Page 64 of The Charade

"A theory?"

"Yep."

"And what theory was that?" she asked.

"A theory about why they're really having this party."

"And that theory would be what?" Ava asked, folding her arms across her chest, not seeming to like that I was making her work for the answers.

The microwave beeped, so I opened the door to grab my food, which was steaming hot. I pulled it out carefully. With our plates and glasses of water in hand, I nodded toward the back door, indicating for Ava to follow me out to the terrace where we could eat our meal.

"Are you going to tell me why you think they're really having this party?" Ava asked impatiently as we seated ourselves onto the striped cushions.

I set my dishes on the patio table and started cutting into my steak with the steak knife. "I'm pretty sure they're planning a surprise birthday party for me."

"Really?" Ava's eyes widened, and she started cutting into her steak as well. "Is your birthday October sixteenth then?"

"No, it's the next day." I put a bite of steak in my mouth and had to resist the urge to moan because dang, it was so good. I closed my eyes as I savored the taste for a moment.

"Did you just grunt like a caveman?" Ava asked, amusement in her voice.

I opened my eyes and saw her staring at me openmouthed. Apparently, I hadn't been able to hide my neanderthal tendencies as much as I'd hoped.

But since I had better manners than a caveman, I made sure to finish chewing my steak before I said, "This is so good."

"Kind of like the chicken at the back-to-school barbecue?"

"Even better."

Deciding to test it herself, Ava put a piece of the steak in her mouth, and when her eyes lit up as she chewed, I knew she was impressed. She swallowed her bite and said, "Um, do you think Marie has time to come cook for the school, too? Because I'm pretty sure this is the kind of steak that they serve in heaven.”

I laughed, but since I was a bit territorial when it came to Marie, I said, "Sorry. She only has time for my family."

"Well then, I may just need to invite myself over to dinner every night."

"I think I could get on board with that," I said.

And when our eyes met, I couldn't help the goofy smile that took over my face because I realized that I really did want something like that to happen. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with this vivacious girl who always had me on the edge of my seat.

Ava cut into her steak again. "So how do you feel about this surprise party of yours? Is a soirée the kind of party you had in mind for the big eighteen?"

"Honestly?" I asked.

"Of course."

"Well…" I skewered a potato with my fork. "If it was actually up to me, I wouldn’t have a party at all."

"What?" Ava pulled her head back, obviously caught off guard by my answer.

I looked at my plate and swallowed. "I'm just not a huge fan of my birthday."

"What?" she said again, clearly never having met someone who didn't like their birthday before. "Why don't you like your birthday?"

I pressed my lips together, wondering how to explain it. With a sigh, I said, "I guess it's just that the first birthday I remember having ended up being one of my worst memories."

Ava's expression immediately turned somber. "Did something bad happen on your birthday?"

"Well, it wasn't on my actual birthday." I rubbed the back of my neck, not sure if I really wanted to get into the story tonight. But I was starting to like this girl and knew that if I ever wanted anything to happen with her for real, then it meant I would need to open up to her and show her everything that made up Carter Dominic Hastings. I said, "The bad memories came from what happened the day after my fifth birthday."

---