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Ash exhaled a short breath and smiled back, taking one hand off the wheel long enough to wave a greeting. He slowed his car and then stopped along the curb.

Cass opened the front passenger side door and hopped in, setting a duffle bag on the floor at his feet. “Hey, thanks for—”

Ash shook his head, cutting Cass off, and then he tilted his head toward the back seat. “Bri’s sleeping,” he said quietly. “Sorry, she didn’t nap after our hike earlier and just passed out a few minutes ago.”

“Ahhh.” Cass closed the door carefully and then glanced into the back. “Precious girl,” he said, his voice low. “She must have been exhausted. How long was the hike?”

“About five miles out and back. I carried her most of the way, but she did quite a bit of walking, too.” Ash swallowed hard as he pulled back onto the road. His body buzzed, as though now acutely aware of how close Cass was. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.

Next to him, Cass hummed. “Five miles, wow. You must be exhausted, too, then? Carrying her most of the way?”

“Ah, nah, not exhausted. But it is a good workout,” Ash admitted.

Cass laughed softly. “I’ll bet. How high up is the summit?”

They continued chatting in hushed tones to avoid waking Bri while Ash navigated south toward the café, which sat right on the bank of Portage Bay. Everything seemed much less awkward than the day before, although Ash’s heart rate ticked up every time he glanced over at Cass and their eyes met.

When he pulled into an open spot in the dirt parking lot across the street from the café a few minutes later and cut the engine, he took a deep breath and then turned to look into the back seat over his shoulder.

“Still out?” Cass asked softly.

“Yup,” Ash said. He glanced back at Cass with a grin. “We don’t need to be too quiet anymore. She’ll be out for at least an hour, no matter what we do.”

Cass’s eyes widened slightly, and a pink tinge grew in his cheeks, though it took Ash another few seconds to realize how his words could be interpreted.

And the fact that Cass had somehow interpreted them that way . . .

With a sharp breath, Ash quickly tore his gaze away from Cass’s.

“Uh, let’s go, yeah?” he said, his face heating up. Without waiting for a response, Ash unfastened his seat belt and nearly jumped out of the car. He shut the driver’s side door and then headed around to the back of the small SUV and popped open the hatch to get Bri’s stroller. By the time he had it unfolded and shut the hatch, Cass was just closing his door.

Ash paused, staring as Cass’s eyes met his again. Their deep brown looked the same as the day they’d met. Ash wasn’t even really sure why he remembered that moment so well—the moment when Cass had come up to his car door, a soft, inviting smile on his face, and offered Ash help getting his car unstuck. The gentle kindness and understanding in Cass’s eyes were the same now as they had been then, and it made Ash feel safe in a way he really couldn’t define.

Exhaling a slow breath, Ash pushed the stroller forward a tad. “The car seat detaches from the car and fits in here, so we don’t have to carry her around the whole time,” he explained with a tight smile.

Cass just nodded and shuffled out of the way as Ash opened up the door to the back seat and carefully lifted Bri’s car seat out. He clicked it into place in the stroller, then extended the canopy out to block much of the sun. Bri sighed deeply in her sleep but didn’t wake.

“She really is out,” Cass said softly once Bri was all settled.

Ash nodded. “Yeah. Normally, she’d have napped on the way home from the hike, but she was too into whatever conversation she was having with her stuffie, which—” Ash groaned and stepped back over to the car. “Which we’d better have with us in case she does wake up, or you’ll find out just how loud she can cry.” He leaned in across the seat and grabbed the bright-blue octopus stuffie along with Bri’s diaper bag. When he straightened back up, shaking his head, Cass was grinning at him, and he stopped again, letting himself feel whatever that sense of comfort was that he got from Cass’s gaze.

He shook his head and looked down after a moment. He almost wanted to say something, to ask Cass how he did that—how he made Ash feel so good. But he didn’t have the courage quite yet.

“Here, let me carry that for you?” Cass asked, and when Ash lifted his eyes again, Cass was slowly reaching out.

It took Ash a second to realize Cass was offering to take the diaper bag, and he shook his head. “Ah, thanks, but it can go under the stroller.”

“Oh, right.”

Cass moved out of the way again as Ash slid the diaper bag into the space on the bottom of the stroller. Ash then gently set the octopus stuffie in Bri’s lap, so it’d be there if Bri woke up.

“There, now we’re good to go.” Ash took his place behind the stroller. “Hungry?”

Cass nodded. “Lead the way.”

Something about that made Ash grin, and he got stuck yet again, his eyes locked on Cass’s for an extra half second. More of that pleasant warmth wrapped around him as Cass gifted him another smile. Ash still didn’t look away, but he felt his cheeks flush, and a deep longing surged through him. Again, he found himself wanting to say something, wanting to ask if Cass was feeling this, too, or if it was just him being ridiculous. And for the first time—ever, actually—he wished for something he’d never had. Closeness. Something more intimate in intention. A hug that meant something. A kiss. An arm around his shoulders.

He opened his mouth, almost ready to speak up, but he couldn’t. Instead, he just gave a short laugh and tilted his head toward the café. “This way,” he said, and he finally started off, pushing the stroller over the rough dirt and gravel to the sidewalk.