~ Zoie's POV ~
Zoie was a panicked mess. She even ran barefoot to the driveway, screaming for him to come back. She turned the heads of the guards around the house but it was no use. Asher was still gone. Letting out a frustrated groan, she raced back into the house, back into her room. Once she got there, she saw that Landon was still waiting for her. But instead of talking to him, she just went past him to get to her phone.
"Zee?" he stared at her with a concerned look.
Zoie ignored him completely, busy with her phone. She was listening to the dial tone, waiting for Asher to pick up the phone.
"Ugh, he's not answering!" she hissed as the call ended. She immediately redialed the call and waited again.
"Zee-"
"Landon, please! Not now!" she snapped.
Zoie didn't mean to snap, but she was a mess. Asher walked in on her while Landon kissed her out of the blue. He must be so mad, she thought. But she didn't mean any of this. How was she supposed to know that Landon will pull something like that?
"Dang it!" Zoie wanted to throw her phone to the wall. This time, the call didn't even ring. Asher had probably turned off his phone.
Zoie was pacing frantically by the window as she typed a text to Asher. He probably couldn't read it too, but how else was she supposed to reach him?
Letting out another frustrated sigh, she stopped at the window and stared at the gate, just in case Asher might turn around. But a whole minute passed and there was still nothing.
"Where can he possibly be...?" she muttered under her breath. She didn't mean for Landon to hear it, but he did.
"Do you need to find Asher?" he asked.
Zoie turned to him instinctively.
"I think I know where he might be,"
"Where?" she demanded instantly.
"Come on," he said as he nudged to the door. "I'll take you there,"
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The next thing she knew, Zoie ended up in a car with Landon driving. She didn't ask too many questions as she wanted to keep the conversation with Landon at a minimum at this point. But after they drove past the city limit, Zoie got curious.
"Where are we going exactly?" she asked, turning her head to him.
"It's a place I know he goes to when he wants to be alone," Landon said simply.
Zoie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. How would Landon know this? She didn't even know Asher had a secret place he likes to go to.
"Trust me, I know," Landon said as if he could read her mind. "It's a brother thing,"
Zoie decided to drop the subject. She turned her face back to the front, counting every second that passed as the car speeded away. From time to time, she'd check her phone again, but Asher's phone was still off.
"Is something wrong?" Landon asked finally.
"What?"
"You look stressed out. What's going on?"
"Nothing," she said. "I just need to see Asher, that's all,"
Zoie threw her glance out the window and Landon studied her expression.
"Zee, what's the matter?" he pressed.
"It's none of your business, alright?" she snapped again. "It's between me and him. A bodyguard thing,"
Zoie wasn't ready to tell Landon everything. Not now, especially that he just poured his heart out to her.
Needless to say, the rest of that car ride was filled with dry silence. Landon drove for almost two hours. They ended up pretty deep inside New Jersey territory, almost into Pennsylvania. And finally, to Zoie's absolute surprise, the car pulled into a large cemetery, The Gate of Heaven Cemetery & Mausoleum.
"What are we doing here?" she stared at Landon in confusion.
Landon just kept driving the car, passing the row of tall green trees and headstones.
"It's where his dad is buried," he said.
Ah. Now it all made sense.
Zoie threw her glance out the window, inspecting the headstones that they passed by. It only dawned on her that she never asked Asher about his dad.
So this is where goes when he wants to be alone...?
Finally, the car pulled to a stop. Zoie turned to Landon and he pointed at a specific mausoleum at the end of a row of tall green trees. Nearby, she spotted the black SUV and the figure of a man dressed in all black.
It's him!
Zoie quickly got out of the car and raced over to him. Asher was standing next to this large mausoleum with his hand on one of the pillars.
"Ash!" she yelled.
Asher turned around and he was shocked to see her. Zoie kept running until she got close to him. She wanted nothing more than to race into his arms, pulling him into a hug, but Asher stepped back as soon as she got close.
