Page 58 of The Bait

They crossed into Serbia with only their phones beeping to notify the change of carrier. Harry had to turn right at an intersection on the highway and still Asher hadn’t noticed. Harry slid his hand onto Asher’s thigh, and he’d been staring out the window, so lost in his thoughts that the touch had startled him.

“You okay?” Harry asked.

“Yes, of course.” His answer came a little too fast, too automatic, that Harry took Asher’s hand and squeezed it.Then he seemed to look around, only now seeing where they were.

“I need to piss,” Harry said. “Where should we stop?”

Asher pointed at the GPS screen on the dash. “Take the next exit, there’ll be a service centre on the E75,” he said. “We need to get off this highway anyway.”

“Okay. You hungry? I’m starving. You’ve usually fed me croissants with bacon and eggs by this time. Fresh juice, toast with that homemade jam from the local markets.”

Asher gave him a small smile. “Simpler times, huh?”

“Much,” Harry agreed. “But we will have them again, I promise.”

Asher leaned his head on the headrest and watched Harry for a long moment. “It’s all I want. A quiet life with you. I don’t even care where, as long as I have you. You’re my home, Harry.”

Harry lifted Asher’s hand and kissed his knuckles. “And you are mine. I don’t care where we end up either. If you wanted to come back here?—”

“No.”

Okay then. That was very blunt.

“Not here.”

“We could go back to Thailand with Yunho,” Harry suggested, aiming to make him smile. “I mean, he might need to buy a new tropical island, but whatever. Or somewhere new. Somewhere warm and far away.”

Asher shrugged and sighed. “I want to go home,” he said quietly. “When this is done. To our little home in our little town. With Mala. And Jacob and even August. They’re our friends. They came to warn us. They had no idea who we really were, but they came to warn us anyway. The only people I have from my old life have all lied to me. Daris,Lucas, even Yunho.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what’s real or who to believe. All I have is you, Harry. You and our life back in Australia are the only real things I have ever had. Even if it was with fake names...” He shook his head. “It was the happiest I’ve ever been. I need you to know that.”

Jesus Christ.

It sounds an awful lot like he’s getting ready to say goodbye.

It made Harry feel sick, made his heart thump out of rhythm. He drove into the service centre, pulled up at the closest bowser, shut the engine off, and took Asher’s hand. “Asher, baby, I do know that. You know I feel the same. The last two years have been more than I ever deserved.” He squeezed his hand. “Listen to me. We will have that again. I promise. No matter what happens today, or tomorrow, next week or ten years from now. You and me, always.”

Asher’s eyes met his, glassy and sad. God, it almost killed Harry to see. “Thank you,” Asher whispered.

“I love you,” Harry said. “All of you, Asher Garin.” Then he grimaced. “And I will love you even more after I’ve had a piss. My back teeth are starting to float.”

Asher snorted and rolled his eyes. “So charming. Go,” he said, shooing Harry away. “Go find the bathrooms and get some food. I’ll fill the tank.”

Harry unbuckled his seatbelt, took Asher’s face in both hands, and kissed him. “Won’t be long.”

Harry made a dash for the bathrooms, and on his way out, seeing Asher was still at the bowser, he ordered toasted sandwiches, coffees, and grabbed some bottled water.

When he got to the counter, he saw some familiar mints near the register.Asher used to love these...Harry consideredgetting the sugar free ones to annoy him, but given how hard it’d been on him, and what he’d been through, Harry wanted to see him smile. He took four tins of them, paid for everything, and was smiling when he walked back out to the Jeep.

Asher wasn’t smiling though. When Harry climbed in, Asher showed him his phone. “They found Rozga’s body. It’s all over the news. They still suspect it’s a gang war. Press conference at nine.”

Harry instinctively checked the rearview mirror. “I haven’t seen one cop this whole trip.”

“Good.”

Harry held up the bag in an attempt at getting Asher to smile. “I got you something.”

“Do I want to know?” Asher asked from the passenger seat, looking at him dubiously.

Harry stuck his hand in the bag and pulled out a tin. “Look at what they have!”

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