Fuck.
He’s right.
Did I expect this to be his advice when I asked him to meet me here? No. Is it something I’ve thought of over and over the past few months? Yes.
I just don’t like it.
I don’t want Grace to get hurt, and I don’t want Gavin to walk around with a grudge the way I do.
But those aren’t my choices to make for them anymore.
It’s time we figure this out.
I just hope we can do it before things get worse.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
BROOKE
Somehow,the girls and I manage to sneak in a girls’ night even though the guys have decided that boys’ and girls’ nights are now combined weekly.
Don’t get me wrong, these new bowling nights have been filled with so much fun, but I've missed nights like this more than I knew.
“Does Luca know where you are?” Sadie asks Shay.
Shay nods and then looks over Quinn's shoulder to the Hudson’s Bar.
Luca is settled up at the bar top, watching the bookstore while he eats his dinner.
“Basically, the fact that we decided to do it here is the only reason he let me come.” Shay rubs her hand over her belly. “He’s convinced that I’m going to go into labor at any given moment. I know anything can happen, but it’s a little out of control.”
Sadie and Quinn laugh as I hand her a cucumber mojito mocktail.
What started out as mimosas and contemporary romance books has definitely turned into any drink, lots of food, and any kind of romance book.
While I’m into the darker stuff, The Asher ladies—Sadie, Shay, Ruby, and Quinn—have been fully sucked into the romantasy world.
As I pour my own drink, I hear the four of them discussing the order of their current series. It is eight books, with a few novellas that need to be read in between. It seems like a lot to track.
“Sorry I'm late.” Grace walks through the door of the bookstore.
She smiles at the group, but when her eyes find mine, her smile falters.
But she quickly pulls it together.
“Can you pour me one?”
I nod, taking the mojito pitcher with alcohol and pour her a glass.
“This new plan to meet at the bookstore and have your husband's bar supply drinks is a genius idea,” Grace adds as she takes a seat on a long pink plush couch. We’ve also moved the chairs that usually sit by the windows, so we all have seats. A buffet of finger snacks sits on the table in the middle.
“How are things at work?” I ask Grace while the others are taking notes of which books to read next.
“Fine.”
A short answer. That’s not good.
