Page 3 of Asher

I checked the clock on the stove before I started spooning the dough onto the sheets. Ash should be home in twenty. Nix and I ate rice bowls and were now waiting for Asher to get home. He was ready for school to be out, so he had more time to spend with Nix.

And hopefully, me.

I sighed. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a thing for Asher Clark.

Tall. Tan. Fit.

Freaking good-looking.

The dark brown eyes and dimples could make any girl fall at his feet, but how he was with Nix? That’s really did me in. A good dad was honestly the best turn-on. When I saw them together, my ovaries exploded.

My crush started at fifteen. Asher sat right in front of me in my World History class. Always funny but never mean. One of the rare guys that actually gave a shit about those around him. Not that I knew him well, but unlike most high school guys, he didn’t seem like a complete dickface.

Then he started dating Carrie, Nix’s mom and never stopped. They were the high school couple everyone envied.They were it. They stayed together after graduation and eventually ended up pregnant, but by that point, I hadn’t seen him in over a year. I started my photography business and was traveling.

We both grew and moved on with our lives. Not that Asher had anything to move on from. My crush eventually fizzled out because I wasn’t around him, and I dated regularly outside of Sweet Springs.

Not that it mattered because no man ever turned me into goo. No one made my heart flutter. A couple of years ago, Asher called me to take some photos of Nix for her birthday, and we hit it off.

I don’t know how, but we did.

We texted. Hung out. Became a natural part of the other’s life. He was more than I ever thought possible.

A sweet and considerate asshole.

But we were never more than friends.

No matter how much I wanted him to make a move.

And damnit, I really wanted him to make a move.

Anytime we got too close. Anytime we toed too far out of the friend zone, Asher reversed us right back in. We kissed. He pushed away. His hand lingered too long on my waist. He dipped out early. After the hospital incident, though?

We were extra awkward for a while.

A long while.

But I’d moved past it. Past the heartbreak of hearing him say he wasn’t in love with me. And itwasa heartbreak. Because no matter what he felt…I was in love with him. No matter how much I wished I weren’t.

We had gotten back to normal, though. Back to being best friends without the benefits.

Shoving the balls of cookie dough into the oven, I set the timer and walked over to my purse. I pulled out two bags of mini marshmallows and two marshmallow guns made from PCV pipes. A few marshmallows flew through the air as I ripped open the bags. Nix giggled, picking one up and popping it into her mouth. “Hey. Don’t eat the ammo,” I laughed, tickling her side.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Ready to learn how to use this?”

A couple of weeks prior, I told Asher and Nix stories about the marshmallow fights I used to have with my brothers growing up. Not that Connor and Braeden ever fought fair. Nix’s eyes widened with excitement, and I knew she wanted one.

Asher, being the dad he is, promptly shut it down.

But he never forbid me from buying them.

Which I did as soon as I walked out of the door.

The guns were finally delivered, and I couldn’t wait to sneak an attack on Asher.

Served him right for being a buzzkill.

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