Chapter 6 #2
Ash felt a blush creep up their cheeks and turned their gaze from Luke.
He thought they were cute? Like cute cute?
Or silly cute? Regardless, he used the word cute.
Was Ash reading too much into this, or was that a compliment?
Could Luke be flirting with Ash? No… he couldn’t be.
They had discussed not continuing anything further.
So why would he flirt with them? Unless he still wanted to be more.
Or maybe he wasn’t thinking, and it just slipped out.
Ash turned their eyes back to the red pandas and watched them eat, drink some water, and then curl up on the tree for a nap.
The mama red panda tucked her tail around her body and put her face on her tail like a pillow.
Ash nearly died as they whipped out their phone to take a few photos of the red pandas.
“Come on, let’s keep walking,” Ash said, putting their phone away.
Ash led Luke through the zoo, from the vultures to the arctic foxes.
They stopped at the bald eagle enclosure.
Luke had never seen a bald eagle before.
Ash had only ever seen them in captivity.
While Ash loved the Binghamton Zoo, they did feel bad for the animals because they would never know life in the wild.
They didn’t have miles of land to roam or the ability to fly wherever they desired.
While they were safe in the zoo, they didn’t get to live the life of a free animal.
Ash had mixed feelings about zoos in general, so they donated money every year to wildlife protection agencies to ensure natural habitats were not destroyed by humans.
“Come on, I have one last surprise for you,” Ash said, pulling Luke along.
Luke looked at his watch as he followed Ash down the hill.
When Ash stopped in front of the African Penguins, Luke’s eyes lit up.
His lips parted slightly as he watched the penguins.
There were two currently playing with what looked like big rubber balls.
Luke took a step closer to the exhibit and pulled out his phone to record a video of the animals playing together.
Instead of watching the animals, Ash watched Luke.
They watched a slow smile spread across his lips, a bigger smile than they had ever seen him wear.
Luke took videos and pictures of the animals from various angles.
A wave of relief washed over Ash as they watched the pure joy on Luke’s face.
Up until now, Ash was worried Luke wasn’t having a good time, based on his silence and the way he kept looking at his watch.
They were glad to have been proved wrong.
Luke watched the penguins in silence for nearly ten minutes. When Luke finally turned to Ash, he took a step closer and wrapped his arms around Ash’s shoulders. Taken aback, it took Ash a moment to wrap their arms around Luke’s waist.
“Thank you, Ash. I needed this today,” Luke said, his chest rumbling with his words.
“I’m glad I could help. Are you feeling better?” Ash asked.
Luke released Ash and stepped back. “I am. I wasn’t sure this was going to help, but I haven’t seen penguins in a long time. It’s just what I needed to remind me life isn’t all about work. Taking a break is productive.”
Ash looked at their watch and noticed it had been an hour since they left the lab. “Our hour is up. Do you want to go home? Or can I take you to another of my favorite places?”
Luke nodded his head. “Show me what you’ve got.”
Ash led Luke through the rest of the zoo, stopping by the wolf exhibit before they left, and made their way back down Vestal Parkway toward Ash’s favorite Barnes they could feel it in their ears.
Suddenly, they were overwhelmed by being so close to Luke.
If they didn’t step away right now, they were going to kiss him, and they couldn’t let that happen, not when they had been working so well together.
“I want to kiss you, Luke. But…”
“No buts,” Luke whispered.
“We can’t.”
“Screw the handbook.” Luke took another step towards Ash until they were inches away.
“It’s not just that,” Ash said, taking a step backward to put some distance between them.
They couldn’t think when they could feel the heat radiating off Luke’s chest. “We work so well together. If we pursue a relationship and something happens so we can’t work together…
I don’t think I’m willing to risk that. This research is too important to me. ”
“Ash.” Luke breathed their name. “You have no idea what this research means to me. Give me the word, and I’ll back off. But it feels like you want this too.”
Ash parted their lips to speak, but their voice was trapped in their throat. They didn’t want to tell Luke to stop, but that gnawing feeling at the back of their mind told them to.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Ash finally said.
Luke took a step back from Ash. “I understand. I’m sorry for pushing it. I just… I haven’t felt this connection with someone before. For the record, if you ever decide you want to take a leap of faith, my answer will always be yes.”
Fuck, this man was right out of a romance novel. He knew just what to say. Ash hoped one day, they would be able to leap, but today, they had to deny their heart’s desire in pursuit of science.