Page 56 of Winging It with You

Asher

The Fernandez Residence

Monona, Wisconsin

Our last night on the lake is one I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Theo, Stefan, and Alejandro huddled around the grill. Elise and Carla laughing at the table. Frankie passed out in my lap and Lola losing her own battle with sleep.

I take as many mental pictures as I can of every detail so I never forget this feeling.

Of home and warmth and looking over at Theo, eyes bright and alive in the summer night; of the feeling of love. I have fallen for him, hard, and I think on some level, beyond the jokes and the charming bravado, there’s a part of him that still may not believe it.

After dinner is cleared away and everyone begins to settle down for the evening, I extend my hand toward Theo, and he doesn’t hesitate for a second to take it in his.

I lead him across the lawn toward the water, and when we reach the wooden dock, we sit side by side and let our bare feet dangle in the crisp water.

The lake that Theo’s family’s home sits on is calm.

It reflects the light of the bright moon almost perfectly on its smooth surface—I could spend hours out here, counting the stars in the clear night sky and listening to the sounds of summer swell heartily around us.

Theo doesn’t rush me.

One of the things I’ve come to admire, and envy, about him is his ability to just be . For someone so full of life and energy, whose job demands that he constantly be on the go, he has the uncanny gift of being fully present in any given moment. He seems to savor the moments he’s a part of.

“You’re different here,” I say, leaning my head on his shoulder.

“How so?”

“I don’t know…You just seem more at ease.” There’s a lingering sweetness of campfire smoke and sun on his skin that I wish I could bottle up.

He slowly brings his lips to my temple, planting the softest of kisses there. “That makes sense. Being here—with them—is like exhaling. I guess I get to be the real me, quirks and all.”

“I like your quirks.”

“Yeah?” He puts his hand on my thigh, his skin warm and comforting against mine.

“I could do without the snoring, but…”

“Hey, now,” he says, nudging me in a way that forces our bodies even closer together.

I can’t help but smile at all the traits of his I’ve discovered during our time together. Like how he always takes a deep inhale of a freshly clean towel before using it or how he’s incapable of falling asleep unless he’s made sure that the closet and bathroom doors have been properly shut.

Or how he has consistently reached over in the middle of the night to hold my hand, and in those moments, I never feel more content.

“What I’m trying to say is that everything about you has been one giant surprise after another.”

He allows a few moments before responding, the silence between us accented by the chirps of a nearby cricket. “In a good way?”

“The best way.” I can feel him exhale next to me, and knowing my words are a relief to him makes my heart ache. “Theo, meeting you changed my life.”

Removing his hand from my thigh, he puts an arm around me now. “I was hoping you’d feel that way.”

Turning to him, I gently plant a kiss on his jaw. “My life is infinitely better because you came into it.” I think back to everything that has happened since our paths crossed at the airport, and it’s hard not to believe fate brought this man into my life when I needed him most.

“We really have been through it,” he says, his lips pressed to my temple. It feels like an understatement, all things considered. “So…now what?”

“Now, we go back to our lives,” I say, slowly kicking my feet back and forth in the cool water. “No more cameras and living out of our suitcases. No more nonsense with Bianca and Jackson or having to put up with Dalton McKnight…”

“And us?” he asks, interrupting me.

The fact that he wants an us is more than I could ever ask for.

“Us?” I repeat, turning to face him. Reaching up.

I place both of my hands on his face and stare deep into his eyes—eyes that are radiating concern for a future neither one of us has really talked about before.

“We can do anything we want, but I don’t care what we do, Theo…

” He cocks an eyebrow at me, which only makes me smile.

“As long as my mornings start wrapped tightly in your arms and my nights end with your hand in mine, I’ll be a happy man.

” And it’s true—if I’ve learned anything the past few weeks, it’s that I require far less than I thought to make me happy.

Really and truly happy. And Theo just might be at the center of it all.

But who knows. Maybe all this was never about him.

Or us, even.

Maybe sitting here with this magnetic force of a man was never meant to be my destination.

Instead, the whole point of him and us and the undeniable way he makes me feel is that I needed to come apart.

Seam by narrowly held-together seam, rough edges and all.

Maybe I needed a moment of unbecoming to shake loose everything I’ve been carrying all these years.

Shedding bits and pieces of who I thought I was supposed to be in order to find myself again.

To love myself again.

And Theo? I think the hands of fate were onto something weaving his life into mine like this. Not as some prize to be won, but as someone to share the journey with, together.

“It’s that simple, huh?” he asks, the smallest smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“You and I have been gallivanting all over the world these last few weeks, doing things well outside both of our comfort zones. Doesn’t simple sound pretty amazing right about now?”

Theo shakes his head, the smile he’s been holding back finally making its reappearance. He places his full lips to mine, and as the crickets carry out their joyous tune and the soft breeze coming off the lake dances on our skin, I am left in awe at the lack of urgency to his kiss.

Because now, maybe for the first time ever, it’s not lost on either of us that we have all the time in the world to figure out what comes next.

“Simple sounds more than perfect, actually,” Theo says, and I couldn’t agree more.

/////////////

Theo and I FaceTime with Jenn and Ellie in bed on our last morning.

Their faces smooshed together on the screen, hair wild and eyes still in disbelief that they’d actually won.

We pass along our infinite congratulations and make promises to see one another soon, especially since Ellie will be heading off to college next year.

My heart swells with the knowledge she’ll now have the means to go to whatever school she gets into, and while she grimaced when I tried to sell her on different biomedical engineering programs, I’ll be cheering her on as loudly as I can regardless.

After waving a tearful goodbye to Theo’s family, who make me promise many times that I’ll be back soon, I hop in the car, where Theo is waiting, his head down but a soft smile on his face.

Driving to the airport together feels different this time.

He holds my hand, alternating tracing tiny circles and hearts with his thumb over my knuckles like he did all those times on the show. Without even having to look at him, I have a pretty good idea that he’s feeling what I am.

Sadness that our time on the lake has come to an end.

When we arrive, I learn my flight back to Boston has been delayed, so there is still some time for us to linger outside the terminal.

Theo leans against his parents’ sedan, and I stand fidgeting with my bag’s strap again, trying and failing to string together a sentence to articulate exactly how I feel.

How much he means to me.

How much I need him.

What do I say to the man who has felt more like home than any place ever could?

He must sense my inner turmoil, or maybe he just can’t bear to not be touching me any longer, because Theo takes me in his big arms and holds me close. I take a deep breath and commit every note and subtlety of his scent to memory.

“This isn’t goodbye, Asher Bennett,” he says into my temple, his voice soft but filled with so much love. I squeeze him tighter. “We’re going to figure this out. Together.”

“Promise?” I say, craning my neck so I can look him in the eyes.

“Of course. I’m all in.” He kisses me—again and again and again—and I know the second I turn away that I never want to say goodbye to this man.

I couldn’t possibly. I know it without any reservations and with judgment as clear as day.

Because meeting Theo the way I did was no accident.

No logic or rational thought could convince me otherwise.

Sometimes, a life detour comes along when you least expect it.

And if you are brave enough to lean in to it, that little detour—or the right person—can change everything.

Like Theo has.

Like only he could.