“Go away,” Rain tells him.
“Excuse us. It seems like Rain and I need to have a little chat.”
He grabs her by the arm and pulls her off the couch and down the hall.
“You guys saw that she didn’t put up a fight, right?” Aspen says.
“No, she didn’t,” Maggie confirms.
Panther frowns. “How long has that been going on, and does her dad know?”
“I asked Ridge about it, and he said they are just friends,” I tell them.
I promised it would stay between us, but that seems to be his standard answer to everyone.
The girls scoff.
“Friends, my ass. That’s like someone saying you and I are just friends,” Aspen sasses.
I lean forward and murmur, “Songbird, we’ve never been just friends.”
Her breath catches, and her eyes dilate.
Yeah, that’s what I thought…
Everyone continues to talk around us, but I don’t pay close attention. Instead, I soak in the feeling of being at peace with where I am right now.
I have some kick-ass brothers at my side who are starting to accept me.
I have a place to sleep every night and do not worry about what might happen to me.
Then there’s Aspen.
The girl of my dreams in my arms.
Life can’t get much better than this.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
ASPEN
My therapist says I need to start going out on my own more. I told her it makes me nervous, but she says that if I don’t do it now, I may never do it. It’s important to start facing my fears instead of living in them.
So I decided I would take a baby step. I’m going out on my own, but it’s to somewhere I know Asher will be.
He told me this morning, before he left for the day, that he was working at the bar again. They are doing everything they can to get it back up and running so they can stop using the clubhouse for parties.
I’ll be appreciative of that as well.
After my session with the therapist, I rode back to the clubhouse with Maggie, a plan formulating in my head.
I could take Asher lunch. It would be a good way to spend some time with him while also getting out of the house.
Mind made up, I packed some sandwiches and pasta salad along with a few bottles of water and two large slices of the lemon bar Kim dropped off earlier this week. I noticed Asherseemed to really enjoy it, and I want to show him I am paying attention.
After getting everything into the car, I take a deep breath and head out. At the gate, Trout waves at me with a smile. I wave back before following the directions Maggie gave me to get back to the bar.
