Then yesterday morning, he messaged to ask me to go to dinner with him tonight.
I said no.
Instead, I asked him to come to brunch with me and my sister.
I’d suggested brunch because it felt like less pressure and less like a date.
And I’d opted to bring my sister because I figured it was inevitable that she and my unicorn come face-to-face.
Ever since the night I’d had dinner with him at his favorite restaurant—where I gave him a ring, he hired me to redecorate his condo, he told me he wanted to fuck me, I told him we should just be friends, oh, and he kissed me on the neck when we said goodnight and then I walked into a door—I knew I was in too deep.
I liked him.
Waaay too much.
Which meant one of two things.
One, we’d tidily get to know one another, as friends, while I finished his condo, and then maybe we’d date (only with my sister’s blessing), and he’d inevitably meet (well, re-meet) my sister.
Or two, I’d break down and end up underneath him, suddenly and soon, and then maybe he’d still meet (re-meet) my sister. But in this scenario, I’d be the very bad sister who broke the Cardinal Rule of Sisterhood.
Thou Shalt Not Bone the Dude Who Has Your Sister’s Name Tattooed on His Hot Body.
Okay, so that wasn’t the exact rule. More like an interpretation of it. Point being, I couldn’t in good conscience touch Ashley without getting the green light from my sister first, and I was never going to becertainI had the green light—no matter what she said about it—unless I got the two of them together in a room and scoped out the vibe between them for myself.
Hence, brunch.
Ashley had accepted the invitation.
My sister?
I hadn’t exactly asked her yet.
As far as she knew, she and I were going to brunch. Period. I was just trying to figure out how to casually mention that a rock star would be joining us without making it into a big deal.
I didn’t want to make it glaringly obvious that I wanted him—and that I wanted to break the Cardinal Rule.
But shit yes, I wanted to break it.
The entire time he was away, I’d been freaking out about that kiss he gave me. It was just a little peck—on my neck. But it was so not a “just friends” kiss.
I wanted him to do it again.
I wanted him to do a whole lot of things…
But bottom line, I wanted it to be okay with Daniella, first. Because if it wasn’t okay with her, no matter how much I wanted him… it would never be okay withme.
“Hey,” I finally forced out as I poured us both a tea, “is it cool if someone joins us for brunch?”
“Depends who it is,” she said.
“What if it’s a handsome man?”
She looked at me, and I tried to give her an innocent look. “Don’t give me that innocent look. If it’s Carter, the answer is no. And for the record, when it’s Carter, the answer is always no.”
“It’s not Carter.” I added extra honey to her tea, the way she liked it, working up the nerve to say his name. “It’s Ashley.”
When she was silent, I looked over at her. She was staring at me.
