“Fine. But when everyone hates it and no one claps, you’re going to owe me like fifty of Emily’s toffee squares to drown my sorrows with.”
He was cute as hell when he pouted.
“And when they love you and beg you for another song?” I asked.
“Pfft. If that happens, I’ll give you blowjobs twice a day for the next month.”
He wandered off to check in with Emily, muttering all the while about insistent, meddling boyfriends, but all I could think about was the double-BJ promise he’d made that I knew for sure I’d be cashing in on by the end of the night. I found a comfortable seat and waited.
Sure enough, everyone fucking loved him. The minute his trembling, sweaty hands made contact with the guitar strings, Ash seemed to find an inner calm, shutting out the rest of the room. Music poured out of him with as much soul as it did when we were alone.
Lamont shot me a look of incredulity with his mouth open. Emily teared up immediately, and several other of their friends whom we’d socialized with on occasion gave me their own looks of pleasant surprise.
I couldn’t even begin to express how proud of him I was. As he continued to play song after song at the audience’s urging, I couldn’t help but think about how much he’d changed since the first time I’d seen him in that very shop. By the time he played his last chord, I was so happy and proud, I realized I was the one who was probably going to give him double blow jobs every day for a month.
He came out of his trance as he set the guitar back in his case, and the first thing he did was look around to find me. His eyes were shining bright with happiness, and he moved his hand over his heart for a beat before bringing it up to his mouth and blowing me a kiss.
The breath caught in my throat.
Jesusfuckingchrist.
I loved him.
After we stayed to help Emily clean up, Ash agreed to let me take him out for a late dinner to celebrate his musical debut. We left his guitar in the back room of the coffee shop so we could go straight to dinner.
I took him to a steakhouse called Carlo’s that had been one of my mother’s favorites. I hadn’t been there in at least a year, but I knew it was the kind of place Ash would love.
We were just settling into the booth with the first sips of our drinks when I looked up to see a man tentatively approaching our table. My heart seized in my chest.
“Aiden,” the man said, flicking his eyes between Ash and me before stepping back a half step to reveal a woman at his side. I didn’t recognize the older woman, but the man himself was as familiar to me as my own face in the mirror.
My father.
Edward Vale.
Chapter 22
Ash
The change that came over Aiden was immediate. Obviously, he knew the man, and after taking only a quick look at the guy, I knew exactly what their connection was.
“Ash,” Aiden said in a tightly controlled voice. “This is my father, Edward Vale. Dad, this is Ash Valentine.”
Mr. Vale’s face opened into a friendly smile as he turned to offer me his hand for a shake.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Vale,” I said politely, sliding my foot under the table and wrapping it around Aiden’s to remind him he wasn’t alone.
I knew Aiden wasn’t close to his biological father, but I’d never pushed for details about why. I remembered him telling me how angry his dad had been with him after Danny’s death, and I wondered if that pain from the past was what still kept the two of them apart.
“Likewise,” Edward said softly, though his eyes were on Aiden. An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment as the seemingly nervous older man stared at his son. Aiden, for his part, refused to make eye contact with him. Edward finally remembered the woman at his side and sent her an apologetic look as he said, “Um, this is my wife, Loretta.” He slid his arm around the woman’s waist and gave her an affectionate smile.
“Loretta, this is my son, Aiden, and his friend…” Edward’s face went slack as he realized he’d forgotten my name. I actually felt sorry for the man because I suspected the unexpected sight of his son had turned him inside out. Just from how put together the man looked, I had a feeling his behavior wasn’t his norm.
“Ash,” I offered, giving the woman a friendly smile in the dim restaurant lighting. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Vale.”
As soon as I called her that, I saw Aiden’s body stiffen. I could sense the tension wafting off him in waves, but he didn’t react otherwise.