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I look back out into the crowd, seeing that he’s staring at Ash. He smiles and starts making his way over.
“Who is he?”
“My boss.”
“That’sPrincipal Murphy,” Paisley whispers.
Ash told Paisley and me about the guy at work that she’d become close to, but we haven’t met him yet. It looks like that’s about to change.
“Hey, Ashlyn. How’s your Christmas vacation going?” he asks, his eyes fixed on her.
“Yeah, good. You?” He nods. “Guys, this is Ben Murphy, my principal. Ben, this is my family. My brothers, Wyatt, Nash, and Cade. And this is Cade’s wife, Sophie, Nash’s girlfriend, Paisley, and our friends, Ivy and Taylor.”
He chuckles. “That’s a lot of names to remember. Great to meet you all.” After a round of hellos, his eyes go back to Ashlyn. “Can I buy you a drink, Ash?”
“Umm… sure.” She stands and looks over her shoulder, grinning at me, Ivy, and Paisley. “See you in a bit.”
Nash goes to say something, but Paisley beats him to it. “Have fun.”
We watch as they disappear into the crowd.
“Is there something going on with them?” Cade asks. “He looks a lot older than her.”
“It’s her boss,” Sophie says. “I’m sure he’s just buying her a Christmas drink.”
Wyatt snorts. “She looked very excited for a Christmas drink.”
“You guys need to back off. She’s a grown woman. Don’t you want her to be happy with someone?” Paisley asks.
“Yeah, but not him,” Nash says.
“Why?”
“He’s too old for her.”
“So? You’re older than me.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because you aren’t my sister.”
Paisley rolls her eyes. “You’re being ridiculous, Nash.” She points at Wyatt and then Cade. “You two as well.”
“We’re always going to want to protect her from the assholes who want to hurt her,” Nash says. “She’s our baby sister.”
“She’s twenty-five, and noteveryguy is going to be an asshole. I know you mean well, but you all need to stop suffocating her.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Nash says, flicking his eyes to Cade and Wyatt. They both mutter something incoherent, and I know what Paisley’s said has gone in one ear and out the other. They love her, but it’s not hard to see how unhappy she is. They clearly haven’t noticed, though, and as much as I care about Ash, it’s not my place to say.
I finish the last of my drink and stand from the booth. “I’ll be back,” I say to Paisley, disappearing before she can say anything. Knowing how busy Eden is, I want to help out for an hour so Seb can spend some time with his family. I worked in a bar for a year or so while I built up my editing business. I’m probably a little rusty, but I’m hoping it’s like riding a bike and it will all come flooding back to me.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Seb
Eden is packed. I can’t remember the last time it was this busy. It doesn’t look like I’m going to get any downtime tonight. I know Alex can’t help being sick, but it couldn’t have happened on a worse night.
