6. Asher
Asher
*Knight added you to the group chat*
Noah
Ummm. I’m sorry…what is this?
Why did you start a new message without Quinn in it?
What is happening?
Jaxson
Calm down Noah.
Will
But…I will admit, this is a little weird Knight.
Oli
Doesn’t feel right.
Me
If you fuckers think I’m going to be part of a second group chat…
Knight
Can everyone calm the fuck down.
*picture attached*
Oli
Damn Knight, did you buy this ring for me?
Noah
OH MY GOD. ARE YOU PROPOSING TO QUINN?
Will
Stop yelling at us.
Knight
Yeah, picked the ring up in London, going to propose in Italy.
But Noah if you ruin this surprise, I will murder you.
Jaxson
I’m actually surprised you told him.
Knight
I almost left him out of the chat.
Noah
Rude. I won’t ruin it but what’s the plan? You might need our help.
Don’t want her to say no.
“The last thing we need to do today is look at the golf course layout.” Greg riffled through the papers in front of him, pulling out what he needed.
I didn’t care much for golf. Oli and Will tended to do the most golfing among the group so I tuned the designer out as they went through the plan.
Instead, I let my thoughts wander to Sutton.
How she felt in my arms when I stopped her from face-planting, how her guarded smiles only made me more curious.
Quinn was still refusing to tell me anything about her.
I didn’t like not knowing what she was hiding.
I needed to know so I could determine she wasn’t a threat to my family and then I would push her out of my mind.
At least that’s what I was going to keep telling myself was the reason I was so fascinated with her.
Why my body gravitated toward her, how I could practically feel her energy in that fucking conference room as I watched her go through the presentation.
I’d gotten some answers. She was a little timid, not surprising with all of us in the room. But she was kind, friendly, and still smelled like fucking coconut.
Why the fuck did she always smell so fucking good?
“It all looks great, Greg. We’re excited to get started.”
I focused back on the room. Noah and Knight were standing, shaking Greg’s hand. I remained seated and instead just gave him a nod as he left the conference room, then looked back down at my phone.
I could feel Noah smiling at me as he sank back into his chair, swiveling to look at me. I tried ignoring him, but he was nothing if not persistent. After a few more seconds, I looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. His smile only grew, which had Knight letting out a sigh.
“Do we have to do this right now?” he grumbled as he leaned against the conference room table.
This wasn’t new for us. When I went to live with Noah, Knight, and Noah’s parents, I spoke very little, always guarding myself, and this was what Noah did. He would wait me out, sit there smiling with a goofy look on his face, and I usually broke just to get him to stop.
Jane claimed our longest standoff was thirty minutes.
“Have something to say?” I grunted out, only because I had other shit to do.
He let out a laugh, shaking his head as he grabbed a gummy worm from his pocket. The man was a sugar addict and always had something on him. “What do you think?” He waved his hand over the architectural designs on the table in front of us.
“Will and Oli should have been here.”
“They had meetings and we need it approved today to stay on time so you and Knight got tapped in.” Noah shot me a stern look. He ran the construction and real estate side of our business so this really was his project. Plus, with his enthusiasm, it was a good place to focus his attention.
“Like I’m a fucking backup,” Knight puffed out as he shook his head.
“Looks good to me.” And it did. If they thought it would make us money, that’s what I cared about.
Noah opened his eyes wide. “Rave review from Ash.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed back from my chair. “You know you’ve got this handled.”
Noah leaned over and gave me a placating pat on the shoulder. “I know, big guy, but I like forcing you to give me compliments.”
“You don’t need a bigger head,” I muttered, getting a laugh from Noah.
“Are we done here? I’ve gotta run and grab Quinn from the house,” Knight said as he looked blankly between me and Noah.
“Can you believe our former grump is getting engaged?” Noah said as we both stood up.
I nodded. “Happy for you guys.”
“Yet just over a year ago you were giving me shit about Quinn.” Knight shook his head, glaring at me. His glares still had heat to them when Quinn wasn’t in the room. “Don’t let it touch the business.” He was clearly trying to mimic me as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Noah started clapping. “Impeccable impersonation.”
I sent my own glare back at both of them, which pulled a smirk out of Knight. We all started heading out of the conference room toward our offices. Knight smacked me on the back as I fell into step beside him.
“Why is everyone touching me today?”
“Thanks for watching Thor while we’re gone. Quinn left you food in the fridge.”
“Why?” I frowned.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Take it up with her.” He knew I wouldn’t. Because then she’d go on a rant about how I needed to let people take care of me or some other sappy shit and then she might get misty-eyed, and I didn’t deal well with tears.
“Hopefully she says yes,” Noah called down the hall, earning him a finger from Knight as he went toward the elevator.
“You’re a shit disturber,” I muttered, shaking my head.
“I know,” Noah said proudly.
I closed the door to my office and settled in my chair with a sigh.
I needed to get some work done so I could head out at a decent time.
Quinn had texted me multiple times that she would love it if I was at their place no later than five so I could get Thor out before his dinner.
She didn’t want him to feel abandoned. That dog got more love and attention than most—he would have been fine.
He was kennel trained and she’d been home all day.
But again, I wouldn’t go up against Quinn. None of us really did.
I walked through their front door at 4:55 p.m. and sent a text to Quinn so she could stop thinking about it and focus on her trip.
After Thor and I ran for an hour, we went back to the house.
He ate his dinner with extreme enthusiasm before passing out at my feet while I worked at the kitchen table for another hour before deciding to call it a night.
Owning our business meant that we had a lot of freedom, but it also meant that the work never stopped, so sometimes it was hard to disconnect.
But I liked having something to focus on.
Stretching as I stood up from the table, Thor lifted his ears, eyes on me to see what I was going to do next. I grabbed a whiskey and then Thor and I went outside. I leaned against the railing as I watched him explore the yard, his nose down, almost doing a perimeter sweep.
Knight had owned this house for a couple of years and I wasn’t surprised that when he and Quinn started falling in love, he began spending more time here. It was a tribute to his mum.
At first I couldn’t imagine wanting a house. I liked my penthouse apartment. It was walking distance from the office and more than enough room for me. Living in an abusive household where I had no control had engrained this need to have control over my space.
Knight had paid someone to clean his penthouse both here and back when we lived in London but I didn’t. I liked cleaning it myself. It was something no one could take from me. Plus, I didn’t like the idea of a stranger having access to my space.
But now that the guys and I spent a lot of time here, I’d grown to love the neighborhood, the space, the quiet, seeing the stars at night since the city’s light pollution was almost nonexistent out here.
The space behind the house was a nature reserve and no one would ever be able to develop on the land.
I had noticed another house on this block had a “for sale” sign up on my run today. I was starting to think it was time to find my own peace.
I finished my drink, took a big breath of fresh air, and then let out a whistle. Thor tore to my side. “Let’s head in.” I gave him a scratch behind his ear, his tongue lolling, before we went in to call it a night.