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(Oct 23 Fri)

It was a little after six in the evening when I arrived at Asher's house. Of course, Mom wanted to know where I was going, so I had told her Tyler's. I hated lying, but Tyler lived three houses down, so it seemed reasonable... I guessed.

I smiled when I heard Zion's excited voice booming inside the house. A couple minutes later, the door opened and there he was.

I gasped silently at his awesome hair, which was straight and gelled back. He looked so different with just that hairstyle.

"Um, I'm looking for Asher McCulloch," I requested, not believing it was him.

Asher broke into a smile and grabbed me in a hug. "Missed you, too. Come in." Keeping a hand at the small of my back, he guided me into his house. I chuckled and turned to face him once we were in.

"You look great," I complimented, giving him a light peck.

"Thanks. Just wanted to look good for our date tonight."

My heart stopped. "Date?" I breathed out. "Like... a date - like... out?" I stuttered, my face flushed.

"I wanted to surprise you, I guess. You look just fine; we're not going anywhere fancy. Um... it doesn't really have to be a date because Zion's coming."

I managed a little laugh. "I guess there won't be a dull moment, then. Can I see him?"

"Of course. He's trying to do his homework in the living room, not that it's anything hard. He just has to match the animal to what sound it makes."

"Oh, ha." I smiled and walked into the familiar living room. Zion was sitting on the floor, tapping his pencil on his chin while staring at the paper in front of him.

"Hey, Z. need some help?" I sat down next to him and he gazed up at me.

"Lolan! Daddy, Lolan is here!"

"I see that, love," Asher responded, fixing the collar of his shirt.

"Here." I pointed to the cow on the sheet of paper. "That goes to 'moo'."

Zion drew a line to connect the cow to the 'moo'. "Okay. I know all the sounds but I can't spell them all," he explained to me.

"That's why you have a little bookcase in your room. People who love to read are smarter than those who don't, love, remember?"

"Jonah said reading doesn't matter," Zion responded to his dad.

"So, that's why you stopped? Zion... is he bullying you?" Asher came closer, a concerned look on his face. I snapped my head to the little child next to me and

he shook his head.

"No, no, daddy! We're friends."

Asher sighed in relief. "Alright. Tomorrow's Saturday. Once I get home from work, we're gonna read, okay?"

"Okay."

I smiled at Zion and his big, dazzling eyes.

"So, I get to see pictures, right?" I asked Asher, standing back up.

"Oh, yeah. Hopefully, you'll fall in love with them." He winked and I tilted my head.

"Why do I get the feeling you're sending me a hint?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes.

He playfully rolled his eyes. "Because I fell in love with your pictures, remember? And if you and I ever get married one day -if- I'm so telling our kids that."

I gasped. "You are not telling our kids you fell in love with me through a picture." I swatted his arm and he laughed. "Don't go giving them high hopes."

"Why not?"

"Because, Ash, if we had a girl, she's bound to 'fall in love' with, like... Zac Efron or something through a picture, and then believe that he'll see her picture then..."

Asher raised his eyebrows, his expression alone mocking me. "Okay, and by then, Zac Efron will be like what? Eighty?"

I swatted his arm again. "You're a whole forty years off."

"Oh, and why does our girl have to like a guy? Who's to say that Zion," he gestured to his oblivious son, "won't be gay?"

"I wouldn't mind, of course, though I'm really curious to see his biological kids. But, if he turns out to be gay, we're gonna support him regardless, right?"

"Right. If, um... if we get married, that is."

I blushed. "Oh, yeah. Duh. Of course."

There was an awkward silence that followed but I knew what Asher was thinking. What if we really did get married?

I shook the thought out of my head. That was impossible. Look at us; it's been a month and we barely knew each other. What Maya said about him two days ago was the most I'd learned about him since we'd met. Basically, we were getting

nowhere.

Asher sighed and brought out his phone, swiping through it.

"There's one of them."

I stared at the picture and smiled. "My god, Mr. McCulloch. I was right about you."

He gave me a look and I chuckled. "You're a natural," I explained.

"The flattery is real." He took his phone back and I laughed.

"Alright, well, I'm gonna put on my shoes and we'll head out," he told me.

I nodded and he went to his room. I'd only been in there once, and it smelled so

much like him.

*

Asher was right; the restaurant wasn't too fancy, so I fit right in. I honestly didn't care where he took me, as long as it wasn't to Cherry Garden. That was where

my late girlfriend always wanted to go.

"Alright, baby. You want something to eat?" Asher asked his little child, fondling his big, soft curls.

"Daddy, what's wine?"

I laughed and Asher shook his head.

"Uh, something you can't have right now, love. Here." He pointed to the upper part of the menu. "Want a grilled cheese sandwich?"

Zion nodded. "I want juice."

"Okay, sweetheart. Let's wait for the waitress first."

I couldn't help the smile on my face. "He is such an angel," I told Asher.

"Yeah. You know my fears about that."

I tilted my head. "Oh, you mean how you don't want the day to come when you find drugs and empty beer cans under his bed, and girls sneaking out his room

during the ungodly hours of the night?"

"It's a real phobia, Nolan."

I laughed at him. "Zion is precious, Ash, and I trust you'll raise him well. You already are; he loves you."

"Oh, no, I know. This is the age when they love their parents."

I gave him a droll look.

"I'm serious!" He held back a smile and I grinned.

"I heard that kids who have a father figure in their loves tend to be less violent," I informed.

He squinted. "I've heard that one before."

The waitress came up to our table, a bright smile on her face.

"Hi, I'm Ana, and I'll be your waitress tonight. Can I start with some drinks?"

