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“I’ll be sure to tell Easton you approve.”
After we’d recovered from what might have been the most epic sex of my entire fucking life, Asher had disappeared back downstairs, to make sure things were all copacetic. He promised he’d check to make sure Violet had not run into any issues closing up the shop after I’d completely bailed on our opening night like the terrible friend and business partner I apparently was.
I’d hopped into the shower, needing a few minutes to try to reassemble my brain after he’d fucked me senseless, and by the time I was finished, Asher had made his way back to my apartment, and he’d brought sustenance.
“I knew the things you guys were making smelled good,” I said, stuffing another bite of the pork belly slider into my mouth. “But I had no idea they would taste this incredible.” Swallowing the mouthful, I washed it down with some of the spiked lemonade he’d also come back with before reaching for one of the giant meatballs. “I realize this thing is the size of a baseball,” I stated, holding the small plate up between us. The delicious-looking meatball was coated in a fragrant tomato sauce of some sort and topped with cheese that had been melted just right. “But you should know that I have absolutely no shame in the fact that I will be eating this entire thing.” Looking up at him, I smiled. “Quickly, too, I might add.”
“No shame needed, babe,” Asher said, sipping at his own glass, a whiskey neat. “Easton Rivers is a hell of a chef.”
“That he is,” I agreed, drawing my legs up under me as I settled deeper into the couch, taking my plate of meatball goodness with me. Asher sat beside me, shirtless, his hair a mess and his eyes heavy. It was late, but I didn’t think I’d be sleeping for a while. I was wired, totally buzzed from everything that had happened in the last few hours.
My brother’s appearance was a hell of a shock, coming completely out of left field and causing a crack in the foundation I’d built my life on since I’d been forced out of my home.
I hadn’t spoken to any of my family in close to five years. I had thought, on the day they’d kicked me out, that they were completely done with me and my bullshit. Not that they were in the running for family of the year or anything, but I knew I was a pain in the ass on a good day, so in my young mind, it had made sense for them to want nothing to do with me.
So to have Dom show up, talking about how he’d been keeping tabs on me, had my mind reeling. I didn’t quite know what to make of it; no one had ever contacted me. My father and brother weren’t really a surprise—emotions had never really been their thing, unless you counted Dom’s vindictive streak—but the fact that my own mother hadn’t reached out hurt more than I’d ever want to admit.
A girl was supposed to be close to her mom, wasn’t she? The fact that she’d never called—not even on my birthday—that really stung like hell.
I did wonder what they told people, though. How did a family like mine, one that had high society connections in both business and politics, explain the absence of their teenage daughter the night after her scandalous disaster of an engagement party?
Honestly, probably easier than I’d like to admit.
“How did you two end up in business together?” I asked Asher, not wanting to dwell on my own drama any longer. “You guys are so alike; you seem like you could be brothers yourselves.”
“Well, you’ve met my brother. And my sister, for that matter.”
“Yeah.” I smiled, thinking of Bretton and Thane and how freaking nice they both were. They’d given me a warm welcome—even though I’d dropped my goat on their doorstep unannounced—and they’d given Asher shit, and the whole thing was just awesome and so unlike anything I was used to.
Bretton had even made sure she’d gotten my number before we left, and I’d been getting a steady stream of photos from her, showing my baby Nacho and how happy he was, settled into the Dunn family flock.
“Well,” Asher went on. “Easton has a whole passel of siblings back in Colorado, too. It was his baby sister’s wedding he just got back from. She’s the only girl, but he’s got four brothers, too.”
“Seriously?” I asked, a bit overwhelmed at the idea of so many kids in one family. I couldn’t imagine the chaos, to be honest.
“Yeah,” Asher chuckled. “Easton is right smack in the middle of them all age wise, so when he had the chance to get away after he graduated, he got just about as far away from Colorado as he could manage. Landed himself a spot at the Culinary Institute of America up in Poughkeepsie.” I smiled, even if my stomach twisted a little, too, causing me to set the last bite of the meatball down on the coffee table before I choked on it.
I’d always thought I’d get the chance to go to college. It had been something I’d dreamed about a lot, growing up the way I did. Living every day with a family that didn’t particularly like anything about me made entertaining of getting away from them part of my regular routine. Even though I loved being a tattoo artist, and having my own place was more than I had ever believed possible, really, I still thought I would have been happy on a campus somewhere, too, surrounded by people just like me. People who just wanted to learn and grow to be themselves and made no apologies about it.
Oblivious to the turmoil the conversation had caused inside me, Asher continued his story.
“I was enrolled in business school at Marist College, literally just down the road. One night, we ended up seated beside each other at a local bar. I was complaining about their shitty choices for whiskey while Easton bitched about the bland food, saying the chef wouldn’t know a smoked brisket if it smacked him in the face. We commiserated together, joking around about how we would do it so much better if we were running the joint. By the end of the night, we had made plans to try another place the next weekend, too.
“After that, we found ourselves in a different pub every weekend, analyzing and comparing and coming up with ways to do it better and by the end of the semester, we had a plan andSmoke and Asheswas born. I’d handle the drinks and the books, Easton would do the menu, and we’d take the New York fusion food scene by storm.”
“Well, if the food you guys made tonight is any indication, I have a feeling it’s going to be exactly how you imagined it.”
“Thanks, Betty. That means a lot.”
The quiet of the night settled around us, not uncomfortable, just thick, hanging over us like a weighted blanket. Things had moved quickly with Asher, and I was starting to realize that this situation between us might be bigger than I had imagined.
Bigger than I had planned for.
And that scared me, more than I wanted to admit. Because when you took that step, when you let someone into your life in a way that dug inside you and settled in deep, it meant that when they eventually left, the wound would be severe.
Fatal.
And everyone always left.
