“Well, isn’t that just like the Reynolds boys.” Clay chuckled. “Always full of secrets. He did mention you yesterday at Thanksgiving dinner and said the two of you have hung out a couple of times, but we didn’t hear anything about cooking lessons!”
“Now, now, Clay,” Ash admonished, “don’t start stirring up trouble where there isn’t any.” He smiled so that Clay would know he was just giving him some shit, but he didn’t want Ker to think that he didn’t want his family to know about him. “As Ker said, we’re friends and have been doing things here and there. Not really much to tell, right?”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ker,” Finn interjected. “The four of us should get together sometime.”
“I’d like that,” Ker said.
Clay handed him a business card. “If Ash drags his feet, just give me a call, and we can make plans. Sometimes the Reynolds boys need a little prodding.” He snickered.
“Thanks.” A smile washed over Ker’s face. “And I’ll remember what you said about the prodding.”
“Okay, I think the music is gonna start up again, so we should get back to our seats,” Ash said.
The second half of the entertainment was even more enjoyable than the first since Kim Moberg, the woman Ash wanted to see, played several songs, including “In December,” one of his favorites. Once everything wrapped up, Finn and Clay stopped by to say goodbye, and Ash turned to Ker. “I wanna thank Kim for playing. It was really good to hear her again.”
They shrugged on their jackets and made their way to the makeshift stage. They waited while Kim wrapped up another conversation, and when she turned to them, Ash said, “Thanks so much for coming to our little town and playing tonight.”
“Not a problem. I love the local venues a lot,” Kim replied.
“I heard you play at the Mews in Provincetown a year or so ago,” Ash said. “I was really excited when I found out you were going to be here tonight. I’m Ash, by the way, and this is Ker.”
“So nice to meet you both. And thanks for coming to listen. I really appreciate it.”
“Well, we won’t keep you. I hope to see you again soon.”
“I’ve got some things lined up for the spring down on the cape,” she told them, handing over a card. “You can check out the dates on my website.”
“Thanks.”
As they exited the shop, Ker said, “This was fun, thanks for inviting me.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I had a good time, too, and it was nice to see Finn and Clay.” Ash grinned. “Although I don’t think we need to be prodded as Clay suggested.”
“Point taken. I should get going, but I’ll see you in the morning, right?”
“You will. Where did you park?” Ash asked.
“On the side street around the corner. I’m up about a block.” Ker pointed behind him.
“Let me walk you to your car.” They ambled along, Ash not really wanting the evening to end but happy that he’d see Ker again in a few hours.
“This is me,” Ker said as they reached his Honda.
Before he had a chance to walk around to the driver’s side, Ash took his hand. “I’m happy we got to spend some time together tonight.” He leaned forward and kissed Ker gently onthe mouth. “See you tomorrow.” Ash smiled faintly as he turned and walked away.
“Yeah, tomorrow.”
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Ker
He kissed me! I guess that means this was probably a date, right? Oh my God, why am so I fixated on the word ‘date’?Ker smiled to himself.
After thinking about it for a moment, Ker decided it was because he’d never really dated anyone. He’d had a fair number of hookups, and any time he had seen someone more than a couple of times, they’d both agreed to keep it casual, so it had never felt like a real relationship. But somehow, this felt different. Ash was someone special, and Ker was determined to do anything and everything he could to make this work.
Tonight was so much better than he could have expected. It was always great spending time with Ash, but there was somethingextraabout tonight. Meeting Finn and Clay certainly factored into that. They were both very nice, and Ker decided he wanted to know them better.