"Do you have punch?" Asher asked on his son's behalf.

"Yes, sir." Ana wrote it down.

"Just water for me," I ordered.

"Sweet tea," said Asher, still scanning over the menu.

"Okay, I'll get your drinks first and then you can order some food." Ana smiled at Zion before walking away.

"That went well. I thought she was gonna flirt with me," Asher confessed.

"Cocky, are we?" I smirked.

"What? It happens a lot. It's annoying as hell. Anyway, tell me about this Anderson guy."

I nodded. "He seemed remorseful. He also came across as caring about my wellbeing. Like... it's hard to explain. According to him, he used to come to Pine Creek because of me. He had gotten this puppy, a Rottweiler, and I was the first

to name him. Rocky." I smiled. "So every time he came to the lake, and I was there, I would run over to him to pet his dog. From that, he became attached to me. That prompted him to take me."

"That's sick, Nolan."

"It might be, yeah, and I can never defend him. He had this woman staying with him. He was helping her stay sober and giving her a home. She said he's had a

difficult life and upbringing, and I was his only sense of joy."

"You forgave him?"

"Yeah. He didn't think he deserved it, but he was grateful. Seeing him made it easier. He's broken, really."

Asher nodded in understanding.

"I invited him and the lady to the Halloween party next week."

He gaped at me and the waitress came back with our drinks. She took our food orders and left once again.

"Wait, you invited him?"

"Dumb idea?" I asked.

"Are you kidding?"

I grimaced slightly and sighed. "I was trying to be nice."

Asher leaned back and glanced at his son who had found his way into his dad's phone to play nursery rhyme videos.

"Is he bringing that dog of his?"

I shrugged. "The lady said she would."

"Oh, good, good," Asher began sarcastically, "Maybe he can let some kids at the party rename his dog, stalk them to their house, and kidnap them as well."

"Ash," I said disbelievingly.

"I'm sorry, Nolan, but this is déjà vu."

"Right, can we talk about something else? How about your trip?"

"Oh, yeah. The beach was nice... i didn't really befriend any of the guys there but one of them was set on talking to me."

"Okay. Are you considering..."

"Considering..." he pressed, raising a dark eyebrow.

"Modeling for real," I finished.

"It was... fun, for the most part. So, maybe. But, I'm a real estate agent. Sometimes it gets really busy for me. Making out time like I did for two days isn't

always easy. Plus, I have a baby..."

"I understand."

Asher heaved a sigh. "Nolan... I'm curious... why do you want to be my friend, even in the slightest?"

I wasn't expecting that. What the hell do I say now? And weren't we more than friends, even though we had no label? "What do you mean?"

"Just... do you like me?"

"I - yes. I have feelings for you."

His eyes roamed over the table and I thought about how perfect he looked in that moment. He had really dark eyelashes; it was flawless against his skin tone.

Even his skin was smooth and void of spots.

"I have a child, and I'm 23. You don't think this is wrong?"

"My mom told me that if something I do looks wrong to other people, then sometimes... I might be right."

"So you don't care that I have a son? Or that when I became an adult at 18, you hadn't even hit puberty yet?"

I cocked my head to think about that. "Wow, I didn't realize that, but... no, I don't care. I love Zion; he's amazing."

Zion looked up at his name but he ignored me and stared back at the video playing.

"Do you care that I'm in high school?" I asked, leaning closer just a little.

"Not at all." He leaned a bit closer to me as well.

"Then that takes care of that, anything else?"

"Kiss me," he whispered.

Our lips met and I had to admit, it was quite a rush. Plus, we were in public. I didn't mind kissing another male in public, but Asher wasn't just another male. He was a man, and I was... a boy.

How intimidating. At that thought, I pulled away, cheeks flushed, and looked down. Yes, we had just established that we didn't care about what would seem like red flags about each other, but my mind started to race as much as my heart was.

He did mention that there were other guys at Oak Island. They were most likely all around the same age, and they were also probably highly attractive. But he also said he made no attempt to make friends...

"Nolan?" Asher reached for my hand but I pulled it away. My mind was out of this world still, so I didn't realize that my food was sitting in front of me. "Panda-fish?" I heard the laugh in his voice.

I dragged my blue eyes to meet Asher's green-speckled brown ones. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I assured.

"Were you reflecting?" he smirked, one dimple showing. I chuckled lightly.

"Something like that."

"Was that my fault?"

"Hm - no! No, I promise."

He looked relieved. "Zion's turning four soon, remember? In November."

"Oh, right. On the third."

"I don't really know who to invite. He didn't really have a party last year and he's dying for one this year."

"Why didn't he have a party?"

"Um... you know..." He gazed at his food.

I guess he wasn't ready to tell me anything about himself. Not even about Zion. That made the situation with Maya a whole lot more complicated.

"Well, I can't wait. I'll help with the party, of course. He should have lots of friends from school and daycare. It'll be fun for him."

Ash tried to smile but he couldn't. "I'm not... I haven't been in touch with family in

general. That's why."

"Oh. Okay. I'm sorry," I sympathized.

"Don't be; it's not your fault. For me, there's no such thing as birthday parties or

Thanksgiving or Christmas. I mean, I have Zion. I try to make it as fun as possible for him so he won't feel like he's missing out. He's all I have, you know."

My heart fell. "If I could ask... why not try to contact them again?"

"We don't have a relationship anymore. My parents, my brother... my sister..."

"You know they can't ever hate you, right?"

"Nolan, you have no idea. Parents can hate their own kids."

I really didn't know what to say. Maybe I shouldn't say anything at all.

"That's why I envy you just a little. You're a good person. I can't forgive them. And they can't forgive me."

*******

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