A cheer rose up for the hometown Ohio boy, and Kenny’s shoulders shook as Albert took hold and jerked him up from his seat.
“Kenny,” Asher called. “That’s you.”
Right now, every TV tuned to the draft no doubt broadcasted his stunned face. Was this what it felt like to have all your dreams come true?
Kenny stood on shaky legs and hugged Albert and then his dad. Asher tried to hug him as he passed, but Kenny pulled him into a bruising kiss. The cheers grew louder.
Danny and the other secret serviceman pounded him on his back as he passed. Ushers guided him across the arena floor to the stage where a jersey waited with Montgomery ironed across the back.
Officials from the team shook his hand and congratulated him, but as they lined up for pictures, Kenny’s gaze drifted to where Asher still jumped up and down in the stands.
Who was he kidding? His dreams came true six months ago. This was just icing on the cake.
And it was a damn good cake.
Epilogue
Asher
Three years later
“How are you still so nervous about these things?” Kenny massaged Asher’s shoulders. They’d crept back up around his ears again with the anxiety he always went through before a big reveal. And this was the biggest one yet.
“You’re one to talk.” Asher relaxed a bit as he smirked at his boyfriend. “I seem to remember someone dry heaving over a toilet before last month’s NHL awards ceremony.”
“You know that’s only because I was terrified I’d actually win and have to go up and give a speech.”
“You play in front of almost twenty thousand people regularly. How does a room full of other hockey players scare you?”
Kenny wrapped his arms around Asher from behind. “I just figured no one would want to hear what I had to say.”
Asher turned in his arms to meet his gaze. “Uh, Ken, in case you forgot, there were like a million articles written about you after you were nominated for the King Clancy award. It didn’t even matter that you didn’t win. They recognize your work with Hockey Is For Everyone, making sure kids of all races, sexual orientations, and incomes can fall in love with the sport. It was incredible.”
Kenny shook his head. “I could never make as big an impact as you. This show is what’s incredible.”
In his time at MCNA, Asher had participated in some of the most amazing projects, but this one was his baby. And the stakes were high. He felt like he was about to strip naked on the world stage, but Kenny’s words made it feel more worth it than any reporter’s or art critic’s.
“I’m so proud of you.” Kenny wrapped his arms around Asher’s waist, pulling him close. It was Asher’s favorite place to be and it immediately relaxed him. “I know this is a huge deal for you, but your mural makes everyone speechless. It’s beautiful.”
“No one has seen the finished piece yet. Not even you. I just want people to interpret it for themselves. This isn’t about my thoughts and views. It’s supposed to help the American people express theirs.”
“And they will.”
“It’s Times Square.” Asher took a deep breath. He’d spent his summer break painting the mural on a massive brick wall on campus. But the mural was just the study piece. It was practice. Once he’d completed it, Asher photographed it and spent most of the fall semester creating a digital masterpiece that was about to go live on the largest billboard in Times Square. It was his first step toward becoming a political artist. It wasn’t controversial. That wasn’t what Asher was about. His work was meant to get the American people talking about the issues of the day. Because talking lead to action, and though he had no desire to enter the political ring himself, it would always be in his blood.
“POTUS has arrived. Everyone is waiting for you, Asher,” Roxie said. “It’s time.”
Kenny took his hand and led him out to the waiting crowd. His mother and father stood near the podium with secret service keeping the crowd at bay. She was nearing the end of her second term as president. In little more than a year, the White House wouldn’t be home anymore. It was kind of scary and exciting all at once.
“Ready?” Roxie asked.
Asher nodded. It was almost sunset and the reveal would happen in just a few moments. It was time to make his statement.
“Good luck, babe. I love you.” Kenny squeezed his hand one last time before Asher stepped up to the podium. The crowd was huge and most had no idea what they were about to see.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen.” Asher cleared his throat. “I apologize. I did not get the public speaking gene from my parents. So, I will let my art and the poet, Emma Lazarus speak for me. She said it best in her poem The New Colossus.”
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Asher’s hands shook as he folded his notes. “I’m no politician. My sister got that gene too.” He paused for the laughter from the audience. “Caroline is definitely the rising political star in this family. So I’m not here today to talk politics. I don’t care if you’re Republican or Democrat. Right wing or left or somewhere in the middle. We are all people who yearn to be free.”
Asher took a step back and looked up at the enormous screen. No one had seen the finished piece yet. Not even his best friend, Harper. She’d only seen bits and pieces of the mural in progress.
Asher stuck his hands in his pockets and waited beside Kenny and his parents.
“I’m so excited,” his mother murmured just as the LED screen flickered to life.
