"He isn’t looking for you guys," Asher says from beside me, and all eyes are on his. His body goes tight right beside me. I look over at him, and I can see the anguish all over his face.
"What the fuck are you talking about right now?” Quinn says, his stance ready to attack Asher.
"He’s looking for me," Asher says from beside me, and for the second time in my life, my world crashes. "I’m his son."
Chapter 29
Asher
"He’s looking for me." The words come out in almost a whisper. "I’m his son," I finally say out loud and feel Amelia get stiff beside me. I want to take her in the back and talk to her one on one, but the eyes looking at me tell me this is not an option. Not with everyone’s eyes on me. "I’m his son." I repeat the words again in case I didn’t say them clear enough before.
"I’m sorry, what did you say?" Ethan steps forward, confusion all over his face as his eyes meet mine.
"This isn’t how I wanted to do this." I look at him and then Jacob, who stands there with shock and confusion all over his face. He just stares at me, and I know I have one chance to say this. I just hope that in the end, they don’t toss me out on my ass. I also know that in the end, I’ll deserve it for lying to them. "You have to know that none of this was supposed to happen." I can feel Amelia pull away from me like the wick at the end of a candle burning out. She moves slowly, and I watch her walk over to stand by Jacob. My hand is stuck to my side instead of reaching out and holding her next to me. The tears in her eyes are forming, shattering my soul.
"Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Jacob says and puts his arm around Amelia. He brings her closer to him, rubbing his thumb up and down her arm. The same arm that held me earlier today, the same arm that I kissed not too long ago. It kills me because that is supposed to be my job. I’m supposed to be the one holding her when she needs it. I’m the one who is supposed to be drying her tears, not making her cry. I’m the one she should turn to, not the one she runs away from.
"I need.” Beau holds up his hand, stopping me from saying anything else. He moves past me, going behind the bar. He grabs the whiskey on the top shelf and a shot glass. Everyone looks over at him. "Anyone else need one?" He holds up the bottle, no one moving toward him. "No, just me?" He pours himself a shot and then takes it. He hisses out and pours himself another one, this time no hissing coming out of him. "I think I’m good." He pours another one but leaves it in front of him. "But just in case, I’m going to stay here."
I look back over, my eyes trying to get Amelia to look at me. I’m silently screaming at her to look in my direction. Her head is bent, and her eyes are focused on her hands wringing in front of her. A lone teardrop falls on her hands, and she shakes it away as if she was being burned by fire. "I never knew who my father was." I start the story, looking at every single man who stands in this bar. These men who have taken me under their wing and embraced me. "When I turned eighteen, I went and got a copy of my birth certificate, hoping by some miracle she would have put a name down. But it was blank." I laugh bitterly that this is my fucking life. "It was father unknown." My eyes fly to Amelia who looks anywhere but at me. "I don’t know why I was surprised by it. It wasn’t like I was going to go search for him or anything like that. It was just a hope that maybe, just maybe I would have someone out there."
"I feel a huge but coming on," Ethan says, looking at me, and then Beau groans and takes another shot.
"I was working at the grill in this tiny shithole of a restaurant." I shake my head. "I was making under minimum wage, but I had no choice. It was in the middle of fucking bum fuck when the door opens. I looked up because the bell usually didn’t ring that often. A man steps in wearing a three-piece suit. I laughed, thinking this guy was for sure lost. He looked around and spotted me right away. Pointing at me, he asked if my name was Asher." I swallow the lump in my throat. "He asked me who my mother was, and at first, I was confused, and then I thought this could be my father."