Page 82 of Be Your Forever
“My curves? Girl, your ass is out of this world,” I reply, ignoring the guys’ comment.
“Damn right it is,” Xander says while smacking his wife’s ass before kissing her cheek.
Asher’s arms snake their way around my waist, and he kisses the sensitive spot underneath my neck. “I’m glad we’re doing this.”
“Me too. Did y’all figure out the order?”
The order goes as follows: Amber, Xander, me, and then Asher. Amber hits the bullseye every time, whereas I always miss by a mile. Silas tries to give me tips and tricks, but they’re completely useless. I suck. Xander is just as bad as I am, so we bond over our mutual suckiness.
Meanwhile, Asher hits the spot every time, tossing me knowing looks over his shoulder. He knows exactly what he’s doing to me, as my face turns a soft fuchsia and the pulse between my legs becomes almost unbearable.
The man is good at everything he does.The bastard. The hot, good with his…everything, kind, incredible bastard.
Asher and Amber are battling it out to see who can get the most bullseyes in a row while Xander and I sit at the table eating snacks.
“So, Asher told me you’re an architect. What got you into that line of work?” I ask in between chowing down on garlic fries.
“Well, I’m sure Asher told you I struggled with alcohol for years. When I started to change my life for the better, my therapist suggested I find a hobby. I didn’t know who I was outside of drinking, so ittook a while to find what felt like me. Then I started drawing, and for the first time in my life, my brain was quiet, and I felt at ease. It started off with rough landscape sketches, and when I showed them to my therapist, she suggested I look into art professionally.” Xander takes a moment to eat some fries and wash them down with some water before continuing.
“I spent hours scouring the internet before stumbling upon architecture. Something about designing something from scratch and watching it become real was thrilling to me. So, I went to school, and years later I opened my own firm where I met Amber. And for the first time in forever, things fell into place for me.”
“That’s amazing. I know Asher is extremely proud of you. It’s not easy rising from the ashes.”
An idea begins to circulate in my brain. Asher and I haven’t done much planning in regard to our business idea. A big part of it is because I haven’t felt ready to move forward yet. Max and I created a binder with ideas for the store when I first proposed my idea to him. Right now, that binder is collecting dust on the top shelf in my closet. I haven’t even shown it to Asher yet. It feels like something I should look through with Max before I share it with him. But with my brother being a carpenter and Xander being an architect, I wonder if the two can work together to make Booked ‘N’ Boozed come to life.
I turn in my seat to face Xander head-on before speaking. “I have a business proposal for you.”
“I’m all ears.” Xander listens as I share the plan Asher and I came up with. I let him know that while my brother is still healing, he can help with the construction of the business. While I talk, I can see the wheels turning in Xander’s head.
“I’m down.” Xander extends his hand out toward me while grinning like a maniac.
“But I haven’t even shown you my ideas yet.”
Xander shakes his head while shifting his gaze to his younger brother. “It doesn’t matter. If it makes Asher happy, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. He’s a good guy, Bri. But since you, he’s been the best version of himself. So, if you both want to do this, then I’m in.”
“You’ll do what?” Asher asks as he throws his arm over my shoulder.
“Xander agreed to help us with our business idea.”
“We’re still doing that? You haven’t brought it up in a minute, so I wasn’t sure if we were moving forward.”
“Babe, let's go get some pretzel bites and let them talk,” Amber says to Xander before dragging him behind her.
I turn back around and look into Asher’s questioning gaze. “I want to do it. I, um, well, because it’s something I shared with Max, I wanted to go over the plan with him. I didn’t tell you this, but we created this binder of ideas years ago. I wanted to talk about it with him first before we followed through with anything. I know it probably makes zero sense, but—” Asher stops me mid-sentence by tilting my chin up.
“I get it. This is something you’ve shared together, and you want him to feel included. I should confess that I already mentioned it to him, and he seems excited. So, you just let me know when you want to move forward with the plan, and I’ll be right beside you.”
“He wasn’t mad at me that I didn’t tell him about it?” I ask, my throat feeling like I swallowed sludge.
“Absolutely not, Bri. That man would never be mad at you. Is that why you’ve held off with the plans?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I didn’t want him to think that because we’re together that I’m replacing him in any way.”
“I can see that, but I can assure you he’s happy for you, for us. Talk to Max first, and if you still want to go through with the plan, then we’ll do it.”
“Okay. I think Max and Xander will do well together. Thank you for being so patient with me.” I rise up on my tiptoes to kiss his lips.
“Get a room, you two,” Xander teases while mock gagging.
