The next day, Dani knows that she really needs to talk to Asher and set everything straight with him. But she can not find him all day. He does not come to eat breakfast with her, or lunch for that matter. She figures that he is probably avoiding her, since he is upset about last night and the new discovery that he thinks he made about himself.
He thinks that he is gay.
He is not actually gay for her but he does not know that. It is a complicated situation, but if she could just talk to him then she could fix it and make it all better. But in order to talk to him, she would have to be able to find him and that is apparently far easier said than done.
Dani spends a restless night tossing and turning as she replays his parting words in her mind. She was telling him the truth when she told him that she had never intended to hurt anyone with her charade. She had not seen the harm in it, but she also probably had not given it the thought that it deserved. She had merely thought that she was just pretending to be a guy but that no one would find out. In her despertion to flee the embarrassment looming ahead of her in New York, she had not fully thought through the repercussions of her actions. She did not take into account that she would be lying to literally everyone.
Asher slams the door behind him and falls on his bed angrily. God, what is it about that boy, no- girl.. what is it about that girl that requires her to drive him crazy? She is fucking with his mind. First he spends two weeks with her, day in and day out, thinking that she was a boy. Thinking that this weird chemistry and this sexual attraction that he felt was towards a boy. He wrestled with himself for days on in, struggling with his sexuality. He knew that he felt this out pull towards Danny, the new kid, which made him think that he was gay. Something that he truly did not want to be. Not because there was anything wrong with being gay. But he saw how his fa
Dani got the impression that he did not want to hear anything that she had to say as she waited for him to give her even a hint that she would listen to him. When he continued to ignore her in favor of looking up at the ceiling, she crosses her arms over her chest with huff of annoyance. “Okay, are you going to stop being an ass and listen or should I just go back to my room?” Dani asks, pulling the hat off of her head to let her hair loose. She had put it and the sweatpants on before she rushed across the hall to talk to him. She had not wanted to run the risk of anyone seeing her. But now she was regretting her decisio
“That's why.” Was that suppose to answer her questions? Because it did not. She still does not understand what is going on between them. He kissed her and then said “That's why.” like that was suppose mean something to her. Does that mean that he wants some type of relationship with her? That would explain the Eddy questions but it is so vague that it is open for interpretation. He could have just been kissing her for the fun of it. Which is why she has questions. If he wants something from her, he is going to have to man up, use his big boy words and come right out and say it.
“Dani.” She looks from her plate to meet Asher's eyes. It is just the two of them alone in the dining hall, as everyone else, except for three other students have gone home for the holidays. “In case I forgot to say it earlier.. Happy Thanksgiving.” Asher tells her and she musters up a smile for him. “Ugh, Dani.. please stop.” He sighs. &ld
Later that night when they got back from their date, Asher walked her to her bedroom door, but did not leave her outside. Instead, he preceded her into the room. The moment she closes the door behind them, he is there, pressing her back against the door as he kisses her. He is so close to her that her breasts are smashed against his chest. His arms are on either side of her head with his palms flat against the wood behind her. His lips devour her mouth, as his tongue pushes inside to dance with hers. When her lungs are burning and she needs a breath of air is the only time she considered stopping him. Moving her head away to suck in
Asher joins his uncle on the front porch step where they share a cup of coffee in silence for a while before his uncle speaks up. “I really like Dani. She seems like a really nice girl.” “Yeah, she's wonderful.” Asher agrees. When they had gotten to his uncle's house yesterday, Dani had been her usual sweet, charming and overall perfect self, immediately winning over his uncle Leo and Jace. “I was glad to hear that she was a girl.” Leo says and Asher laughs.
Dani averts her face away from Grey's prying eyes. For the last ten minutes he has been trying to 'place where I seen you from, man'. Dani rolls her eyes. He does this every time he sees 'Danny' and she is starting to get tired of it. Usually Asher is there to run interverence between them, but he is in class. It was just Dani's luck that her and Grey have every class together while she only has one with Asher. “Seriously, how do I know you?” Grey asks once again, ticking Dani off. “It is really beginning to bother me, this mystery.”