"How'd you find me here?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Sorry, that's my fault," Landon spoke up suddenly. He was following Zoie, standing a few feet behind her. "I can't keep a secret,"
Landon and Asher exchanged a look. Zoie noted the anger in Asher's eyes. She didn't want things to get worse, which means she had to explain some things before a war breaks out.
"Ash, we need to talk," she said through labored breaths. She was just running to get here. "What you just saw, it was-"
"I think I wanna talk to Landon," Asher said suddenly, cutting her off. "Will you give us a minute?"
Zoie turned to Landon and back to Asher. He kept his gaze on his brother. He looked dead serious and it seemed like he wasn't taking no for an answer.
"O-okay..." she breathed, taking a few steps back.
"Here, you can wait in the car," Landon said as he handed her the key.
Zoie took the key reluctantly. She looked back at Asher again as she walked away, trying to get his attention. But Asher's eyes were just stuck on his brother.
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~ Asher's POV ~
Asher waited until Zoie was completely out of sight. He was still deciding on what to do. On one hand, he'd really like to punch him in the face for kissing his girl, but then again...
Landon's still my brother.
"I'm sorry," Landon said again. "I know this place is our little secret, but she seemed really worried, so..."
"It's fine," Asher said curtly.
It was really annoying, honestly. No one was supposed to know about this place except for him and his mom. Talia wanted Adrian to be buried with his ancestors, and this was their spot. His mom used to take him to his dad's grave every year on Adrian's birthday. No matter how busy they got, they would always make time, just the two of them. Asher cherished that memory a lot.
Whenever he felt like he was alone in this world, this was Asher's safe haven. All those nights he spent racing cars, drinking, and doing drugs, at the end of it all, he'd ended up here, sitting at his dad's grave and talking to him. Landon followed him out here once and that was how he knew. Asher made Landon swear that he wouldn't tell anyone, and he kept that promise. Until now.
"So... you wanna talk to me?" Landon asked. "What's up?"
"You tell me," Asher nodded at him. "You're gonna propose to Zoie and I had to hear about it from Uncle Damon?"
"Ah, shit, he told you?" Landon laughed nervously, raking his hair with his hand.
"I had to hear about your little crush from Zach and the guys too,"
Asher decided to play it cool, fishing for information as much as he could before he made a move.
"Well, yeah... The proposal thing was kinda unplanned. I didn't think the conversation was gonna go there. Uncle Damon and I were just talking and I kinda blurted out that I'm in love with her. I mean, I've been in love with her for a very long time..."
"So it's that serious, huh?" Asher cocked his head to the side and crossed his arms.
"Yeah," Landon nodded his head. "This whole summer, I've been spending time with her and I'm having the best time of my life. We have a connection that I don't think I can get with anyone else. And I have this gut feeling... It's a really strong feeling that we belong together. It's like, we're meant to be together, you know?"
"No, I don't know," Asher narrowed his eyes. "You never told me shit,"
"Yeah, well, you were busy," Landon shrugged. "You're always in the office, or I don't know where you'd run off to after that..."
Asher uncrossed his arms and cleared his throat.
"So when I came in just now, that was you proposing to her?" he asked.
Landon shook his head.
"I didn't get a chance to go there. I was just telling her how I feel. And the kiss was... a spur of the moment kind of thing. I just went for it,"
"So, what'd she say?"
"Huh?"
"When you told her how you feel, what did she say?"
Landon took a deep breath before answering.
"She told me she's seeing someone, this guy at Stanford. But I don't think it's that serious between them because she hasn't even told her dad or anyone else about it. Also, I don't think he's good enough for her anyway,"
"What do you mean?"
"From what I hear, the whole thing is pretty dumb. He was like a one-night stand she met at some bar. Their whole relationship is just sex, pretty much," he scoffed.
Asher swallowed hard. That hit a nerve.
