Chapter Six – Asher
Today had been rough. Not only did my doctor send me a list of exercises that my assigned physical therapist wanted me to work on to ease the camping in my hand, but they had only made it worse. He explained that sometimes the nerves would spasm as they acclimated to the new routine, but it would eventually get better. I didn’t believe him.
After the medical chat, my band had a virtual call with a radio station based in New York and all the hosts wanted to talk about was my love life. I’d been embarrassed on the video call and my bandmates were equally put out. We’d been in the business long enough that our music should have been at the forefront of media conversations, but instead, they wanted to focus on me, my age, and my lack of settling down.
Our manager tried to get us off the air, but the lines wouldn’t disconnect. Instead, we were stuck listening to these jackasses ramble on about our band and what they thought they knew about us. By the time it was over, we were all in a foul mood, everyone seeming to take it out on me. Like I had any control over the questions asked.
I’d escaped to the town at the base of the mountain with the intention of finding a local bar and losing myself in a drink or two. Color me surprised to run into Addison, the woman I had been avoiding since the night before. Except she didn’t deserve my evasion. She deserved my apology.
The thing I loved most about Addison and her family was how they never treated me like a celebrity or award-winning musician. To them, I was just Harlan’s friend. And maybe to Addison, I was just the guy she knew that she was interested in.
She’d arrived at my house just as I’d hopped out of the shower. I barely had time to tug on a pair of jeans. She’d changed her clothes as well and I secretly loved that she was wearing my band’s merchandise and not her father’s.
She followed me through the front door, her gaze moving every which way to take it all in.
“I’ll give you a tour, If you’d like,” I said as she followed me toward the kitchen. I was thrilled to see her nod enthusiastically.
“Yes, please,” she replied as we set the plastic bags on the kitchen counter. The box of condoms glared at me on top of the ice cream. I pulled them out and set them aside while placing the frozen treat in the freeze. “Your kitchen is gorgeous.” Addison’s eyes swept back and forth across the upper white kitchen cabinets and navy lowers. The countertops were gray and white granite even though I didn’t cook much while on tour; I requested top-of-the-line appliances to replace the older versions before I moved in. The interior designer I hired did an incredible job. My mother made sure I knew how to cook before she and my dad divorced. Then when she took her own life, I’d had no one else to teach me. But I knew she’d have loved this kitchen. Glancing down at Addison, I was pretty certain my mom’s expression would have mimicked hers. Complete awe.
“Wow, Asher. Your kitchen is a dream,” she said as she walked over to the commercial-grade refrigerator and stove.
“There is a wine fridge tucked in the island behind you, but there is an entire cellar downstairs.”
She smiled up at me as she turned and I swear I felt my gut clench like a teenage boy having the prettiest girl in school glance your way. “My parents have a cellar too. That’s where that bottle came from. Don’t tell my mom. I have to find a way to replace it.” I joined her chuckle, knowing that Cassidy would immediately notice a bottle of wine missing. That woman knew her wines as well as she knew her fabrics.
“Your secrets are safe with me,” I told Addison and she sobered, her finger tracing a vein in the granite.
“All of my secrets?”
Casually I walked around the island until our bodies were just a few inches apart. Gingerly I reached out and skimmed my hand across her hip, sliding along her back, and then tugged her against me. I leaned forward, my nose brushing against her in a soft caress.
“Every last one.”
Addison’s slender hand extended to my stomach, sliding up and resting on my chest. She tilted her head back and gazed up at me with those big doe eyes of hers. How did I ever see her as anything other than this gorgeous woman in front of me?
I placed my hand on top of hers and slowly leaned forward, only to hear a timer buzz, breaking the moment. Quickly I brushed my lips against hers and pulled away, heading for my phone on the table to turn off the timer.
“Sorry. That’s to tell me the brick oven is hot enough.”
“Yes. Um. . .we should probably get the pizza made and in the oven.”
Together we started pulling out the ingredients for a pizza. I’d have been fine with something simple like pepperoni or sausage, but Addison reached for the wooden cutting board in the corner and a knife from the set by the fridge and began slicing up prosciutto and arugula. There was some special cheese she unwrapped from a plastic casing and began to crumble it in her hands.
I was internally questioning her choices when she sneered in my direction.
“You’re going to love it. I promise.”
I didn’t believe her, but I’d trust her.
Once Addison was done chopping up her additions, she put me to work at kneading and spreading out the two pie crusts. Once she was satisfied with their size, we began spooning on the sauce and layering the cheeses. I sneered at her when she added her weird ingredients to my pizza, but I let her do it anyway. Like I could deny her anything with that brilliant smile on her lips?
Once they were up to Addison’s standards, we carried them outside on a pan. Using the oversized wood spatula, I slipped each one into the outdoor brick oven.
“How long does it usually take?” she asked as I stood at the oven entrance.
“Two or three minutes. Not long at all.”
“Wow. I had no idea,” she added as she stepped closer to me, basking in the warmth coming from the oven. I slipped my free arm around her and tugged her close. I glanced down at her and wondered what had changed. Why had I seen her as just my best friend’s daughter until yesterday?