Hold on to My Heart (Maine Sullivans)

“I’m starved,” Kevin proclaimed as they got back in the car, his cheeks slightly chapped from the wind. He was tired but satisfied from their adventure.

“How does pizza sound?” Ashley asked.

“Awesome!”

“Great, because we’ll be passing by that waterfront pizza place on the way home.”

During the drive, they compared their impressions of the various zip-line routes, each picking a favorite and laughing at their memories of one another’s expressions and reactions. Ashley had been a screamer, Kevin had been a giggler, and Nash had tried to act like he wasn’t holding on for dear life.

Soon, they were at the pizza joint, and though it was little more than a shack, the views of the sunset were extraordinary, and the pizza coming out of the ovens smelled even better.

The two guys running the zip-lining organization had been easygoing and relaxed around Nash, waiting until the end to ask for an autograph and a picture. The owners of this restaurant immediately asked for him to sign something, but after that, they treated Nash no differently than their other customers. The other diners didn’t pay much attention to them either, as Kevin, Ashley, and Nash found a table by the water. Probably because they were all too focused on devouring their delicious slices of pizza.

Nash had always assumed big cities were the only places he might be able to blend in—wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, of course. Now he wondered if he’d had it completely backward. Maybe it was only in a small town like Bar Harbor that he could have some privacy. Almost as though Ashley and Kevin and the other Sullivans he’d met, like Rory and Zara, had created a protective barrier around him that everyone else in town knew not to breach.

Nash had never had a family to look out for him before. His chest ached as he thought of leaving them.

Their personal pizzas came quickly, and the three of them didn’t say much as they ate. It was one of the best pizzas Nash had ever eaten—the crust was crunchy, the toppings were fresh, and the cheese was from a nearby farm. On top of that, the views from the restaurant were astonishing.

But though the sunset over the water was stunning, Nash couldn’t stop staring at Ashley. She was so beautiful. The most beautiful woman he’d ever known.

“Are you guys dating?” Kevin asked suddenly.

Ashley’s head spun from the view to her son so fast that Nash was half afraid she would have whiplash. “What?”

“I was just wondering since you guys kissed at the café, if you are boyfriend and girlfriend?” Before either of them could reply, Kevin added, “Dad is actually the one who wants to know, but I’m kind of wondering too.”

Nash watched Ashley deliberately try to control her reaction to learning that her ex was pestering their son for information about her personal life. What a douchebag that guy was.

“Nash and I are good friends,” she said primly. “But although people did see us kissing in the café, we are not dating.”

Kevin thought about her response for a minute. “Okay. I mean, that would be cool if you were. But if you’re not, that’s okay too.”

Ashley seemed more than a little surprised to hear her son say it would be okay with him if the two of them dated.

Nash tried not to let his hopes rise. Of course he wanted to be with Ashley again, rather than staying in the friend zone for his remaining time in town. But he also understood her reasons for not wanting to get romantically tangled up with him.

His rock-star life was unreliable.

He was unreliable.

Nash had never been a man who stayed in one place. And constantly moving from one location to another on the road was no life for Ashley or Kevin.

Then why not stay? Where do you have to go?

The voice inside his head jarred him to attention.

He’d first hit the road to get away from his mom and had stayed there to chase his dreams of music stardom. But the truth was that his roving life had gotten old a while ago, with one five-star hotel blending into another, every city looking the same.

The voice popped up again. What if staying in one place with one person is the real adventure? What if staying is the way you can prove yourself to be the man you’ve always wished you could be?

Right then, Kevin yawned so loudly that Nash snapped out of his crazy thoughts.

“We should get this guy to bed,” Ashley said to Nash. “I want to make sure you two are rested for your workday on the van tomorrow.”

Nash tried to pay the bill, but Ashley insisted that since he’d paid for zip-lining, she would take care of dinner. On the drive back to town, Kevin nodded off in the backseat, and though Nash wanted to hold Ashley’s hand, he couldn’t risk Kevin waking up and seeing it. Especially after they had said they were only friends.