Ker paused to catch his breath. “When I got home, I buried my face in a pillow and screamed. It was just so frigging tempting. But I knew I couldn’t do it again. Then I called my sponsor, and we talked for a while, and that helped. A lot. Yeah, every day is a struggle. Some are worse than others. But with thesupport that we have, we can get through it one day at a time. Thanks for listening.”
Ker sat and looked at Bob. Bob was smiling and nodding at him. The sharing part of the meeting broke up shortly after that, and he stood around and drank coffee and chatted with a few of the regulars. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned.
“Thanks for sharing tonight, Ker,” Bob said. “Did it help?”
“It always does,” Ker replied, smiling. “You know me so very well.” They chatted for a few more minutes, and then Ker took his leave.
Lying in bed later that night, Ker’s thoughts turned to Ash. He liked hanging out with him and was pretty sure that Ash felt the same way. Going out for dinner with him the night before had been fun, and even if it hadn’t been a date, it was good to get out with someone new and talk about normal stuff. The truth was, Ker didn’t have a lot of friends. Sure, there were a couple of people at work that he’d chat with about the latest box office success or a game they had watched over the weekend, but there was no one that he’d call to go out and grab lunch with or anything. Even Bob, his sponsor, wasn’t truly a friend. Bob was there for him when he was weak, but the fact was, they didn’t hang out together. Ever.
But he felt different when he thought of Ash. He hadn’t lied when he had said he trusted Ash, and frankly, he wasn’t sure why. He’d only known him for a little over a week, but there was something about Ash that made him relax and feel comfortable. Okay, so last night hadn’t really been a date, but even hanging out with a friend was nice.Dammit, why are you so hung up about whether or not it was a date?Yes, the fact of the matter was that Ashwasa friend. Maybe someday it could turn into more, but for now, friendship was good.And more could be nice too, right?
As he drifted off to sleep, one thing he knew for sure was that he planned on telling Ash about today. After all, Ash had said he wanted to know about the bad days too.
CHAPTER
FIVE
Ash
How was it Saturday already?Despite a full night’s sleep, Ash was feeling cranky.At least I’ll get to see Ker today.The week had flown by, and he hadn’t spoken to him at all.
His phone rang, and he couldn’t stop the groan that left his lips as he saw it was Hank calling. This couldn’t be good.
“Something tells me I’m not gonna like this call,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Got a lead on that domestic abuse case we caught last week. I’ll be by to pick you up in five minutes. I’ve already got coffee.”
“Fine.” He growled and ended the call, then immediately called Joyce to explain he wouldn’t make it to A Helping Hand this week.
Ash raced to the bathroom and hurriedly brushed his teeth and washed his face. He was buttoning up his shirt when he heard a horn beep from his driveway.
As he slid into the front seat of Hank’s vehicle, he took the cup from Hank’s outstretched hand and said, “Thanks for the coffee. Now tell me, what the hell is going on?”
Ash stumbled into the house after a long and somewhat frustrating day. At least it had ended on a high note. After receiving bad info on the location of the suspect they were trying to track down, they followed up on a couple of other tips that resulted in dead ends. Although normal for the investigative aspect of their jobs, it was still frustrating, but they persevered. Eventually, they caught up with him, and said suspect was currently behind bars. It was now just past eight thirty in the evening, and Ash was beat. And hungry. He scarfed down a peanut butter sandwich, his brain too weary to consider making something more complicated even if it just involved microwaving. He washed it down with a glass of iced tea from the pitcher in the fridge, then barely made it into the bedroom, where he locked up his service weapon, kicked off his shoes, fell onto the bed, and instantly fell asleep.
When he woke it was still dark, and it took him a moment to figure out where he was. Still dressed and with a bladder that needed emptying, he stripped, then plodded to the bathroom to take care of business. Returning to bed, he picked up his phone—that he’d somehow remembered to drop on the charging pad on his nightstand—and saw that it was three fifteen in the morning. He also noticed a couple of text messages from Ker.
He’d received a text from him earlier in the day, asking if everything was okay, and he’d sent a quick reply that duty had called, but that he’d call or text later.Shit! I never did either.And Ker had texted again right after Ash had crashed. It was too late to reply now, but as he replaced the phone and rolled over, Ash told himself he’d call Ker first thing in the morning.
While Ash waited for the coffee to finish, he texted Ker, apologizing for not getting back to him the previous day. He no sooner had sent the message than his phone rang.
“Hi, Ker,” he answered.
“Is everything okay?” He heard concern in Ker’s voice.
“Yeah. Yesterday was just really long, and I basically passed out fully clothed on top of the covers when I got home last night. I saw your texts when I woke up at three ’cause I had to pee.”
“Okay. I just got a little concerned when I didn’t hear back. Did you at least catch the bad guy?”
“Of course, we did!” Ash told him.
“Good job!”
“So how were things at the community kitchen yesterday?”
“It was good,” Ker said. “Although if I’m being honest, it would have been nicer if you’d been there.”Hmmm, is Ker getting a bit flirty with me?
“Was it busy?” Ash asked, not exactly sure how to respond to Ker’s remark.
