“Okay, I deserved that,” Ash admitted. “Yes, my first thought was that you might have taken something, but really, I was concerned about you. I did want to make sure you were okay. And if you do need something from the store, I’m happy to be your errand boy, Ker. I do care about you, you know.”
“Why, Ash? Why do you care? No one else in my life seems to. My parents don’t give a shit about me. Granted, Sharon cares about me, but she’s two hours away, and so most of the time, it’s outta sight, outta mind. I can’t say I blame her. Why should she be concerned about her druggie brother?”
“Hey. Stop that right now. I care because I think you’re a good person. I like you and want you in my life. I thought I made that clear last weekend. You can’t honestly tell me you didn’t feel something too. Talking shit about yourself isn’t gonna get rid of me. Now c’mon. Let me help you. What do you need from the store?”
“You’re absolutely right, I’m sorry. This week has really sucked, and getting sick on top of it isn’t helping,” Ker admitted, shame coloring his cheeks. He seemed to deflate, gazing down at his sock-clad feet before looking back up at Ash. “I didn’t mean to take it out on you. And yes, deep down I do know that you care. You’re probably the only person I can count on.”
It broke Ash’s heart to hear Ker talk like that, but now wasn’t the time to hash this out. It was more important to make sure Ker had what he needed to get better.
Ker rattled off a few items, like orange juice, Kleenex, and bread. “Lemme get you some money.” He turned away from the door.
Ash grabbed his arm. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got you covered. Do you need anything else? Cold medicine?”
“Nah, I try to stay away from that stuff. Too easy to get hooked on the ones that make me sleepy. I’ve got some ibuprofen. That’s pretty much all I take.”
“Okay, I’ll be back in a few.”
“Hey, Ash,” Ker said quietly, “sorry I was such a dick to you earlier. I’m just not used to having someone care about me.”
“No worries. Just remember, I’m not going anywhere.”
When Ash returned about a half hour later, he put away the food in Ker’s kitchen and handed him a package. “I stopped at a CVS and spoke to the pharmacist; this doesn’t contain any alcohol or other habit-forming drugs. It should help relieve some of the congestion so you can rest.”
“Thank you. I can’t believe you did that. You really do care about me.” Ker’s shoulders dropped, and the muscles in his face visibly relaxed. Until that moment, Ash hadn’t realized how tense Ker had been.
“Of course, I care, sweetie. I’d hug you, except I really don’t wanna get whatever you have.” He grinned sheepishly. “On that note, I’ll say goodbye and remind you that if you need anything—anything at all—I’m just a phone call or text away.”
As Ash drove home, he thought about everything that had transpired at Ker’s house. Yes, he had been wrong to assume that Ker might have used something, but he had also seen how vulnerable and defensive Ker had gotten. They would need to talk about that at some point. Ash didn’t like how negative Ker could get about himself. Ker needed to realize that he was a good person and worthy of someone’s love.
Wait, love? Where did that come from?Was Ash starting to fall in love with Ker?
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Ker
By Monday morning, Ker was feeling almost back to normal. The meds that Ash had picked up for him really had helped. He couldn’t stop thinking about the kindness that Ash had shown in not only stopping by to make sure everything was okay, but in going the extra mile and talking to a pharmacist about suitable medications for him.
When he got to the trailer of his current job site, overseeing the building of a dry cleaner in the parking lot of a grocery store just outside of town, he made himself a cup of coffee since the two he’d had at home weren’t nearly enough caffeine for a Monday morning and pulled out a set of blueprints to review for yet another project.
“Hey, Ker.” Someone entered the mobile office.
“Hi, Colin. How was your weekend?” Although a few years younger than Ker, the two men had worked together for several years and had become—well, not “hang out together on a Saturday” friends—but “chat around the water cooler or coffee maker” acquaintances. Colin was a crew supervisor for theconstruction company and usually visited a few different sites over the course of a day.
“Good. Patty’s mom babysat, and she and I actually had a date night on Saturday. What about you?”
“As you know, last week really sucked donkey balls, and to top it all off, apparently I caught something; by Friday I felt like absolute crap. I had to bail on helping out at A Helping Hand on Saturday and spent most of the weekend in bed.” Sipping his coffee, he continued. “But a friend came by on Saturday afternoon to check on me and got me a few groceries to tide me over.” Ker tried his best to keep his voice neutral when speaking about Ash.
“A friend, huh? Something in your voice tells me there might be something special about this friend.”
Ker felt the heat rise to his face. “Um, well, he’s a volunteer too, and we met a couple of months ago, but he’s a really nice guy, and we may have gone on a date or two.”
“What? That’s great news!” The look on Colin’s face matched his tone. “I wanna know all the details.”
“There’s really not a lot to tell. His name is Ash, and he’s a police detective down in Hawthorne Bluff. We’ve actually gone out a few times and spent most of last weekend together.”
“Cool. It’s about time you met someone nice. I’m very happy for you, Ker.”
