In true Chase fashion, he completely ignored Asher’s request, and a moment later said, “I was just going to ask you where she was. I noticed that your?—”
“She’s gone.”
“Gone? Like gone to the store? Or gone gone?”
“Does it matter?” Asher took a sip of his hot drink, burned his tongue, and cursed. “She’s gone,” he said again. The words sounded a little bit more permanent the second time.
“It does matter, Asher. You and her…she seemed…well, it seemed?—”
“It doesn’t matter how itseemed,” he snapped. “Because she’s gone.”
Gone.
He hadn’t said it out loud yet and now that he had, it hit differently. It was way too real.
Gone.
Chase didn’t speak right away, and as the silence dragged on, something snapped in him.
“This is going to sound crazy,” he said after a moment.
“I’ve heard a lot of crazy.”
Asher took a deep breath and said something he thought he’d never say. “I think I have feelings for her.”
Again, hearing the words out loud hit differently. He took a step back as if he’d been slapped. He turned to his brother, waiting to hear some kind of confirmation about how crazy he actually did sound. But Chase didn’t say anything at all. He only grinned and pressed his lips together.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“I did,” he finally said. “I’m not sure what you want me to say.”
“I want you to tell me how crazy it is.” Asher spun and stalked his way into the tiny kitchen, where he put his coffee mug down with a little too much force. He hardly noticed the coffee that splashed over the sides and onto the table. “I want you to tell me that I can’t possibly have feelings for her because that’s not how it works.”
“Not how it works?” Chase shook his head. “Asher, that’s exactly how it works. You spend time with a woman, you connect with her for a variety of reasons, and…” He waved his free hand. “You develop feelings.”
No.He couldn’t accept that answer.
Asher shook his head. “But it takes time. Weeks or months. Years even. But not days.”
His older brother’s only response was to shrug. “Not necessarily.”
“What does that even mean?”
His blood pressure was rising, and the tiny cabin was suddenly too hot. His breath was caught in his chest, and he couldn’t slow his thoughts long enough to make any sense of them.
Chase chuckled and joined him in the small kitchen. “It means that there are no rules in love, Asher. There’s no playbook with step-by-step instructions.”
“Then how do you…” Asher pulled out a chair and sank heavily into the seat at the table. He ran his hands through his hair and tugged the roots before attempting to finish his thought. “How do youknow?”
He felt like crying out in frustration. Or hitting something. There was a build-up of emotion inside him that was completely unfamiliar and entirely uncomfortable.
Chase exhaled slowly, set his coffee down, and took his own seat at the table. “I don’t think this is what you want to hear. But…you already know the answer to that question, brother.”
ChapterNineteen
Noa fingeredthe golden rose around her neck as she descended the large wooden staircase to the lobby. After her conversation with Ryan, she’d showered and changed into fresh clothes and felt like a new woman.
The ache in her chest still lingered, but the weight of the impending wedding was gone. Mostly.