“Home. Shower,” Brett grunted.
A few minutes later, and not even close to the part of town I thought we were heading to, Asher pulled up in front of an average-sized house—single story, two-car garage, bright blue door. Considering he went to a private school, I was surprised. Asher didn’t seem to be the typical Dalton student. Dale, who had not been dropped off, proving his sidekick status, got out of the car first. Brett climbed out next.
Before he walked away, Brett looked back at me. “Glad to know my brother is not as big of a loser as I thought he was.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I said. Then he shut the door.
Asher put the car in park and turned all the way around. He pushed his glasses up his nose. “That’s the first bit of respect my brother has ever given me.”
“Yeah, right,” I said with a small chuckle.
“No, he wasn’t kidding with the loser talk.”
“Well, brothers can be pretty annoying, you should ignore him.” Once the front door to the house closed, I asked, “Does Dale really have a private driver?”
“I thought I told you that.”
“I’m sure you did,” I said.
“He’s really not as obnoxious as he seems. I promise.”
“I don’t need any promises.” Wow, that sounded cryptic.
It was time to come clean. I pointed to the passenger seat and he nodded. I climbed over the middle console and awkwardly worked my way to sitting, regretting immediately that I didn’t just exit the car and enter the front seat the normal way. By the time I settled in, Asher was laughing.
“I’m usually more graceful when I do that,” I said.
“I’m sure you are.” He gave a thoughtful smile, then gestured toward his house. “Do you want to come in for a bit?”
“I know I said coffee, but actually, I should probably get home. I didn’t tell my dad I was going somewhere after work.” On Saturdays, he got off at five, to start his routine two hours earlier.
“Your dad?” Asher asked.
Did Gemma not have a dad? Had she had him fake-die in some tragic accident?
Asher turned sideways and reached over, placing his hand on my forearm. “Tell me about him.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything. You’ve been so private with family details.”
She had? “My dad works a lot.”
“And your mom?”
“Left us years ago to be able to do whatever she wants whenever she wants to.” I didn’t tell people that, especially people I hardly knew. What was it about him that made me want to spill my guts? Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. I needed to stop.
“I’m sorry.”
I shrugged. “She’s not. You definitely shouldn’t be.”
“I’m sorry anyway.” He circled a small freckle on my arm with his finger. “What does your dad do?”
“He’s a mechanic. Which means I will never get a new car. He keeps resurrecting the one I have.”
Asher stared at the steering wheel for a moment. “My granddad bought me this car. My parents couldn’t really afford it.”
I wondered if his granddad also paid for his school tuition. “Can your granddad buy me a car?”
“I’ll ask him.”
I smiled. Why was I stalling? Because I was a fake, like Dale had accused me of, and I hated that. “I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?” Asher asked, looking at me with those innocent hazel eyes.
Why had the girl online kept up the charade after the café? That seemed strange. Maybe they hadn’t messaged since the in-person meeting? Maybe she’d managed to avoid specific questions when she realized someone else had shown up? But if that was the case, why hadn’t she outed me?
“Who’s Chad, by the way?” he asked before I said anything. “He was asking me all sorts of questions before we left.”
“He was? Like what?”
“Like how long we’d been dating and if I liked you and if we were exclusive.”
My mouth opened in shock and I quickly shut it. “And what did you tell him?”
“I told him we weren’t exclusive but I wanted to be.”
My heart thudded hard in my chest. Oh, calm down, heart, he doesn’t even know you. He’s talking about Gemma. “He’s a coworker. Has been for the last year. What about you? Post-breakup?” I asked, repeating what Brett had said minutes ago. Dale had also said something similar in the café that first day. “Elinor?” That was the name he’d used.
Asher took a deep breath, suddenly interested in looking out the windshield at a large eucalyptus tree. “Did Dale tell you about her?”
Not in the way he thought. “He didn’t say a lot.”
“We really don’t need to talk about my ex.”
“Oh, come on. I just told you I was abandoned by my mom. Which one of us is more screwed up here?”
He crinkled his nose, then sighed. “When I met you, I mean online, when we first started talking, I’d just been dumped.”
Rebounds are only good in basketball. Never be someone’s rebound. I could see that rule flash through my head in my own handwriting and everything. I shook it away. “How long were you together?”
“About a year.”
Too long. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be,” he said. “It was long overdue. We weren’t right for each other, but being dumped just destroys your confidence, you know?”
I actually didn’t know. I hadn’t ever been dumped. I’d never made it to the girlfriend stage of a relationship. “Yeah,” I said.
“I was feeling like maybe I wasn’t right for anyone. And then we started talking and slowly I started feeling better. Then we met…”
“And I ruined it?” I wasn’t exactly known for helping people feel better about themselves.
“What? No. I felt like myself for the first time in a long time. My point is, I’m glad I met you.”
I needed to rip off the Band-Aid. This was getting worse by the second. “Asher, I’m not—” There was a loud smacking noise on the window and I jumped and let out a squeal. I turned to see Asher’s brother pressing his face against the glass. He had changed clothes and his hair was wet.
“Hey, jerk-off, Mom said you have to take me to In-N-Out!” His voice was muffled through the window.