November 25, 1999Three Years Later Asher looks around the room for his wife, but she is lost in the sea of people. Their family and friends have only been there about fifteen minutes and already he is regretting his and Dani's decision to host Thanksgiving in their new home. But Dani had been so excited when they finally got the renovations done, after three months of contractors and paint samples.
Dani waits at the closed door until someon gives her a signal. Her hands are shaking and she is tapping her foot. A hand grasp hers tightly. “Nervous?” “No, not at all. Impatient. I am ready to get in there.” Dani says and he nods. “It shouldn't be long now.” Just then the doors open with a florish and Dani gets ger first sight of it all. Her wedding. She sees all of the people filling the seats and
Asher sits across from Fred Millman in a slightly awkward silence, because he does not know how to start the conversation that he wants to have. He knows that Fred already knows everything going on. He and Dani are close, so she tells him everything that happens in her life. “Mr. Millman-” “Call me Fred. If you are going to be my son-in-law, you should probably call me Fred.” He says dryly and Asher winces. “Ahout that.. I wanted to say- I'm sorry that I did
Asher looks back at Dani, knowing that she is nervous. She has nervously chattered the whole way here, being worse than their sons. He smiles when she catches his hand and asks, “They founded the publishing company, right?” “Yes. They put the A & J in AJS Publishing. Adrien and Janice Steele. They started it nearly twenty years ago. I worked their off and on in my teens, but last year when I graduated college, they gave me the company. It was between that, a technology company, a medical supply company or a hotel.” “That is an odd assortment of companies.” Dani tells him.
“I checked on the boys and they are okay. They're both still sound asleep.” Dani feels the bed move as Asher joins her. When he had left the bed a few minutes ago, she had no idea what he was doing. A part of her thought that maybe he was trying to sneak out on her. He moves over until his bare body is flush against her naked back and he puts his arm over her waist, anchoring her to him. She can feel his warm breath on the back of her neck. When she does not respond to him, he kisses the back of her neck.
Asher tells his uncle all about his plans with 'Holly from the second floor' and Leo nods along, apparently approving this choice, while Dani's heart breaks inside of her chest. She waited too long. Asher has already moved on. Asher notices Dani slowl withdrawing from the conversation and he assumes that it is because she is tired. He knows that the twins are as well. When she moves over to sit with the boys, casually talking to Jace, Leo leans forward. “So, kids, huh?” He asks and Asher knows that means that he wants the full story.
Dani trails along behind Asher as he walks a few step ahead of her, holding a boy by each hand. Nik is dressed as a teddy bear and Nate is dressed as a lion. Nate has a drawn on brown nose and whiskers thanks to a brown eyeliner pencil. Nik wanted his face colored on too, so she drew him a brown nose as well. With their fuzzy suits on, they both look so cuddlely that she could not stop hugging them. “Are we almost there, Daddy?” Nate asks Asher looking up at him with tired eyes. “Are you worn out, buddy?” Asher asks him and the child nods.
Dani rewipes the table with the wet washcloth for the thirs time; not because it is sticky but because she is stalling. She just will not admit that to herself because then she would have to dig deep enough to admit to herself just why it is that she is avoiding Eddy. And she does not have to dig deep to admit why, because she knows the reason. Asher. That morning when she had woke up and seen a peacefully sleeping Asher beside her, it had just felt to right. It had felt like old times between them and she had been con
Asher did not want to go home. He wanted to stay with his boys. They had supper together, then he and Dani had given them a bath. He read them two stories with a lot of character voices which the boys loved. Even Dani was laughing. This is the fourth night this week and they were together three nights last week. But it is not enough. Because at the end of the night he still has to go home to his lonely apartment across town. Each night the boys still ask him why he is leaving. Why their Daddy isn't staying their with them, with mommy. They just tell them that it's because daddy's house is closer to his work, which is easier for him.