The first frame showed a line of ships sailing across the ocean in a single line. The Spanish Conquistadors, Pilgrims seeking religious freedoms, slave ships, ships carrying Irish peasants and European prisoners bound for the New World. The ships evolved as time progressed in an endless march across the sea, bringing immigrants from all over the world. Ellis Island and Lady Liberty came into view, the immigration lines teeming with huddled masses. From there came a march of refugees from every war the modern world has ever known. From the first World Wars, Korea and Vietnam to The Cold War, The Persian Gulf War, the war in Afghanistan, and the war on terrorism. Through the end of slavery to the liberation of Holocaust survivors, the crumbling of the Berlin wall, and the dissolution of Japanese internment camps. Syrian refugees with nowhere to go. Latin American’s searching for a better life. No matter what stood in their way, they all made it here. Every fiber of the American heartbeat was represented in Asher’s work. The ancestors of every American alive today. The melting pot of languages and cultures that made America one of the greatest nations in the world.
Silence fell across Times Square. Even the traffic came to a stop.
“Marry me?” Kenny whispered, looking to Asher with tears in his eyes.
“Yes—what? No wait—what?”
Kenny looked back up at the mural. “The man who can say a thousand words without uttering one. The guy who can stop traffic in Times Square because his heart is so big. That’s my guy. The only one I will ever love. Marry me?” He met Asher’s gaze, his eyes burning bright under the dazzling lights of Times Square.
The crowd began to stir, but Asher was only dimly aware they were softly singing the National Anthem. His mother was bawling, but Asher smiled as his anxiety vanished. “Yes. You’ve always been the only guy for me.”
Bonus Chapter 1: Kenny
Two Years Later
“Well, this sure is different from New York.” Kenny scanned the empty beach, soaking in the quiet. It was a far cry from the city where noise filled up every inch of space.
Arms wound around him from behind and he leaned back into Asher. “You telling me you don’t like our busy lives?”
Kenny chuckled. It was a conversation they had often. They knew it could be worse if they lived in other are
as of New York. They lived together in Garden City not far from the ocean, but it still wasn’t like this.
St. Croix was like an entirely different world, one still living in the past—in the best possible way.
“I love our busy lives.” Kenny ran a hand over Asher’s arms. It was true. He lived his dream every day playing in the NHL while Asher was the talk of Hempstead and beyond with the gallery he’d opened. They were making it and not because of who their parents were.
They stood in an old bell tower at the Carambola hotel with its panoramic views of the Carribbean sea. Columns lined the stone walkway through the open-air part of the hotel with white sheer curtains hanging between them, billowing in the sea breeze.
It was a perfect day in the perfect place.
“I have a surprise for you,” Asher whispered.
Kenny turned in his arms, his brow lifting. “All you have to do is ask and I’ll go back to the room with you.”
The corners of Asher’s mouth lifted and Kenny wanted nothing more than to kiss his smile, to feel it for himself. So, he did. Asher tightened his arms as he kissed him back.
Kenny pushed a hand through Asher’s hair, loving the way the soft strands caught on his fingers. There was a time he’d never imagined he’d get to do that. They’d come a long way from the teenagers they’d been, so unsure of what life would give them.
Nothing was ever promised. Kenny knew he could get injured tomorrow and never be able to set foot on the ice again. Asher could break both his hands, and… no, he’d still find a way to create art.
One of them could be lost forever. Kenny had seen it happen before. Happiness can disappear in a single moment. So, he’d decided to hold onto it while he could, to make the most of every second.
Yet, Asher’s surprises still scared him. He had a tendency to go a bit over the top with his sweetness. There was the surprise birthday party two years before where he’d invited Kenny’s entire team. But when they got home, Kenny just wanted to feel Asher, to kiss him. Asher couldn’t stop him from unbuttoning his shirt before everyone finally realized what was going on and jumped out of their hiding places to stop them.
Then… there was that time on live TV during the intermission of one of his away games. Kenny hadn’t seen Asher in months as their schedules and responsibilities had become so overwhelming they hadn’t made enough time for each other. Asher showed up, standing on the ice holding a banner with the words “I miss kissing you, Kenny Montgomery—gimmie a smooch.” Kenny stumbled over his own feet in his rush to get to Asher, almost landing on his butt and looking like a complete tool. But at the time, he’d only wanted to get his arms around his fiancé. Unfortunately, what happens on live TV never goes away. Those clips of “Kenny’s Smooch” became the most used Islanders GIFs with their fanbase.
Yep, their all-star center was the butt of a lot of jokes, and Kenny never heard the end of it from his teammates. He also didn’t care. The smooching that had come after that game was one of the highlight moments of their entire relationship. It also taught them how important it was to make time for their relationship, no matter what.
“You know I don’t like your surprises,” Kenny finally said.
Asher grinned. “You’ll like this one.” He positioned them so Kenny could see down the walkway that led to the front of the hotel.
He heard them before seeing the couple. “Beckett Anderson in the house!”
Kenny groaned. “You invited Becks on our vacation?” They got so little time together, even in the offseason. But for two weeks in June every year, it was just them.
Becks and Nicky appeared pulling rolling suitcases behind them. Becks squealed like one of his fangirls when he saw them, and Kenny couldn’t help but laugh at his ridiculously bright Hawaiian shirt.
Nicky shoved him. “Be cool.”
Becks reached them and pulled both Asher and Kenny into a crushing hug. “My husband is embarrassed by me.”
“Every day.” Nicky smiled at them in greeting.
