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“I’ll go get you some.”
“No, it’s…” I trailed off as he darted away from me and tried to keep my attention on him, but as soon as he walked past everyone, nerves rolled in my stomach. I stood there, waiting for him, knowing they were all watching. I felt like a teen going on her first date, something which had never happened. I hadn’t had the same experience as your average high schooler, and I was starting to be okay with that. Everything happened for a reason, right?
Asher shot out of the back of the house and sprinted down the walkway back toward me. “Here.” He held out a pair of tennis shoes with a grin on his face. His excitement was rubbing off on me. We were only going for a walk, and yet I felt my own lips lifting.
I shoved my feet into them, then followed beside Asher as he walked around the front of the house and down the driveway. The backs of our hands skimmed across each other, and he looked down at me. I glanced up, feeling goose bumps spreading over my skin, and without a word said, our hands interlocked.
“Sometimes when they’re all together it can get a bit much,” Asher said, his voice low. We made it to the end of the driveway and turned left toward the town. We’d walked here so many times over the last few weeks, but today it was different. There was something in the air—something swirling between us.
“I can see that.” I smiled. “Although I’m glad your mom is here. She checked over all my schoolwork to see how I did.”
Asher chuckled. “O
nly Mom would do that.”
“I’m glad she did.” I took a breath. “I have to graduate this year.”
Asher’s head turned, his dark-eyed gaze meeting mine. “You will.” He halted on the sidewalk outside the now closed bakery. “When you set your mind to something, you can do it.” His free hand moved to the side of my face. “I’m glad you’re with me today.” The sadness in his eyes took over, and I lifted up on my tiptoes, feeling like he needed me to be closer to him. “This could be the last…” He trailed off, his eyes zoning out for a couple of seconds, but then he shook his head, evaporating the sadness that took over. “I wish we could have been alone.”
I planted a kiss on his cheek, then turned us back toward the house. “I’ve never really had a proper Thanksgiving.”
“You haven’t?”
“Nope. Closest we ever got was chicken and fake potatoes on the sofa.” I shivered. “I haven’t eaten fake potatoes since.”
“Fake potatoes?” He laughed, his hand squeezing mine. “What the hell are fake potatoes?”
“You know…the ones that come in a box as powder. You add liquid and”—I threw my hand in the air like I was presenting a magic trick—“fake mashed potatoes.”
“That sounds—”
“Disgusting. I know.” We made it to the bottom of the driveway again, and I paused, able to hear the voices from the house. Half of me wished I could spend the day just Asher and me, but the other half wanted to experience what a day as part of a real family on a holiday was like. And with that thought, I turned to Asher, blurting out, “Race you back to the house?”
He raised his brows. “You realize I’m a foot taller than you, right?”
I pulled my hand out of his and quirked my lips. “Yeah, but I’m gonna get a head start.” I hadn’t finished my sentence before I sprinted away from him, laughing up a storm as he called me a cheater. The gravel on the driveway crunched under his feet as he chased after me, but it wasn’t until we made it around the back of the house that he caught up to me.
I squealed as his hands grasped my waist, and he picked me up. I tried to tell him to let me down, but I couldn’t stop laughing. We were carefree. Not a single worry weighing down on our shoulders.
“You’re a little cheater!”
“Am not!”
“Are too.” He lifted me higher and placed me over his shoulder, causing my head to hang upside down.
“Now who’s cheating?”
“Not me.” His arm locked around my thighs as he continued running, but the house wasn’t getting closer. Instead, it was getting farther away.
“Asher…what are you doing?” My eyes widened, and I tried to turn my body, but I already knew where he was heading. “Asher! Don’t—”
“Don’t what?” he asked, and I heard the splashing of water. I saw it lapping against his ankles, but he didn’t slow down, not until he was nearly waist deep, and my head was only centimeters from the surface.
“Asher.” I tried to sound stern, I really did, but the happiness in my voice couldn’t be mistaken. When it was just him and me, we didn’t have to think about anything else. We could just be Asher and Elodie. And it was my favorite part of the day.
“What?” he asked innocently, then a second later, I was flying through the air.
Cold water met my back, soaking through the T-shirt and leggings I was wearing. I flapped my arms as I went completely under, but not a second later, Asher was diving down with me, wrapping his arms around my waist, and breaking us through the surface.
