It happened in a way that she never saw coming, and it was not within her plans.
It was more like it was something that she had been trying to avoid, but she had found herself in that position anyway.
She kept Max close since she needed him and had planned to keep things casual and a little distant once everything was over with and she no longer had a use for him.
She had obtained what she needed from him, but things did not work out as she had planned.
Rather than putting more distance between herself and Max, Ash found herself growing closer and closer as she relied on him for more than what she had approached him for.
The experiences that she had with him made her take more of a chance on him, enough to let him get closer to her to the point that their relationship started to deepen, and she was developing feelings for him.
