For the Love of Ash (25 page)

I saw a dark little boy's head at the bar, and I excused myself to go say hi to Asher. I knew if he was here that Maggie was probably close by. I had been keeping myself at a respectable distance, catapulting myself into the friend zone. But just talking to her made it worth my while.
 

"Boo," I said as I jumped onto the stool next to him.
 

"Mr. Wilson! What are you doing here?"

"I'm having some dinner with my sisters. What are you doing here?" I looked behind the counter into the kitchen but didn't see Maggie. She had to be close.

"Math and homework. It's boring."

"Do you want to come sit with us?" I asked him. I was hesitant to ask, knowing the offer bordered on crossing her invisible line, but my mouth worked too fast to take it back. When Asher's face lit up, I couldn't backtrack.
 

"Sure." He hopped down from the stool.

"Don't forget your work. I'll help you," I told him as I grabbed the stack of papers from the bar and handed them to him. I took the pencil and walked behind him towards the table.

"And who is this?" Linds asked when Asher sat beside me.

"I'm Asher." He blushed and averted his eyes to the table. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and shook him a little, hoping he'd come out of his shell.

"What do you have there?" Lindsay reached forward and glanced at his math homework. "Oh my gosh. I'm terrible at math. Want to know a secret?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"What?" he asked back.

"Luke is my baby brother. But when we were in high school together, he actually helped me with my homework all of the time. He's
so
smart."

"Really?" Asher turned and looked up at me with curious green eyes. They matched Maggie's almost like a clone. Their similarities were jarring—both so innocent and shy.
 

"I like math." I shrugged.
 

"I'm kind of stuck on this multiply table. Can you help me?"

"Of course. Let's take a look."
 

Asher pulled out the worksheet, and I looked it over front and back to see what else they were teaching him and how he was being taught to do the multiplication.
 

"Hey, hey, hey," Lilly sang as she entered the restaurant. Liam was following close behind, already tapping away on his DS. They had come straight from school.
 

Both scooted into the bench with Lindsay, making her scoot all the way into the corner. It was a big booth so there was plenty of room, though. Lilly frowned at me, her brows squishing.
 

"Who's that?" Liam asked the one second he looked up from Pokemon. He didn't even wait for my answer, just went back to catching them all.
 

"This is Asher. He's my friend."

"Asher?"
 

I saw Maggie had returned and was searching the bar for her Asher. Uh oh. When she saw where he was, her eyes pierced me like they were laser beams. She stomped over with her hands on her hips and stopped in front of our table.
 

"Hi Maggie," Lilly said, waving and smiling up at her.

"Hi, sweetie." Maggie glared at me, looking down at her son, who refused to look up from his three digit multiplication problem. "Ash, I told you not to leave the bar when I went to the stock room." So that's where she was.
 

"Mr. Wilson came, though. He's helping me with math. Actually, do you want to know something funny?" Maggie sighed with irritation but nodded her head for him to continue. "That's his older sister, and he helped her with math even though he was younger."

"Whoa. That's pretty impressive. Maybe that's why he decided to be a teacher, 'cause he was so good at it."
 

Asher looked over at me, asking for confirmation.

"It's true," I said, nodding my head.

"Can I talk to you?" Maggie looked at me, bobbing her head to the side, and I scooted around Asher and hopped out of the booth. I followed Maggie so we were out of ear shot.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I have to get back to work. Do you care if he sits with you?"
That's
what she was worried about. I smiled and touched her shoulder.

"I called him over. I don't mind at all. And it doesn't look like they do either." I turned Maggie around so she could see how Lilly and Lindsay were playing with Asher, drawing on the back sheet of his homework. Lilly smiled at something Asher said, and they high-fived above the table. Linds pretended to be mad and sat back with her arms crossed over her chest.

"If he gets to be too much or you have to leave, just bring him back to the bar."

"I'm fine," I told her.

"Are you sure?" she asked as she shoved her hands into the front of her apron. She was fidgeting, and I hated when she did that. I grabbed her hands, pulled them out, and held them in mine. They were ice cold.
 

"We're friends. I don't mind."
 

Her face fell at my words, and she walked away.
 

Asher and I were the only ones left in the restaurant. My siblings left long ago. It was nine, and the place was just starting to close up. I could hear Maggie and her coworkers whispering back in the kitchen, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. It was killing me because the way Mary Ellen was looking at me, I knew Maggie had told them who I was—I just didn't know who I was to her.
 

"Which is better?" Asher asked me as we walked towards the front door.

"What?" I completely missed whatever he was talking about. I got the door for him, and we sat on the bench outside of the restaurant to wait for Maggie.
 

