Brooke
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Somehow, the girls and I manage to sneak in a girls’ night even though the guys have decided that boys’ and girls’ nights are now combined weekly.
Don’t get me wrong, these new bowling nights have been filled with so much fun, but I've missed nights like this more than I knew.
“Does Luca know where you are?” Sadie asks Shay.
Shay nods and then looks over Quinn's shoulder to the Hudson’s Bar.
Luca is settled up at the bar top, watching the bookstore while he eats his dinner.
“Basically, the fact that we decided to do it here is the only reason he let me come.” Shay rubs her hand over her belly. “He’s convinced that I’m going to go into labor at any given moment. I know anything can happen, but it’s a little out of control.”
Sadie and Quinn laugh as I hand her a cucumber mojito mocktail.
What started out as mimosas and contemporary romance books has definitely turned into any drink, lots of food, and any kind of romance book.
While I’m into the darker stuff, The Asher ladies—Sadie, Shay, Ruby, and Quinn—have been fully sucked into the romantasy world.
As I pour my own drink, I hear the four of them discussing the order of their current series. It is eight books, with a few novellas that need to be read in between. It seems like a lot to track.
“Sorry I'm late.” Grace walks through the door of the bookstore.
She smiles at the group, but when her eyes find mine, her smile falters.
But she quickly pulls it together.
“Can you pour me one?”
I nod, taking the mojito pitcher with alcohol and pour her a glass.
“This new plan to meet at the bookstore and have your husband's bar supply drinks is a genius idea,” Grace adds as she takes a seat on a long pink plush couch. We’ve also moved the chairs that usually sit by the windows, so we all have seats.
A buffet of finger snacks sits on the table in the middle.
“How are things at work?” I ask Grace while the others are taking notes of which books to read next.
“Fine.”
A short answer. That’s not good.
I know she said she was fine with me and her brother dating, but perhaps now that it’s turning into something more, she’s not sure she’s on board. Dutton and I haven’t exactly defined it, but it’s a given at this point that this thing between us is something more than friends.
She won’t look at me, and the more I sit here with her, the more I can sense that I’ve done something wrong. I just don’t know what it is.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Yep.”
“Grace, I feel like—”
“What do you know that I don't?”
The look on my best friend's face is a mixture of frustration and sadness.
“I don't know anything,” I tell her. And I hate the way the lie fell from my lips so easily.
“You have to know something.”
“I don't.”
“Come on, Brooke. You're denying it without even asking the context.”
Shit, she’s right.
“I know you and my brother are … whatever you guys are now, but he’s hiding something, and I know you know what it is.”
I don't say anything; her head drops down in defeat. I give her a moment, but when she doesn't look up, I move my chair a little closer.
“When Dutton came to me for help, I told him I'd only agree to it if he gave me a deposit to buy the bakery.”
“What?” She finally looks up.
I nod.
“Brooke, if you were struggling to buy this place, I could have helped you.”
“I know that. I know any of you would have,” I say, since we have gained the attention of everyone. “But I didn't want you to feel obligated as my best friends to say yes.”
“Still … Dutton?”
“He came to me at a really low time in my life, and he seemed like an easier bet. If I was going to make a deal and he was getting something in return, I wouldn't feel like I was taking advantage of anyone.”
“I would have helped you, you know.”
“I know, and I think about it all the time, but knowing what I know now and the outcome with your brother, I don't think I would have changed a thing.”
Grace's eyes glaze over. “But you do know you can come to me now, right? If you need anything. Or if you need to talk. I wasn't aware something was upsetting you.”
“I do.” My eyes start to tear up as well, my mind quickly shifting to my dad.
These are words he should be saying to me, too.
Thank God I have these women in my life. They are my family.
“No, don't do it.” Shay points at me and then at Grace. “Neither of you better cry or I’ll be triggered and—fuck.” She fans her eyes and then wipes the tears that have fallen.
“I’m telling you this because Dutton kept that secret for me,” I explain. “I didn’t want everyone to know that my mother stole my identity and ruined my credit and I can’t get a loan until it all clears.”
“Oh my god,” Grace says.
“I would have tried to help you,” Sadie says.
“I know.”
I turn my attention back to Grace.
“I guess my point is, this thing between your brother and me … it means something to me. And if he kept my secret, it means something to him, too. I can’t tell you anything, because it’s not my story to tell.”
“Shit,” she says and sucks in a breath. “Are you in love with my brother?”
I sit up straighter.
“I’m …” No words come to me as I sit here and smile. “I don’t know yet, but I really, really like him.”
“She loves him,” Ruby says, and the girls all nod in agreement.
I don’t even try to deny it.
Whatever I feel for Dutton is new to me, and I’ve never been in love. Could that be what I feel for him?
Grace reaches over and grabs my hand, squeezing it.
“I know you can’t tell me what’s going on, but, you guys, things at the lodge are weird right now. His Royal Dumbass is back again, and he still waits for me every time I get back to the lodge. Why is he here so much?” Grace shakes her head and closes her eyes.
His Royal Dumbass is how she refers to Preston King.
“I wish I knew. If I did, I would definitely tell you that.”
“Dutton says the lodge makes Preston feel like he's at home more than anywhere else, which is just crazy because there's nothing welcoming about the way I treat him. If anything, you would think he'd feel like an unwanted guest.”
I laugh, and so does Grace, and then she leans over the table to hug me. I promise that the next time I need help with something, I will come to her before I go to her brother.
Whom I may or may not be falling in love with.