“You’re not starting without me!!” Wylder’s sandals slapped against the stone as she ran down the walkway followed by Killian, Will, and even Diego.
“Starting what?” Kenny looked from Asher to his friends. “Did you invite everyone on our vacation?”
Asher shrugged. “Maybe.”
See? This was why Kenny hated Asher’s surprises. He didn’t think. Sure, he loved their friends, but he’d been looking forward to exploring the island with Asher.
A hotel attendant appeared and took their bags, saying they’d put them in their rooms, and the group moved from the bell tower to the open air deck of the bar nearby.
“I want an umbrella in my drink,” Becks told the bartender. “And make it a virgin.”
Kenny laughed. “You pregnant, Becks?” Becks rarely got drunk, but he loved his girly rum drinks and the occasional beer.
Becks shook his head. “I have a job to do this weekend. I want a clear head.”
“What job?”
Asher groaned. “Becks, now would be the time to shut up.”
Becks mimed zipping his lips.
They sat around wooden tables, listening to the sound of waves crashing below. There was so much Kenny wanted to do while they were there. Diving. Sailing. Hiking.
It didn’t take more than a few minutes to start forgiving Asher for another surprise gone wrong. He laughed more with this group of people than anyone else. They were his family. Of course, he had his dad too. Their relationship had never been better.
A hand landed on his shoulder and he looked up into the face of the man himself. “Dad.” He didn’t understand. “What are you doing here?” He stood to give his dad a hug.
“I missed you, kid.”
He hadn’t been a kid in years, but he let it slide because his dad tried, he really did. Unlike his mom who’d become just a woman sending his Christmas cards. “You saw me after the last game of the playoffs last month.” They’d lost in game seven of the conference finals. He’d been shocked to see his dad waiting for him after the game, but only because he was in the middle of a campaign year.
It only reminded him how much the man had changed.
“I wanted to see St. Croix?” His dad looked to Asher for help.
“Is that a question, Dad?” Kenny flicked his eyes from his dad to Asher. “Someone tell me what’s going on.”
Two more couples waved to them from down on the beach. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, both ex-presidents now, smiled wide. Beside them was Asher’s sister and her husband.
“Ash,” Kenny pleaded. “Please tell me what’s going on. This surprise is starting to scare me.”
Asher stood and reached for his hand. “Walk with me a sec.”
Kenny threaded their fingers together and let Asher lead him down the steps to the beach. His parents smiled as they walked by to join the others at the bar.
“Ash, come on. Don’t leave me in the dark here.”
Asher stopped walking and turned to face Kenny. “Kenneth Montgomery, I love you, you know that, right?”
“Of course, Ash—”
“There’s never going to be the perfect time for us to get married. Between my commissions and your training schedule, it’s hard enough to find this time.”
“We can do it. Next summer. It gives us an entire year to plan.”
“But I don’t want to wait a year.”
“I don’t either, but I also don’t really see another choice.”
A smile slid across Asher’s face, turning his handsome features into a magnificent expression. “We do.”
“We do what?”
“Have another choice.” He gestured back to the bar where everyone they loved sat.
“You don’t mean…”
Asher threw his hands out to the side. “Surprise.”
The surprise wasn’t bringing their friends on vacation, it was… “Asher Brooks, did you plan a wedding without telling me?” He stared at his fiancé with wide eyes.
“Okay, don’t look at me like that. I can’t tell if those ‘Asher did it again’ eyes are a good thing or not.”
“My ‘Asher did it again’ eyes?”
“Yeah, you always give me this look like I aim too high or dream too big. I know you’re the realist of the two of us, but this just seemed right. I can’t explain it. I wanted to do something to show you how much I love you. It took a lot of planning to get them all here, and I just…” He blew out a breath. “I wanted it to be perfect.”
Kenny moved toward him slowly, never more in love with his fiancé than at that moment. He didn’t know anyone else who’d do something like this for him, for them. He took another step.
“Say something.” Asher’s eyes shone. “Please.”
“Asher Brooks,” Kenny whispered. “There is no one else like you in this world.” He stopped right in front of him. “When do I get to marry you?”
“Tomorrow.” A tear slipped down Asher’s cheek. “Really? You’re okay with this?”
“I’m okay with anything that ties us together forever. Ash, I’d have gone to the courthouse years ago just to be your husband. But this…” He leaned in. “This is perfect.” When he pressed his lips to Asher’s this time, he never wanted to stop.
A thought came to him, and he pulled back. “Becks said he had a job to do. Please tell me you didn’t tell him he could perform the ceremony.”
A guilty smile came to Asher’s lips. “I didn’t even want to tell him the plan, but Wylder spilled. Nicky was going to tell him they were just coming to St. Croix for vacation. We were afraid he’d accidentally tell you. But you know Wylds, she’s basically her brother in a dress. She let it slip, and he immediately went and got ordained on some website. After that, I couldn’t say no. He’s like our puppy. We can’t kick the puppy.”
Kenny shook his head with a laugh. “It’s fine. I mean, who else can claim to have been married by some mediocre country star.”
Dating Him: The Series Page 45
