Someone must’ve flipped the switch, because the chandelier began to slowly rise, climbing higher and higher toward the ceiling as we tipped our heads back to watch.

The flames on the candles flickered with the movement, and the kids started running, twirling, and skipping away into the ballroom.

I followed them in, the guests filtering in behind me, some starting to join Michael and Rika on the dance floor, while others plucked glasses of champagne off the trays of servers passing by.

Emmy carried the bowl of basil ashes, setting it on the mantel next to the menorah before walking toward me, her face still lit up.

She loved lighting the chandelier.

“Your favorite part…” I mused as she settled at my side, watching the room.

“Always,” she said, gazing up the ceiling at the four small, electric fixtures above, not presently being used. “I almost wish they were all lit by candlelight.”

“Too much work,” I told her.

“Affirmative.”

“The Bell Tower is gorgeous.” I looked down at her. “I love what you’ve done with it. Or refused to do with it, I should say.”

She shrugged. “There’s beauty in the history. I don’t want that erased.”

I found Banks on the dance floor, she and Rika with their heads together over something.

“It’s where I kissed her for the first time,” I said, letting my eyes trail over my wife’s bare shoulders.

“I didn’t know that.”

“Devil’s Night.” The memory played in my head. “My senior year.”

The overture ended and the sound system kicked in, playing a soft, haunting tune with lyrics.

Then, Emmy said, “She was in the confessional with you that morning, wasn’t she?”

I tipped my gaze back down to her. “How did you know that?”

She grinned, as if just remembering. “I was there that day. I ran into her.”

“You go to church?” I teased.

But she just looked away, a coy smile on her lips. “I had my reasons.”

Or secrets? Whatever. None of my business.

“The confessional,” I mused. “That was the first time I talked to her, too. That day changed my life.”

“Mine, too.”

“If only I’d fought more for what I wanted.” That day ended far worse than it had begun. “We wouldn’t have missed out on years of being together.”

“Me too,” she added in a whisper.

Banks stole glances at me every once in a while, her red lips wet and her eyes dark. Heat covered my body as images filled my head of exactly what she’d look like wearing only that face makeup.

“I need to dance with her,” I told Em and started to move onto the floor.

But then a young brunette was in front of me, her shoulders bare in a white gown.

“Kai,” she chirped.

I halted, seeing my student looking a lot different than she did in her Aikido class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. “Soraya,” I said, “You look great.” I took her hand and leaned in, pressing my cheek to her temple for a quick embrace. “Are your parents here?”

“No.” She smiled up at me. “But they are curled up in front of a fire tonight.”

“Good to hear.”

I tried to step around her and say goodbye, but she started talking again. “Thank you for the one-on-ones last week,” she told me. “They really helped.”

She looked up at me with adoring blue eyes, her silky-looking red hair hanging around her. I could almost feel Emmy’s loaded smirk next to me.

Please. The kid was a…kid.

“Of course,” I told her. “Practicing some of the language over break?”

“Yeah.” She clutched her dress, and I looked down, watching her slowly lift the hem off the ground. “I carry it with me everywhere.”

As the dress rose higher and higher, I saw black markings drifting up the golden skin of her leg.

“Ichi, ni, san,” she recited, reading the Japanese numbers like a cheat sheet on her body.

“Yon, go, roku.” She lifted the dress higher, over her knee and up her thigh. “Nana, hachi…”

Sweat cooled my forehead, and I glanced at Banks, seeing her watching us with her eyes on fire.

“Shit,” I mouthed, seeing Emmy cover her smile with her hand.

“Ku.” Soraya continued, the dress damn near rising up to her… “Juu,” she finally said.

I swallowed, my eyes flashing back to Banks, Rika standing next to her wide-eyed and looking almost ready to laugh.

I caught sight of the guys watching me too, their lips moving, and even though I couldn’t make out what they were saying, I could read their shit-eating grins.

I looked down again, trying to not see Soraya’s long leg. “That’s…that’s good.”

She dropped the dress back down. “I know the dojo is closed until after the new year, but I left my bag in the locker room.” She inched closer, and I took a step back. “Will you be in this weekend? Like for paperwork or something? I can stop by. Just really quick.”

Alone? While I’m in there…alone?

I darted my eyes to Banks, and at the same time, she and Rika dragged their fingers across their throats in a threat.

Emmy snorted, grabbing a glass of champagne off a passing tray. “I’ve seen that before. Like brother, like sisters.”

Goddammit. This wasn’t my fault. Banks was going to be pissy all night now.

I sidestepped the girl. “My wife will be in all day tomorrow, taking care of some things,” I told her. “I’ll let her know you’re coming by.”

And I got the hell out of there.

But as I tried to head to Banks, the guys dove in, cutting me off. “Someone’s in trouble,” Will teased.

“Gimme a break.” The kid has a crush. Like I could control it.

I tried to search for my wife, but the dancers were spinning, and I couldn’t see around the guys.

“Dammit,” I muttered, sliding my hands into my pockets.

“Yeah,” Michael added. “Everyone saw that.”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, shit.” Damon laughed under his breath as he raised his glass to his lips. “Here come the gloves.”

Huh? I found Banks again as Rika tried to bite back her laugh, clearly talking Banks down as my woman shot glares at the teenage girl.

“See!” I turned to Michael. “What’d I tell you? Shit always hits the fan.”

“Relax,” he told me. “Banks trusts you. So teen queen has a crush on her sensei master.”

“His tutelage marked all around her thighs…” Damon taunted.

“And my wife has knives wrapped around hers,” I whisper-yelled, aware of our guests. “Shit. Look at them.” I gestured to the girls, Winter and Emory having joined them. “They’re planning something.”

Will and Michael chuckled, not moving an inch to stop anything.

“I’m more worried about that young girl than you,” Damon mused.

I was more worried about the night I had planned going to hell. My wife trusted me, but it really pissed her off when other women still didn’t care that I was married. Not that it happened often, but she saw it as a sign of the most ultimate disrespect. In that way, she and Damon were more like their father than they would ever admit.