For now, Cassidy has to settle with whatever Asher can do at the moment. 

“I won’t ask you to confess your feelings, but at least talk to her again! You decided to withdraw from playing volleyball with us earlier after learning you’ve been partnered up with her, didn’t you? Don’t start making things awkward between you two!” she chided. 

“It’s that damn Shade’s fault! Also, your three annoying nephews! They kept teasing us and calling us names! And what exactly am I supposed to say to her, anyway?!” he exclaimed.

Though Asher is still protesting, he’s starting to walk more on his own. Cassidy has finally convinced him. 

“Just let me draw some distance for now! I need to cool down a little! Things aren’t going to get awkward between us!” he continued to reason with her. 

“Stop being a brat,” she snapped at him, whacking him playfully in the head. 

They’re already a couple of steps away from Irish right now. This is no time for Asher to be thinking about those silly things. Cassidy has to make him man up. 

“Just talk to her and be yourself like always. I’ll be there with you, I promise. Everything’s gonna be okay,” she reassured him with a smile to which he could only sigh in defeat.

With that, the two of them proceeded to make their way to Irish and the others who had already given up teaching poor Aira how to swim. Instead, Damien, Joshua, and Hugo were happily helping her make a sandcastle. Almost immediately, Cassidy could see Asher tense up a little the moment they reached them.

“Hey, guys…” she greeted them with a small wave, relieved that he wasn’t too far behind from her. 

“What’s up? I thought you were teaching Aira how to swim.”

“I couldn’t do it…” the young girl responded for them while she continued on in her work with their sandcastle.

“But I’m sure I will be able to soon enough. I’ll just take a break for now. There’s more to the beach than swimming, anyway. Playing in the sand, for one, is quite enjoyable.” 

“Oh, I see. I’m happy that you’re having fun so far.”

“Yeah, I am! Thanks for taking me here with you, sis!”

She gave Aira a smile in reply. That’s when she noticed Asher distracting himself with other things, clearly trying his hardest to not look at Irish who’s now peering at both of them. 

“I’m sure you’ll learn how to swim, Aira. Maybe we can come here again next summer,” Cassidy continued, earning a grin and a nod from Aira. 

“Now, wait a moment, Cassidy. You’re actually wearing that ugly shirt after Olivia and I went through hell trying to find the perfect swimsuit for you? That was made by a world-renowned fashion designer, you know,” Irish suddenly chimed in, which caught her and Asher’s attention. 

Cassidy quickly nudges him with her elbow, hoping he’ll snap out of it. Asher is really going to blow his own cover if he doesn’t act natural. 

“If you don’t take that shirt off right now, I’m going to take it off for you,” Irish taunted.

“Please, Irish, don’t,” Cassidy hastily pleaded. 

“You’re a model, Cassidy. Don’t tell me you don’t really see yourself as pretty-“

“It’s not that. I just feel very comfortable in this shirt.” 

“Yeah ’cause Adrian gave it to you.” 

Irish lifted a brow then, confident that she hit the mark. Cassidy felt herself blush a little but immediately shook it off when she heard her laugh out loud. 

“Fine. I guess I can’t force you. My brother probably didn’t want you to wear that, anyway. That must be why he gave you his shirt…” she said then trailed off, looking around. 

“Man, I wonder if they’re selling some alcohol around here. I’m feeling like it.”

That’s the time Asher cleared his throat, gathering all their attention. 

He looked at Irish with a blushing face, his hands clenched into fists. Right then, Cassidy suddenly felt somewhat nervous for him. 

She could hear herself cheering for him from inside her head. He was going to do it. 

“Well, if you’d like, we can look for an alcohol store together. I manage a bar so I’m pretty good at searching for one,” Asher offered, exceeding Cassidy’s expectation.

“Oh, sure. Let’s go together, then. Is it okay if we do it now? It’s pretty hot out here, and when you’ve spent hours trying to teach someone how to swim, things only get worse,” Irish replied, suddenly feeling a little timid.

“What are you talking about, Aunt Irish? You’re too busy looking at your nails to do anything. So, you just kept telling Aira what to do without really helping out,” Damien deadpanned while the other children snickered.

Irish blushes faintly, not expecting she’d get busted out. Asher lets out a chuckle of his own as well. He then walked closer to her, which took Cassidy aback for a bit. 

He’s actually being bolder than she thought. At that moment, she feels proud of him.

“So, anyway, where do you want us to start searching?” he asked while she thought about it for a couple of seconds. 

“I don’t really know. Anywhere is fine,” she answered, shrugging.

“Alright, then. To the stalls first.”

“Thanks again. I appreciate it. I’m going to have to pay you later, though. I think I left my wallet somewhere back in the tent. Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. I’ll pay for our drinks.”

“Really? But you already paid for the cheesecake back then.”

“It’s all good. You can just treat me to something next time.”

With that, Cassidy and the others watched Asher and Irish leave. 

It caused her some amusement to see him rubbing his neck and fidgeting around as he walked beside her. He was definitely a lot braver in this stuff than she gave him credit for, and she was glad that he had at least gotten to talk to Irish again. Both of them are going to be just fine – for sure. He would soon learn that he was only fretting over nothing this whole time. For all she knows, they’ll get together before she and Adrian go abroad.

Cassidy certainly hopes so since everyone deserves to be happy.