Chapter 2
Asher – Past – Age 37
Two weeks before Stella’s sweet sixteen party, I had an idea.
And to do this idea, I had to somehow get Chloe alone for a minute.
Thankfully, I managed that when they were at the clubhouse doing their homework.
Stella had run to the kitchen to get something to eat.
I sat down beside Chloe, who looked at me and smiled, and then said, “Hey, Mr. Hendrix.”
Somehow.
Some way, I was going to get her to stop calling me that shit. It made me feel older than dirt.
But now wasn’t the time.
I had to do this before Stella came back.
I lowered my tone and said, “Need you to do me a favor?”
She looked at me, tilted her head to the side, and said, “Umm, okay.”
“Need you to go with Stella to this.” I told her and showed her the tickets I got for Stella.
It was the first part of her birthday present.
I’d already talked to Chloe’s parents, and they had been fine with it.
It was two tickets to Comic-Con, and the actors who played in Supernatural were going to be there.
Chloe saw what it was and knew, then she groaned, “Seriously? You know how much squealing she’s going to do. Do you want my ears to bleed?”
I snickered, “She’s your best friend, Chloe.”
She sighed, “Fine. I’ll do it. But you so owe me.”
I nodded, “Anytime you want to cash in your marker, you just let me know,” I told her.
Just then, I heard, “What’s going on?”
Chloe looked up at Stella and grinned, “Did you know your dad is super smart?”
Stella nodded skeptically, “Yeah. Why?”
“Because I couldn’t figure out this fraction. He showed me how.” Lying through her teeth for me. Then she looked at me, nodded, and said, “Thanks, Mr. Hendrix.”
I nodded, “Any time.”
Then I stood up and walked away.
Wondering how in the world anyone could tell when Chloe was lying.
But I had a feeling that she didn’t do it that often.
And when she did, she told the truth afterward.
Which was what she did when she showed up at my house to go with Stella.
***
I chuckled when Stella ran to her car.
Today was Stella’s sweet sixteen birthday.
We had the party at the house since she wanted to invite some friends from school who didn’t need to be around the clubhouse.
The light blue Volkswagen Beetle with a soft black top was her dream car.
I didn’t get it.
But then again, I wasn’t a girl.
Chloe was hot on her heels, hugging her and taking pictures of her as she posed this way and that way.
“Anyone ever tells you you’re a bad father, tell them to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine,” Stoney chimed in at my side.
I chuckled, then nodded, “Yeah.”
Once her big present was revealed and the food was eaten, we gathered around the fire in the backyard, beers to those who could drink it and sparkling apple cider to those who couldn’t.
And just like always, which never seemed to fail, even if we didn’t plan that shit, I was sitting beside Chloe, and Stella was on her other side.
Suddenly, Stella jumped up and then raced into the house.
I lifted a brow and then looked at Chloe, who was laughing her ass off.
“What the fuck is so funny?” I asked her once she stopped laughing.
She snickered, “She’s been holding her bladder for seven hours now. She thought it would be funny to chug that last cider.”
I chuckled at my girl. Only Stella.
Then I sighed and brought something up that we seemed to bicker about, “What is it going to take for you to call me Asher?” I asked.
Chloe shrugged, “I don’t know.”
I took a pull from my beer and then said, “I don’t think it’s disrespectful.”
She shrugged again.
“What if you called me something else that only you called me? Would that help?” I asked.
She lifted her head, “Like what?”
Fuck, if I knew. Hell, she could call me dickhead or asshole. I was just tired of the Mr. Hendrix shit. But then, one name came to mind, “Ash?”
She wrinkled her nose, “No way. That’s a girl’s nickname. And you are definitely not a girl.”
I had to bite back the words along the lines of, glad you noticed .
Because I didn’t know where the hell that thought came from.
Thankfully before any more could be said and I creeped myself out and crossed lines that didn’t make any fucking sense to me, Stella came back and asked, “What are you two talking about?”
Chloe sighed, “Your dad is getting fed up with me being respectful and calling him Mr. Hendrix.”
Stella snickered, “I’m surprised he’s put up with it for this long.”
Chloe shrugged, “I can’t help that I was raised with manners.”
Stella placed her hands on her hips, “Are you saying I was raised in a barn?”
Chloe snickered, “If the shoe fits.”
I chuckled at her answer, and then she looked at me, then at Stella, and sighed.
Then she looked back at me, “You’re not going to give in to this, are you?”
I shook my head slowly, “No, ma’am.”
She sighed, “Fine. I’ll stop calling your Mr. Hendrix, and I’ll call you Pres.”
I felt something in my gut tighten.
What the fuck was that about?
That would have been perfectly acceptable.
But before I could put words to my thoughts, my mouth said, “No. Doesn’t seem right either. You’re not a brother. It’s Asher or nothing else.”
She sighed.
Then, in an exasperated way, she rolled her eyes and said, “Fine. Asher.”
And the moment I heard my name fall from her lips, I had to pretend I got a call and then walked away like I had the hounds of hell on my heels.
She’s sixteen.
She’s my daughter’s best friend.
What the fuck had I been thinking?
Mr. Hendrix was fine.
But... the way my name sounded in her husky voice.
Holy. Shit.