Chapter 112: Penny
The hum of the highway fills the car, steady and rhythmic, like it’s rocking the whole world into a trance. We’ve been on the road for almed on boar. The city is fading behind us, skyline shrinking in the rearview, replaced by rolling suburbs and sleepy roadside diners,
Asher drives like he does everything else – calm, deliberate, just a little on edge. One hand on the wheel, the other resting near his leg. His ethow leans against the windowsill, catching the light in brief flickers. He’s in a black hoodie and dark blue jeans, sleeves pushed to his forearms.
He looks… relaxed.
Almost.
But there’s always a part of him that stays tight. Watchful. Like even now, with the road stretching empty ahead and no threat in sight, something inside him refuses to settle.
I’m watching him when Tyler snores in the backseat. Loud. Abrupt.
It startles me so hard I jump, bumping my elbow against the console.
Asher doesn’t flinch. Just smirks a little.
“How does he do that?” I ask, rubbing my arm. “Fall asleep anywhere, anytime, earbuds in and everything.”
Asher shrugs. “Talent.”
I turn back to the window as the blur of city becomes smaller houses and more trees. The sky is pale, soft with clouds. The quiet between us isn’t awkward. It’s not quite comfortable either. It’s just… loaded. Always is.
“Did you really have a dog?” I ask after a minute. “At work?”
He nods once, eyes still on the road.
“What kind?”
“Belgian Malinois,” he says. “They’re built for it. Smarter, faster, more stable than most other breeds.”
I blink. “Built for what? Wait. It had a job?”
He glances over at me, genuinely confused.
“What did you think we had a dog for?”
“I don’t know,” I shrug. “Emotional support? Cuddle buddy?”
That gets him.
He shakes his head and smirks. “Not exactly.”
“So what was his actual job?” I ask, intrigued.
He’s quiet for a beat, then answers. “Explosives defection. Tracking personnel. Security during transport. Crowd control. Protection.”
I blink again, absorbing that. I had absolutely no idea. And I’m starting to think that most things concerning Asher elude me entirely.
“What was his name?”
His mouth twitches into a small smile. “Vigo.”
There’s a softness in his voice when he says it. The kind that slips out before you can pull it back.
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Chapter 112: Penny
I hesitate.
“Is he… I mean. Is he okay?”
He nods, eyes still forward. “Still working. Stayed overseas.”
I nod, looking back out the window. “I’m glad. He sounds… important.”
“He is.”
Silence slips between us again. Easy, this time. Until I break it.
“Is the three–foot rule real?”
That finally makes him look at me, fully one brow raised, curious.
“Where’d you hear that?”
“Did my research,” I say, with an innocent smile. “Google knows everything.”
He exhales through his nose, a trace of a laugh. “It’s more of a principle than a rule. The idea is–even if something matters, but you can’t control it, it’s a waste of focus.”
“So what do you focus on?”
“The overlap,” he says.
He glances at me, and I can see the words settle between us like a map. I picture it: two circles, colliding – things that matter, things you can control. That tiny slice in the middle?
Him. All the time.
“That’s a very Asher answer,” I murmur, smiling.
“What does that mean?”
“You’re annoyingly good at sounding like a fortune cookie.”
That earns me a quiet snort.
He tilts his head slightly, watching me out of the corner of his eye.
“Why’d you look up stuff like that?”
I shrug, but it’s not casual.
“I don’t know. I realized I had no idea what people in the Navy actually do. Like, real day–to–day stuff. What it looks like. What it feels like. I just… didn’t want to be clueless anymore.”
The reality is that I thought Navy SEALS were some sort of superheroes rescuing people from avalanches and plane crashes, constantly looking to save lives. When my parents said that I was wrong, I started wondering what it was exactly that Asher did back there.
He doesn’t say anything right away.
Just nods, slow. Thoughtful.
Like he’s trying to piece something together.
We fall quiet again, the highway rolling on. I feel warm. Settled. But still–curious.
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Chapter 112: Penny
“Okay.” I say after a minute, utting op straightes. “Serbs sextio*
He gives me a side glance.
“Do people ever ask if you work with actual seats?”
Asher blinks.
Then-
He snorts, Loud. Unexpected. And for the first time in weeks, I see him really smile. Not the hall smirk, not the pofte one. A real one.
“God,” he matters, shaking his head. “Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes,” he repeats. “Once a month, minimum. Some airport stranger, some Lyft driver. Always the same question: “Like… the animat?”
“What do you say?”
“I say I give them fish and hope for the best.”
I cover my mouth, trying not to laugh too loudly and wake Tyler.
But Asher’s still smiling. That rare, faint glow that never lasts long. The one that reminds me he has a dimple. I want to say something else. Keep it going But I don’t.
Instead, I sit back in my seat. Let the quiet fill the space again.
And I think about Vigo.
And the circles.
And how strange it is to know that a man like Asher Hayes lives inside the sliver where things that matter meet things you can control.
