and over again. “No, you didn’t…”

He’d gotten me Paddock passes for the British Grand Prix.

Excitement swarmed every inch of my body at the thought of seeing something I’d loved for as long as I could remember up close. But my face instantly fell when I realized it was this weekend.

I was working.

My gaze moved back to Jamal and I opened my mouth to tell him, but he spoke before I could.

“Before you say you can’t go, I already called your residency supervisor and asked to give you the rest of the week off. He owed me a favor, so it didn’t take much convincing,” he said with a small smile. “I hope you don’t mind,” he rushed out.

I wrapped my arms around his middle and hugged him, placing my head over his erratically beating heart. I swallowed past the tight fist my emotions had around my throat and managed to say, “Thank you,” against his shirt, my voice hoarse.

He hesitated for a moment, his arms by his side. Thenhe wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tighter, his hand mindlessly rubbing circles over my back.

I pulled back and leaned up to kiss him. I was about to pull back when he cupped my face with his other hand and deepened the kiss.

I loved how natural being in his arms had become, how peaceful I felt being with him. I’d never had that before.

I’d forgotten we had company until someone in the room cleared their throat and we both pulled away.

“How about some cake?” Kai said, his cheeks flushed.

Jamal dropped a soft kiss on my forehead before grabbing a knife from another drawer and handing it to me. I cut each of us a piece and we all stood around the island, eating.

Kai asked me a plethora of questions about Formula One, from my favorite team to how I got into it, while Jamal watched our interaction, an amused look on his face and his hand resting on my thigh.

Surprisingly, Valentina stayed around. She hadn’t joined the conversation, but I didn’t expect anything different from her. But whatwasdifferent was how every once in a while, she looked over at Kai with a different expression on her face, like she was torn about something when it came to him.

I’d seen him sporting the same expression before, but this was the first time I’d seen it on her.

And she was doing it now.

She must have felt my gaze on her because our eyeslocked before she averted them quickly, a blush creeping over her face.

Never thought I’d see the day Valentina blushed.