But I didn’t ask any of the questions that were on my mind. It seemed like, with Ash, it was best to let him say what he needed to when he was ready. I didn’t want to push him too far if he actually wanted to open up to me.
Before he continued, however, I noticed a UPS van pulling into the street. It was Jackie’s, and as she passed, she waved to me. I returned the gesture, secretly hoping that she wouldn’t stop to chat. If she did, it was possible that Ash would shut down for a while before he told me anything else.
Luckily, Jackie continued down the road, only parking once she reached the convenience store. If she was sticking to her route and not taking any breaks, she wouldn’t interrupt our date. I felt a bit guilty for thinking like that, but I really didn’t want to miss out on this moment with Ash. It was a different side of him that I hadn’t seen yet.
“Anyway,” Ash said after another slow sip of whiskey. “My mom had no idea that I came here. She worked two jobs and she was barely home, so she just didn’t notice.”
He sighed and let out a dry laugh. “Honestly, I’m pretty sure she’d have killed me if she found out I was hustling on the sidewalk for sundae money.”
“You could’ve been doing worse things,” I pointed out with a shrug. “Sundae money hustling sounds pretty wholesome to me.”
Ash looked at me with a different look in his eyes; one that told me there was more he was holding back. “You’d think so, right? But… yeah.”
He stayed quiet after that, and I took a sip of my own whiskey. It burned again on its way down. I didn’t think it would be my drink of choice any time soon, but it did warm my chest and deepen the emotion of the evening.
“I have to ask,” I eventually said, shifting so that I was sitting with my leg against his. “Why did you bring me here?”
Ash stared off into the street. Jackie had left in the opposite direction, which I was relieved about.
“I guess I wanted to show you that I’m more than a great lay,” he said with a sly smile, putting his arm around my shoulders. “Plus, Beck and Calder have been spending a lot of time with you, and I didn’t want to miss out.”
I laughed at that, and all of the tension in the air dissipated into the sound. I leaned against Ash’s chest and drank in his spiced cologne.
“Time well spent, I have to say,” I admitted, watching as the sun grew low in the sky. I needed to get to the station soon.
“So, what about it?” Ash said expectantly. “Does this put me ahead of the pack?”
I spent some time thinking about the question before I answered.
“I’d say you’re all tied.”
14
~
Rhea
Ash didn’t react too badly to my answer, but I still felt a bit bad about it, especially given that he’d opened up to me like that. At the same time, the answer wasn’t a simple one. The whole situation wasn’t, at least not anymore. It wasn’t just about who I liked the most; I liked all of them. My answer to Ash was honest. I couldn’t choose.
Now, I could see how that was going to become a real problem beyond flirty competition. I was starting to catch feelings, and I was sure that they all were, too. Soon enough, someone could get hurt.
I still wanted to follow Jackie’s advice and not think about it too much, but this couldn’t go on forever, could it? At some point, I would have to choose. If I didn’t, then I could possibly lose all three of them. But if I did choose, would I destroy their friendship and the bond they had as firemen?
I hated that my mind wanted to go down that glum route now, but while we were on the bike, the helmet drowned out all sound. I felt as if I was alone, despite the fact that my arms were wrapped around Ash’s body.
It was a bit too much space to think, and I found myself wishing that we could get to the station faster. In the middle of dates and sexy moments, I didn’t have to ruminate over the possible future disaster that my predicament could lead to. Evenat work, I could distract myself. And I wanted this to last as long as possible.
Finally, we were in our street, and I noticed a few vans parked in front of the station. On the lawn in front of the engine bay was a crowd and several cameras, and Calder and another man stood across from them. This must have been the press conference about the apartment complex that Calder had mentioned earlier.
Ash parked on the side of the road in front of my house, where we were very visible from where Calder was standing. It felt like Ash had done that on purpose, so that Calder would see me arriving with him.
As I’d thought, Calder did look over with a slight frown on his face before focusing on the crowd again. For a moment, Ash’s muscles tensed under my grip, before they relaxed again. We both got off the bike, and I handed my helmet over to him. He was still watching Calder for several seconds before he turned to me.
“Seems like they’re still busy,” he said, pointing out the obvious. “You want to take another little joyride in the meantime?”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Come on, Ash. Let’s go listen to the conference, okay? We’ll have more time together later, I promise.”
“Fine,” he sighed. “But I hope you’re not expecting anything truly thrilling.”
