Chapter 152 Part 152
Asher
“You okay?”
Asher looked up from where he was still seated on his bed. “Yeah. I shouldn’t have hit Colt.”
Blair huffed out a laugh. “He had it coming.”
“Thank you, Blair.”
“For what?” He frowned as he looked at Asher.
“I might be older than you by 2 years, but you were the older brother when I wasn’t here. You kept them all together. You kept this family together,” Asher said.
“I didn’t do anything you wouldn’t have done if you were here.” Blair wasn’t one for praises and compliments.
“You like Cassidy, don’t you?”
Blair shook his head, and sighed. “When she took you down, I nearly proposed right then, and there.”
Asher laughed. “I taught her that move. I can’t believe she used it on me.”
“My heart nearly stopped beating for a second there, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hot as hell.”
“Make sure you tell Colt before you try to beat the shit out of him, too,” Asher said, and got to his feet.
“Did Emerson really say no?”
“She didn’t say anything.” Asher let the towel fall to the floor, and got dressed with his back to Blair.
“What the hell is that on your back?” Blair was now right behind him, and for a moment, Asher didn’t know what to say.
“It’s nothing,” he said.
“Like hell that’s nothing. Did those assholes brand you?” The anger was evident in Blair’s voice, and Asher pulled the T-shirt over his head.
“Yeah.”
Blair’s intake of breath was sharp and loud in the quiet room. “Did they…does Cassidy…” He raked his hand over his face, and Asher could see the physical pain he was in.
“Cassidy’s story isn’t mine to tell. That’s for her to share, if she wants to. One day, if she trusts you enough, she might tell you. We don’t talk about it, Blair. It’s too hard. I want her to heal and to be happy, hell, if that’s with you, I’d be ecstatic, because I know you’re a good man, but it needs to be on her terms. You can’t push her, she’ll run.”
“Yes, they did brand me,” Cassidy said, from the doorway, and both men turned simultaneously.
“I’m sorry,” Blair said, and took a step toward her.
Cassidy shook her head, and looked at Asher. “I hope you’re not planning on moping around here the whole day. I’m officially kicking you out.”
“Of my own house?” The amusement danced in his eyes as he looked at her.
“Yeah. Go get your woman because I need to pack. While I’m doing that, your brother can attach his balls again, and go back to pretending to be all serious and emotionless,” she said, and turned to walk away.
“I’m not always serious,” Blair said, loudly.
Cassidy laughed. “Prove it, cowboy.”
Asher grinned and shook his head. “Sounds like a challenge to me.”
“I love challenges,” Blair said, and hurried after her.
Asher stopped in the doorway of the guest bedroom. “Why are you packing?”
“When Emerson moves back in with you, I can move into that house. I kind of like it. I don’t want to leave here yet. This place makes me feel better, and I think I need to stay here.”
“You’re special, you know that, right?”
Cassidy smiled, and shook her head. “I’m not special, Asher. I’m just a broken girl with an amazing friend.”
“We’ll get through it, Cass. We don’t have a choice. Blair’s a good man, and Emerson’s a good woman. I’ll carry her back over my shoulder if I have to, but I’m not losing her again.”
“I can’t offer your brother anything, you know that better than anyone,” she said.
“Yeah, I know why you think that, but I also know you’re wrong. It took me too long to realize that I do deserve to be happy, no matter what happened in the past, I’m worthy of love. I won’t ever push you to do something you don’t want to, but giving Blair a chance might just be exactly what you need.”
Cassidy didn’t say anything for a quite a while, but Asher could see there was something she wasn’t telling him. “Go get your woman, Fitzgerald. You deserve to be happy, you really do.”
Asher wrapped his arms around her, hugged her tightly to his chest, and kissed the top of her head. If he knew his brother, and he did, she was in for the ride of her life. Blair might be serious, and come across as broody, but when that man loved, he loved with an intensity that scared you.
“I’ll see you later,” Asher said, and headed downstairs.
Colt leaned against his truck and the smug smirk on his face had Asher smiling. He straightened to his full height when he saw Asher on the porch and his fists clenched by his side.
“You still got your panties in a twist?”
Asher chuckled. “Not wearing any today.”
“Damn, going commando.”
“Try it, it’s kind of liberating,” Asher said, and Colt barked out a laugh.
“I might just do that, but honestly, Asher, are you still mad at me?”
“No.”
“Good, because I like Emerson, and she’s got a little Fitzgerald baby over at the Lansing house, when they both need to be here in this house,” he said.
“I’m working on it,” Asher said.
“Just tell Emerson she can check out my ass whenever she likes if she’s living here. I don’t mind taking one for the team, you know.”
Asher shook his head. “Don’t you have work to do? When she moves back here, it will be because of me, not because of you,” he said.
“Sure, if that makes you sleep at night, but we both know I got the booty genes. You got the eyes, but I got the ass,” Colt said, laughing loudly, as he started walking away from Asher’s truck.
Asher couldn’t help but grin. Colt had always been overly confident, and it wasn’t a bad thing. He started his truck, and headed back to Emerson’s house. He also wasn’t planning on leaving without her.