I knew that she had bad memories in Texas, so I was going to leave our length of stay completely up to her.
“Someone will be by our places every day,” Cole said confidently. “Maybe more than one of them. How do you feel about doing the meeting in Austin?”
“I’ll be fine,” I told him. “I probably won’t love the crowds when we go out, but Sierra has never been to Austin. I’d like to take a day to show her the city.”
“It’s going to be weird to see you getting out when we get home, but I’m grateful for it. I’ve missed doing things together.”
My gut tightened as I thought about how much my isolation had hurt my little brother.
The two of us had only had each other, and when I’d isolated myself, Cole had been worried.
I’d known it, but there had been nothing I could do.
I hadn’t been ready to get treatment until very recently.
I’d kept telling myself that I’d get over whatever was happening to me, but I’d been incapable of living a normal life.
I knew he understood that, but I still hated the fact that he’d probably been a little lost about what to do.
“I’m getting better, Cole,” I promised.
“Thank fuck!” he said adamantly. “It will be nice to go out for a steak in Billings without watching you sweat your way through the meal.”
I smirked. “I’ll take you and Lauren out when you get back.”
“I’m counting on it,” he confirmed. “So what are you going to do about Sierra?”
I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see me. “Nothing right now. Fuck! I appreciate what I have, but you were right when you said I was going to want more. I’d have a ring on her finger and a date set if I wasn’t worried about rushing her. I still don’t know what she wants, and if I rush her…”
“You’re worried you’ll scare her off,” Cole stated. “I get it. My feelings for Lauren were pretty intense. I felt the same way. I knew I needed to slow my roll. I just wasn’t sure how.”
“You obviously managed,” I said drily. “You weren’t ready to marry her in a week or two.”
“It didn’t exactly happen slowly,” he said with amusement in his voice. “I eventually lost my damn patience. I guess I was lucky that Lauren was as certain as I was about what she wanted. I considered myself a lucky asshole because she loved me. I still do.”
“How do you put yourself out there?” I asked.
“You just know it’s time,” he explained. “It will get to the point that you just need to know if she feels the same way. Telling her how you feel will be more important than possible rejection.”
“In the meantime?” I asked.
“In the meantime, you spoil her rotten and enjoy what you have. Neither one of you have had an easy life, Asher. You both deserve to be happy.”
“I am happy,” I shared. “That actually scares the hell out of me sometimes.”
Cole laughed. “I get it, but you’ll get used to it. Have fun on your trip and try not to think about the future. We sold our tech company to have some leisure time. We’ve worked hard our whole damn lives, Asher. Forget about business and focus on Sierra.”
“I’ll do my best,” I replied. “How’s the honeymoon?”
Cole was right.
Our childhood had been miserable, and then we’d spent all of our adult lives building a massive amount of wealth.
It was time for both of us to prioritize things that were more important than business.
“I’ve been to a lot of the places we’re visiting,” Cole mused. “But visiting those places with Lauren is different. I took those other visits for granted. I never really saw anything. I was too busy making money.”
“Is Lauren enjoying these places, too?”
