“Wedding? We’re not gettin’ married.Jesus. We’re just—” Just…what? The thought of saying aloud that they were just fucking made his chest tight. He knew it couldn’t be anything more than that. Knew she didn’twantanything more than that. And he didn’t either…right?
Without realizing, something had shifted in the months they’d been together, and now the thought of a future without her in it made his gut clench.
“That’s what I thought.”
“You thought nothing because your ass hasn’t been home to see any of it.” Nash didn’t mean for the words to come out so sharply, but now that they’d been uttered, he couldn’t deny their truth. Yeah, Nash had friends in town—Drew and Finn and Nola—but his best friends, his ride-or-die crew, were scattered across the world, and he fucking hated it sometimes.
Asher blew out a long breath. “I’m tryin’ to get back, man. It’s just hard with this tour. I’m hopin’ to make a trip home after we wrap up. I need to get back and see my sister and those babies she keeps poppin’ out.”
“She has two kids, not a litter.” Nash rolled his eyes, though Asher couldn’t see him. “And, hey, do me a favor and warn me ahead of time so I can get earplugs. I don’t wanna have to listen to the fangirl screams when you finally grace Havenbrook with your presence.”
“Ha. Ha. Now, seriously. What do you need? I’ll do whatever I can.”
And that, right there, was exactly why Asher was one of his ride-or-dies.
“Rory’s throwing a surprise birthday party for Gran, and she’s tryin’ to get Nat home for it.”
“I’m still not seein’ the issue? Why doesn’t Rory just call and tell Nat this?”
“She has. Our brat of a best friend is being an ass and ignorin’ all calls and texts from Rory. She’s left at least a dozen messages, all unanswered.”
Asher whistled. “Goddamn, she’s pigheaded.”
“No shit. Which is why I can’t tell her I’m callin’ on behalf of Rory. For one thing, she’d cut off my balls the second I picked her up from the airport. For another, she might not even show up in the first place, just out of spite.”
“I see your point,” he said. “How important is this to you?”
While Nash would love to see Nat again because it’d been too long, this definitely wasn’t for him. This was for Rory. It was something that had been eating away at her for a while. And what it boiled down to was, if it was important to her, it was important to him.
“It’s important.”
Asher hummed. “Kinda figured you’d say that. She’ll never come back if you just ask her. You’re gonna have to play hardball. And I think you know what you need to do.”
Nash’s mind was blank until suddenly everything clicked into place. Fuck, Nat would kill him for doing this, but Asher was right. It was the only way to get her home.
“She’ll hate me.”
“Probably. You gonna do it?”
He blew out a long breath. “Yeah.”
“All right, then. Good luck.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Hey, quick before you go, do you want me to make sure you’re in a black or a gray suit for your funeral?” Asher’s chuckles sounded through the line even as Nash pulled the phone away from his ear and hung up on him.
Jackass. An astute, probably accurate jackass, but a jackass nonetheless.
Without waiting for a chance to talk himself out of this, he found Nat’s name in his contacts and pressed the call button.
“Nash, hey!” she answered, the loud din of activity going on in the background nearly drowning out her voice. “What’s up? Can I call you back later? I’m out with some people, and it’s so fucking loud in here.”
“This won’t take long. Can you sneak out for a minute?”
“Yeah, sure.” She yelled something to whoever she was with, then the background noise grew more muted as she must’ve stepped through a door. “Okay, sorry. What’s goin’ on? Is everything okay?”
“I’m okay, but…” He blew out a deep breath, knowing it was now or never. “Downpour.”
