Page 51 of Taming Dahlia

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Signed copies of this book were very rare, from what I knew.

“Well… it is a first edition, so I would sure hope it’s signed.”

“It’s a what?” I snatched the book back to take a closer look at it. “I’m afraid to ask how much this cost.”

“But do you like it?” Ace eagerly asked, and I could only shake my head in response.

“I love it.” I laughed, ignoring the sudden tightness in my throat.

Jack stepped out to the kitchen for a moment, returning with a delicious-looking cake in his hands.

“Did you make it?” I asked him, thinking that if I were to smile any wider, my face would split in half.

“Of course I did. Store-bought cakes are disgusting.”

“I never really saw the difference—ouf,” Ace let out a pained huff as King elbowed him in the stomach.

Jack just gave me one of his rare smiles, the flames on the birthday candles making his eyes dance. “So birthday girl… come on, make a wish.”

A wish…

For years, there had been only one thing that I ever wished for.

I blew out the candles, and a wisp of gray smoke curled up into the air.

“What did you wish for?” Ace asked, and Jack rolled his eyes at him.

“She can’t say it or it won’t come true,” he scolded him, as if it should have been obvious and he was stupid for asking something like that.

I placed my hand over my mouth in an effort to contain my giggles. It would be mean to laugh at them after everything they did for me, no matter how silly they were being.

“Let’s eat then,” Jack said as he put the cake down on the table. “What do you want first, food or cake?”

“Cake.” Three voices answered in unison.

Jack sighed in exasperation. “Of course.”

I couldn’t remember the last time I was this happy for my birthday.

No, actually, that was a lie. I could remember it — but only through a heavy fog — somewhere far away, a long, long time ago…

King bumped his shoulder into mine. “Where did you go?”

I shook my head, causing a loose strand of hair to escape from my ponytail I brushed it aside. “Nowhere, sorry. Got lost in my thoughts there for a second.”

I glanced around the table and announced, “Let’s eat, then!”

There was a bit of a commotion as the cake was getting sliced, “Biggest peace for the birthday girl,” Jack said, placing a plate in front of me.

I couldn’t help but let out a giggle. It was almost as if the happiness that I felt inside me wanted to make itself known. “Thank you.”

It was stupid to get so emotional over a piece of cake and a gift, but… no one had ever done something like this for me in along time. As I looked around the table, I realized that there was no other place I’d rather be at this moment, other than here.

“You know, I really can’t remember the last time I had such a nice birthday,” I said to King a couple of hours later. Only him and I were in the living room now, the rest of the guys having already left.

Ace had got himself a food baby, and I noticed that Jack’s eyelids were starting to drop, so I sent them off to bed. There had been a bit of an argument where I insisted on staying behind to tidy up the place, and they finally gave in after King offered to help me.

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