"I mean, you're out there with her, you must know. He's probably some basic, trust-fund kid, looking to have a good time in his first year of college," Landon snorted. "And I know I should be giving her space and letting her live her life and all that, but if she's gonna end up with me in the end, I wanna save her from unnecessary heartbreaks, you know what I mean?"
Asher almost couldn't speak. His fists were clenched and so was his jaw.
"How are you so sure that she's gonna end up with you in the end?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"Because I know that I can't love anyone else more than I love her," he answered matter of factly. "I know how to make her happy. I can give her the best life. I can give her everything she wants and more,"
Landon took a step closer, making sure Zoie was out of sight. Then, he leaned forward and whispered to Asher's ear, "Ash, I've got a whole plan set up. I'm gonna work for Uncle Damon for a couple of years and then I'll build my own company. Zoie's gonna stay in New York City to be a writer and I can help her with that. And then we're gonna get married, have a family, the whole white picket fence and everything!"
Landon never looked so happy as he was talking about this. Meanwhile, Asher felt life draining out of his body.
"Wow," he breathed, taking a step back. "You really thought it through,"
"Yeah," Landon chuckled. "I guess that's what you do when you're in love with someone,"
Asher swallowed hard again.
"Oh, anyway, I wasn't aware that you and Zoie are meeting today... sorry if I interrupted you guys's plan," Landon continued.
Asher shook his head.
"Don't worry about it,"
"Was it important?" he pressed. "Zoie said it was a bodyguard thing?"
"Nah, don't worry about it,"
"You know, I think it's really nice of you to do what you're doing. Being her bodyguard in college and all that. I'm sure she hasn't made it easy, but Uncle Damon says you're doing a great job,"
Asher forced out a smile.
"It's ten million dollars, was I supposed to say no?"
Landon let out a laugh.
"I actually asked Uncle Damon for the job," he said, and this caught Asher's attention. "I didn't ask for any money, I just said I wanna go out there and help her. Be with her and everything. But he said no,"
"Why?"
"He said... if I'm serious about being with her, my place is in his office and not in her college apartment, so he gave the job to you,"
As if it wasn't enough to see his girl kissing another guy, all of this felt like a knife was stabbing him in the heart multiple times. It was clear to Ash now. Damon saw great potential in Landon, he believes he's the right match for Zoie. Meanwhile, he was just some hired bodyguard to keep her safe until it was time to hand her over to his brother.
"Ash, I know we haven't been like brothers in a long time..." Landon said suddenly. "I also know that I'm part of the reason why you left. That accident... I want you to know that it wasn't your fault and I never blame you for that. I just hope you'd stop blaming yourself,"
This took Asher by surprise. That dreadful accident that almost claimed Landon's life was a taboo thing they never talked about.
"...I know it sucks that we don't have the same father, but that doesn't make you any less of a brother to me," Landon continued, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I love you, brother,"
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~ Zoie's POV ~
Zoie bit her nails as she waited anxiously inside the car. From the window, she could see Asher and Landon talking. Landon was putting his hand on Ash's shoulder. She was afraid that Asher was gonna do something stupid, like punch his brother or something, but Asher didn't seem to mind. A lot of time had passed and they just kept talking.
What can they possibly be talking about?!
Finally, after twenty minutes of waiting inside the car, she couldn't take it anymore. She took the car key and got out, walking back to the mausoleum. As she came closer, she tried to pick out their conversation, but she couldn't get much out of it.
"Are you guys done talking?" she said as she approached them, sounding nervous and scared. "What are you guys talking about?"
Landon and Asher turned to her at the same time. Landon was smiling while Asher kept a straight face.
"We're just talking about you," Landon beamed.
"I think we should head back," Asher said as he walked off. "We don't wanna miss the family dinner,"
Zoie thought he would at least give her some sort of eye contact, but he didn't. He just kept walking past her.
"Ash..." she breathed.
"We'll talk later," he muttered under his breath.
And with that, he was gone again. Walking straight into his car and driving away.
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- - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -