“Oh. You’re both still here.”
“Yeah,” he says.
“We were just going over some of the–” I scramble for an answer, but Jaylen just smiles again.
“Actually, I was hoping I’d catch you both,” he says.
“Catch us?” I ask, and if I had to guess, I look mortified right now.
“Yeah. I want to know what happened in Costa Rica.”
We both look at each other.
“What happened…” Ash starts, and I nod, praying he has a story ready to go.
“Yeah, I mean you stopped my little sister from marrying the world’s biggest asshole. I have been dying to hear all about it! Come on. This calls for sushi.”
Jaylen heads for the door, and Ash and I look at each other again. I let out a breath of relief, and Ash rakes his hand through his hair.
That was close. Too close, and it cannot happen again.
Chapter 20
Asher
“So. Spill it. All of it. Spare no details.”
Jaylen, Harper, and I are all sitting at a high-top at the Fire and Fin Sushi and Hibachi bar in downtown Denver. Jaylen was insistent on sushi; he loves seafood and saki, so I picked this place because it’s high-end and secluded. The chance of running into anyone we know here isn’t likely. Which is good because, despite Denver being a decent sized city, talk travels fast in our industry. And I know people are saying shit. I bet Daniel has been running his fat mouth since he got home. All lies, of course.
“I mean, there isn’t much to tell,” I say, as I casually reach for a piece of edamame.
“I was getting married,” Harper says.
“And I stopped it from happening,” I add.
Jaylen just blinks, a smile frozen on his face. “Come on. There’s more to it than that. Like how did you know she was eloping in Costa Rica and I didn’t?” he gestures at me.
“Well, I didn’t tell anyone,” I say. “Not the when and where, of course. I know neither of you like Daniel, so I was very secretive about all of it.”
“Daniel tipped me off,” I say, and Harper looks at me. We had zero time to rehearse what our story was before sitting down at the table because Jaylen insisted we all ride together. We walk in together, and he even followed me to the restroom. Ironically, we all needed to use the restroom at the same time. We are winging it right now, making things up as we go.
“He tipped you off?” Harper asks, and I can hear the irritation and betrayal in her voice.
I nod, picking up my small cup of saki and tossing it back. I know you’re supposed to sip it, not throw it back like a shot of cheap whiskey. There’s a lot of things you’re not supposed to do at this table right now, and yet here we are.
“Yeah. He’d been rubbing it in my face–”
“In our faces,” Jaylen corrects me.
“Since day one.”
“That he did,” Jaylen mutters, taking a sip of saki much in the same way I did.
“So I knew you were going to Costa Rica to get hitched,” I go on. “And after thinking about it for all of five minutes, I packed a bag, hopped a plane, and put a stop to it.”
“I still can’t believe you did that,” Harper shakes her head. I don’t know if it’s for show or if bringing up the charade again is resurfacing some expired anger.
“I can’t believe you did it without me,” Jaylen says. “But at least you stopped her.” He holds his glass up, and I click mine to it, then we drink. Harper shakes her head, but something in her expression tells me she is relieved that the conversation is over.
