“Are you doing okay? Has Lachlan contacted you?” I asked, knowing that sometime in the past thirty-six hours there was a conversation of some sort.
“He called me after you left. Obviously, I had a belly full of wine so I answered the call and told him exactly what I thought and how much of an asshole he was. I didn’t hold back. Then I had a little cry. Then I got angry at myself for crying. By the way, he knows you had dinner with me.”
I won’t lie. Knowing that she dropped my name to that asshole felt un-fucking-believable. “He sent me an email earlier, warning me to stay away from you.”
“He did not.” She gasped, wide eyed and completely shocked. “You cannot be serious?”
“Sure did. He is full of empty threats, Ashy.”
Her eyes fled from mine and she shifted in her seat. Something had just flashed through her head.
“Can we please keep the whole Lachlan thing between us? I don’t want to have to deal with questions and feeling like I fucked up because I didn’t listen to people’s warnings just yet. I will owe you big time. I’ll do whatever you like.”
“You didn’t fuck up,” I stated matter-of-factly. “So get that thought out of your head.”
She huffed in response, and crossed her arms defensively over her chest. “Josh, we both know I did.”
“Lachlan fucked up. There was absolutely no fucking up on your end, so stop thinking like that.”
“You’re very stubborn and bossy these days.”
“Should I be telling the guy that came to your place that you like bossy and stubborn?” I asked, taunting her.
“Well, if he was bossy and stubborn, would he really be concerned about what I thought?” She raised a suspicious brow in my direction and it encouraged me further.
“He’d respect you and devote himself to you. You’d get exactly what you needed, but he would always guarantee that he also got what he wanted.”
Yep, we were officially flirting. I always had fun flirting with Ashlyn—making random taunts and inappropriate comments—but she had never taken the bait. Now, however, in a crazy turn of events, she was starting it. It was entirely unexpected, and a massive fucking turn on.
Ashlyn moved forward and leaned over my desk, her eyes loaded with a suggestive undertone and her lip pulled between her teeth. I waited eagerly to see what she was going to divulge next, but nothing came. The door suddenly burst open and Ky appeared, so Ashlyn immediately sat back in the seat.
“I was told you’d arrived,” Ky said happily as he took in Ashlyn. “You two ready?”
“Yep, just let me close up and I’ll be good to go,” I replied.
Ashlyn lifted her bag from the edge of my desk, pushed back the chair, and moved toward the door with Ky. Her eyes flashed to mine in silent plea of the conversation we never finished. The fact that she wanted to hide what Lachlan did certainly didn’t sit well with me. The world should know the extent of his fuck up. I diverted my attention back to my laptop, finished off the email I was halfway through, and pushed back from my desk. Then I grabbed my wallet from my top drawer, shoved my phone in my pocket, and was ready to go.
After falling into step beside Ky, we headed for our favorite diner, Antonio’s. Ky chatted animatedly, and there was no doubt in my mind what this little lunch outing was about. I loved that he thought he could keep things from me, but I was that annoying little brother who knew everything about his big brother.
Antonio’s had a flurry of lunchtime revelers. Ky entered and headed to our usual booth, while I held open the door for Ashlyn. Her eyes flashed to mine before she dipped under my arm and passed. I leaned in until my mouth hovered over her ear, and she immediately halted as my body pressed close to her side.
“You have my word. It will remain between you and me,” I said in a low voice.
I stepped away, and she turned to face me. Her eyes traced my features, then she rose on her tiptoes and placed the softest of kiss on my cheek. “Thank you, I owe you one,” she whispered, her words laced with gratitude.
We moved through the diner, waving at Antonio as we passed the kitchen, and headed toward Ky. Burgers, fries, and sodas soon covered the table, while laughter filled the air. Ashlyn appeared to be in her element. She was joking and messing around, teasing me, and encouraging Ky to do the same. It was as if everything was fine and dandy in her life. It was refreshing to see, and gave me some hope that maybe Lachlan hadn’t won.
“I have something I need to share with you both,” Ky announced, after popping the last bite of burger into his mouth.
Here we go.
Ashlyn leaned in eagerly, and I watched my brother closely and with great pride as he got ready to say the words I had been anticipating for months.
“I’m going to propose to Eden.”
“Oh my god.” Ashlyn’s shriek caught the attention of every single person in the diner, as her eyes were overcome with tears. Abruptly her hand shot out and grabbed mine, squeezing it hard and completely taking me by surprise. I hissed when pain shot up my arm as she excitedly dug her nails into my now-throbbing hand. Fuck me, where did she get this strength?
“Josh, they’re getting married. Eden and Ky are getting married,” she cried, completely ignoring Ky, who looked on with sheer excitement.
“Fuck, Ashy! I need my hand to work.” I laughed, and she immediately dropped it as if I was burning her, then her eyes widened briefly in shock at what she had done.
How did she not know she grabbed my hand? I lifted my hand and placed it on her thigh, and her eyes flew briefly to me. The second I felt her fingers brush against mine, I took the silent invitation to entwine my fingers with hers and join our hands as one. There would be no standard hand holding; I was going to smother hers with mine, and wait until she was the one to break. She needed this, she just didn’t realize it. I couldn’t ignore that her eyes held everything she wanted to hide. Ashlyn was the type of girl who dreamt of a happily ever after, and the tears that swam in her eyes weren’t completely filled with joy and excitement for her best friends. There was the briefest sign of heartache that flashed before me, not because it was Ky getting married, but because she had resigned herself to a life of never getting this.
“Congratulations, big brother. I couldn’t be happier for you.” I held my free hand out and shook Ky’s in cheers.
“Now you two are coming ring shopping with me,” Ky declared. Then he pulled two twenties from his wallet and put them on the table.
He could not be serious.
“Don’t look so shocked, Josh. You’re coming with me. I need both of your opinions. Let’s call it a bonding session.” He looked at me expectantly.
“You’re kidding, aren’t you?”
“Would you joke about buying your girlfriend an engagement ring?” he asked.
“Well, I have no immediate plans on proposing to anyone, so I can’t really answer that.”
“There will come a time, little brother, and fuck me if I can’t wait for it, just so I can remind you of this exact moment.”
“Josh, get your head out of your ass. We have rings to look at, rings to try on, and a ring to buy,” Ashlyn demanded in pure sass.
Shit, her voice was getting high pitched again as her excitement levels rose. She untangled her hand from mine, pushed back on the chair, and joined Ky. Then they both looked at me eagerly. I was being ambushed, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. Usually in these situations, I’d at least have Eden with me, and we would mount a solid defense.
“Fine,” I pushed back on my seat and scoffed, as Ashlyn started bombarding Ky with questions about different cuts of rings and diamonds, and how he was planning on asking her.
Ky shot me a pleading look over his shoulder as the three of us walked out of the diner. So now he wanted my help? No way big brother.