I shove everything back into my bag and carry it with me to the living room. When I get there, Asher isn’t there, or in the kitchen, so I look out the sliding glass door. He is standing in the yard in a pair of worn out blue jeans, his light brown work boots, and a dark gray thermal that fits like a second skin. Just looking at him makes my mouth go dry. I watch as Beast comes running at him with a stick in his mouth. Asher wrestles it away from him and throws it as Beast takes off. He looks so beautiful, playing with my dog. Then I remember what he said earlier. If I’m not mistaken, he is kind of my boyfriend. With that thought, I want to do some kind of acrobatics…or maybe a cheer. He kissed me and introduced me to his mom. Well, technically she just showed up, but that had to count, right?
Plus, he said this wasn’t casual even though deep down, I don’t completely trust what he was saying. But, I’ve decided that I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt until he proves that he doesn’t deserve it. He must feel me watching him because he turns around and smiles at me and my breath is stuck in my lungs. He calls Beast and they both come up the stairs at the same time and walk into the house. Without stopping to close the sliding door, he comes right to me, picks me up and kisses me. When he breaks away, I’m in another Asher kiss fog.
“You ready?” he asks and all I can do is nod. He slides me down his body and kisses my nose. My legs are jelly so I hold onto his T-shirt to keep me from falling on my face. He smiles like he knows what he’s doing to me. I glare at him because no girl wants a guy to think that he’s got it going on even if he does. “Okay, babe, get your ass to the jeep.” He steps away and closes the door.
I watch him move then realize I’m just standing here watching him. I’m finally able to break out of the fog and grab my purse and overnight bag. I walk to the door with Beast at my side, saying over my shoulder, “Don’t tell me to get my ass in your car. It’s rude!” Then, I open the door and walk out to his jeep. His laughter follows me.
We pull up to my dad’s house and he is standing outside. I start to open my door when Asher stops me. “Wait till I come around and open your door.” This confuses me.
“Why?”
“Do you always have to ask questions?” I think about it for a minute then realize that I do always have to ask questions. Sometimes I ask questions that make no sense or questions that I know the answers to, but I still like to ask them. Asher is watching me and then he starts laughing.
“What’s funny?”
“Nothing, baby. Just wait till I come around to open your door. Will you do that for me?” Because he asks nicely and isn’t being bossy, plus he called me baby and I’m really starting to love that. I nod my head in agreement.
“Good,” he says then kisses me softly and runs his nose across mine. I’m in such a fog that I don’t even realize that he’s gotten out of the car until my door opens and he’s holding a hand out to me. His jeep is one of the cool ones with giant tires that were made for taking into the hills to go mudding.
“Do you go mudding?” I ask. Looking up at him, and not for the first time, I realize how tall he is compared to me. I come up to the middle of his chest and my head has to go way back to make eye contact. The good thing is I never have to worry that my heels will be too high. My ex never liked me wearing heels because he didn’t want me to be taller than him.
“Mudding?” he asks, bringing me back to topic.
“Yeah, you know, where you drive a truck through mud and… I don’t know what else you do when you go mudding.” He starts laughing again and I have no idea what is so funny, so I just wait till he gets control of himself.
“I haven’t gone mudding since I was seventeen.”
“Oh,” I say with disappointment. I kind of wanted to go. Not that I know much about it, but I saw a video once and it looked like fun.
“If you want, we can take my four wheeler out and drive through some puddles during the next storm.”
“Really?” I ask. That sounds like fun.
“This is why you’re too much. Not too many women go from talking about getting manicures and shopping to wanting to get muddy.”
“I'm versatile.”
“Yeah.” He kisses me, and just when it starts getting good, my dad yells at me.
“November!” Crap, I forgot where we are. I put my face in Asher’s chest and giggle. My dad is mad. I’ve never made my dad mad before.
“November!” my dad calls again.
“Oh, Lord,” I say, looking up at Asher. He is smiling down at me. I turn my head and my dad and Uncle Joe are standing on the porch. Both of them have their arms crossed and feet planted apart. I don’t think this is going to go well. Asher grabs my hand and starts walking. I am dragging my feet behind him, trying to avoid the confrontation that is coming.