"Going for top or bottom on a goalie. Which works better?" He clutched his papers to his chest, his backpack hanging over his left shoulder.

"It all depends. There are so many options, plus then you have to decide glove or stick side. You have to just follow instincts. Whatever your gut is telling you will usually pay off. Then you learn to trust yourself."

"That's some good advice," Maggie said as she surprised us from behind. I jumped up. "Car's unlocked." I saw her car blink to life. Asher ran across the parking lot and hopped into the backseat.

"I guess I'll see you later." I put my hands in my jean pockets and searched for my truck. I had been here so long I couldn't remember where I had parked the damn thing.
 

"Thanks for today, Luke." This time, she initiated the touching. She grabbed my forearm to get my attention and I looked down to make sure it was real.
 

"It really wasn't a big deal. My sisters wanted to come here, and when I saw Ash, I thought he'd have more fun with them."

"Well, it still meant a lot to me." She reached forward and wrapped her arms around my neck. I froze. My limbs seemed to move on their own accord as they slipped out of my pockets and wrapped around her slender waist.
 

Her hair brushed under my nose. All I smelled were french fries and coffee, and I shut my eyes; it was so intoxicating as it mixed with her normal vanilla scent. I didn't want to let her go. She pulled back and put her hands on my shoulders.
 

When she stared up at me with her doe eyes, I nearly broke everything I was working towards. I had to fight myself to not kiss her. One simple movement, and I could capture her.
 

"I'll see you later," she said, a bit defeatedly.
 

"Yeah," I mumbled as I watched her go to her car. "See you later."

When I got home the first thing I did was text her.

Me:
Did you make it home okay?

Maggie:
Safe and sound. :)
 

Maggie:
You worried?

Me:
I do worry about you.

Maggie:
Why?

Me:
Because I care about you

Maggie:
As a friend, though, right?

Me:
As a person. You're good. So good it's scary

Maggie:
You're good, too.
 

Me:
Not good enough for you

Maggie:
You're good enough for me, Luke. I promise.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Maggie

Luke and I had fallen into a friendship that was way too platonic. I felt like I was walking on eggshells whenever he was near me. I wasn't sure what he was going to say, but his flirty nicknames and sexual innuendos made me crazy with desire. It was like a long drawn out bout of a thirteen-year-old's version of foreplay.
 

We only had a week and a half before we had our big presentation, so today, Luke and I stayed after class to go over who said what. I decided for us that staying in the classroom was safer; although I told him I was low on gas and refused a ride to get him to agree.
 

"I haven't finished the last couple pages, but if you want, you can start it off."

"Here's the thing," Luke said with regret in his tone. "I don't really like presenting in front of the class. So why don't you do all the talking, and then I'll make a PowerPoint or something."

"You're a teacher," I deadpanned, glaring at him as I dropped my pencil on the desk.

"And…"

"You don't like talking in front of people?"

"I didn't say that. Open your ears, Sunny. I don't like talking in classroom settings like this. Kids love me. I can talk in front of them all day."

"Clearly. Since that's your job and all."

"You're just so funny," he said, tossing a used notecard at me. He reached forward and picked up a strand of my hair. I didn't even know how to react, so I just looked down at my brown hair between his pointer and thumb like it had grown its own leg.
 

I nervously reached my hands down and tried to find a frayed end of my tee-shirt to tug on. It was a weird habit, but it calmed me, or at least tore my mind away from the trigger.

"You have the softest hair ever," he said as he let it fall.
 

"I-I, t-thank you."

"Someone nervous?" He leaned forward in the chair behind me. I could feel his breath as it brushed over my nose. My own breath hitched in my throat, and I almost choked on nothing at all.
 

"Shut up, Cloudy." I found my guts and threw them out at him. I quickly gathered all of my things and stormed out of the place, faking anger as I shoved down my attraction to him. "You're speaking, end of discussion."

"Whatever you say, Sunny."

"See you Thursday, Cloudy."

"Hey!" he called after me just as I was out the door. I didn't turn around, but I stopped in my tracks. My teeth ground together, trying to hold it together, as I waited for his next jab. It was playful, and I loved this side of him. I actually craved it.
 

"Just so you know—" I felt him beside me. The heat of him was crashing into me in waves of lust. I could smell his clean soap that smelled like evergreens and lemon, and my stomach tilted. "—I love the name Cloudy."

His voice was breathy, and I knew that he was putting on the show on purpose. It didn't alter its affect at all. I tilted my head to the side, wanting him to kiss me right where my pulse was jumping, but he didn't.
 

A freezing cold wave crashed over me, and when I looked over my shoulder, he was gone. I groaned and stomped the rest of the way to my car. This guy was good, but I could be better.