By the time hormones kicked in, it was already too late to consider anything more than friendship. By that point, the thought of treating Asher as more than a friend made me nauseous, and he admitted that he felt the same. He confided in me when he developed crushes on girls at school, and I did the same with him. One of my worst-favorite memories with Asher was when we attended Kelly Maynard’s birthday party together. Such an event was a rarity, we weren’t used to being around other kids much, and certainly not in social situations; we were both hyped up and looking forward to it. There was a Snoopy snow cone machine at the party which Kelly was pissed about, as she had wanted some sort of ice cream maker instead. But Asher and I loved it. The crank was hard to turn, so I loaded the ice and Asher crushed it for me, leaning on the crank while I captured the blue-dyed icy treat in my miniature cup.

I drank so many of those tiny cups that by the end of the party, the pain in my stomach was excruciating. I tried to make it to the bathroom in time but failed. Diarrhea leaked through the bottom of my neatly pressed trousers and dribbled on my clean white shoes. Asher rushed to my aid, trying to clean me up with thin paper party napkins. The kids never forgot it, chanting, “Georgia Britt smells like shit” in the hallways and telling everyone who would listen that Asher was my personal toilet paper man. It was so stupid, such a childish thing. But looking back at the way all those boys and girls who called themselves friends laughed at me, and the way Asher rushed to my aid, hecklers be damned. It wasn’t necessarily a fond memory, but it solidified our friendship and Asher’s loyalty to me.

I’d told Elizabeth the truth today, even though she didn’t want to hear it. Yes, I loved her son. But I’d never love him in the way Rosalee loved him, or the way Elizabeth wished and hoped I would. Asher and I would always be friends, the best of friends. But nothing more than that…

By the time the waiter came around to our table, I was still unsure what to order. When he suggested the shrimp and onion ring basket, I agreed and closed my menu.