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Tali
Nina was holding me hostage.Instead of spending my birthday ensconced in my family home, I had been kidnapped by my wayward cousin. All I had been told was our destination was Philadelphia and everything had been taken care of. I had no idea what “everything” was, but I was an equal mix of nerves and excitement.
We took the train from New York to Philly, then a cab to the hotel where we were apparently staying the night.
“No hints?” I asked.
“Wear something cute,” she replied.
I flopped on the fluffy hotel bed. “But what kind of cute? Fancy dinner cute? Punk rock show cute? Movie and a stroll in the park cute?”
Nina climbed on the bed and jumped next to me, making me bounce. “Stop overthinking. Just wear your boots and a dress. Also, I’m offended you think I’d take you to the goddamn movies on your twentieth birthday.”
“You’re unpredictable.”
She plopped down on her butt. “Which is why you love me.”
“Amongst other reasons.”
“Just let me surprise you and show you a good time. You can torture me on my next birthday, okay?”
“Fine. But if I’m dressed punk rock cute when I should be dinner cute, I’m going to take pictures of you drooling in your sleep and show them to Heather.”
“Heather thinks every little thing I do is magic. She’ll find my drool charming,” Nina said.
She’d gone on a date with Laura’s friend, Heather, right after Thanksgiving, and by the end of the night, she’d lost her virginity and gained a girlfriend. I’d barely met her, since Heather lived in a single dorm room in a different building than ours and they spent all their couple time there. Nina was completely smitten, though, and she was bursting to get back to school to see her again.
We still had another day before the dorms reopened, so we were spending it in Philly on birthday adventures.
In the end, Nina disapproved of everything I chose to wear, so she picked out my clothing. My jeans were low slung, and my white, button-up top was only buttoned in the middle, exposing my stomach and chest. The only reason I didn’t protest was because I’d be covering up with my winter coat the moment we left this room.
Sadly, Nina had found her vinyl skirt, so she wore that and a bikini top over a sheer, long sleeve shirt.
Okay, so we weren’t doing dinner cute. She looked like she was on her way to a rave, which wasn’t my scene, but I’d hang if I had to.
“First, we eat, then we head to the main event.” She slipped her coat over her shoulders, mercifully covering the eyesore that was her skirt. “Does that sound okay, birthday girl?”
“Sounds perfect. Although, if you loved me, you’d burn that skirt.”
“I’m going to be buried in this skirt. Don’t hate.”
We ended up a few blocks away at a sushi place that better resembled a night club, with low lighting, a booming sound system, and plush benches to lounge on while eating. The table we were shown to was much too big for the two of us, and my suspicions began to rise, but I didn’t voice them. I loved surprises and didn’t want to get my hopes up of seeing a certain person.
Tino arrived with a flourish minutes after we had. He lifted me out of my seat and swung me around until I was dizzy. “Happy birthday, spectacular Tali, the light of my life.”
“I missed you something fierce, Augustino. I can’t believe you’re here!”
He gave me a satisfied smile. “Your cousin can be quite convincing. She got me to leave my lair for the evening with promises of quality Tali time.” He sat down and pulled me into his lap, without a care that we were in the middle of a restaurant. I guess I really didn’t care either.
Minutes later, Laura and Heather arrived, both kissing my cheeks and wishing me a happy birthday. For a little while, the rest of us ceased to exist for Nina as she reunited with her girl. I’d never seen her be romantic with anyone, but it was sweet to see her like this, kissing and touching Heather reverently.
My stomach twinged with disappointment when our waitress arrived to take our orders and the only person I’d been hoping to see hadn’t shown. But I snapped myself out of it. I had four people here for me, and I’d be seeing Jude tomorrow afternoon. Or I hoped I would. We hadn’t made official plans yet, and I hadn’t heard from him today.
Tino’s fingers trailed along my bare stomach while I drank sake and talked to Laura and Heather about their winter breaks.
Nina cleared her throat and jerked her head to the side. I frowned at her, wondering if she’d developed a tic in the last five minutes. Then I turned in the direction she was jerking, and my heart lodged in my throat. Two of the tallest, sexiest men were striding toward our table. One light, one dark—both focused on me.
“Here we go,” Tino muttered next to my ear.
