Page 10 of Tempting Me (The Asher Family #3)

CHAPTER EIGHT

LUCA

It’s almost been a week of me showing up at The Marina to work at night. I’m not convinced that this town hasn’t caught on by now, but at the same time, not a single person has said a word to me, so maybe we’re pulling this off after all.

What I’m not pulling off, however, is good sleep.

This new schedule has completely thrown me, and I need to find a new way to balance it out.

Soon.

Until then, just a little extra coffee, maybe a little extra protein as soon as I wake up, and I should be good as new.

I quickly get ready and head to work. A few hours in and I know that if I’m gonna struggle for the rest of the day, I need some comfort food, and that means a large ass coffee from B’s Bakery and maybe even two sandwiches from Hudson’s to keep on hand for when I’m hungry.

I park in front of the bakery and spot the line as soon as I reach the door.

Dammit. This is definitely a con of living in a small town .

As soon as I walk through the door, I spot Sadie as the second person from the cash register. So I shoot her a quick text with my order and then I take a seat at the table where her laptop is already set up.

Do I wish people knew I was helping at The Marina?

Sure, yeah, but mainly because, even though I have a handful of projects happening right now, I just want to be at The Marina.

If I could work there all day for eight hours instead of three stolen ones at night, I’d be so much further along and Shay could finally see some progress.

I can see in her eyes that she wants things to move faster, and I don’t blame her. It’s been a long process.

But we can’t rush it if we want it done right.

I chuckle.

Could you imagine if I told her that? She’d flip.

She'd probably have some comeback about how I’m not experienced enough or how she could hire someone else, and I’d tell her I’m well beyond experienced and that she loves that she hired me, and well, we’d just bicker like an old married couple for the night.

I wipe a hand over my face to swipe the grin away.

I don’t think I should enjoy the way we banter as much as I do.

I lean back in my seat and wait for Sadie to join me, then I spot her walking toward me with two coffees, so I jump up to grab them for her.

Once we are sitting across from each other, she gives me a knowing look.

“Tired?” she asks.

I sip my coffee with a nod.

“Very. ”

“Late night?”

She looks down at her cup, but I still catch her lips tug up.

“You know, don’t you?”

Her nose scrunches, and she nods. “But only because Shay told me about it.”

“What? When?”

“At girls’ … I ran into her here.”

I narrow my gaze at my soon-to-be sister-in-law. She has the decency to look away.

“She just randomly blurted it out.”

Sadie nods.

“No, she did not, Sadie Collins Future Asher.”

That’s the sentence that makes her cave.

“Fine, okay. She told me,” Sadie leans in to whisper the rest of the sentence, “at girls’ night.”

I sit back as if she slapped me.

“Girls’ night?” I repeat.

“Yes.”

“You and Shay hang out enough to have a girls’ night?”

“Yes.”

This is news to me. Does Hudson know? He’s mentioned Shay’s name a time or two at Sunday breakfast, but now I'm starting to think he might know more than me.

“Who else goes to these nights?”

“Brooke, Grace, and Quinn.”

“What?” I snap, drawing Brooke’s attention from behind the counter, where she’s talking to one of her employees.

“Stop, it’s not a big deal.”

“It’s a huge deal.”

Sadie shakes her head .

“It’s not. Sometimes we just need to hang out with other girls and relax. It’s therapeutic.”

Therapeutic.

Nothing about that sounds therapeutic to me. What has Shay told them? If Grace is there and she knows, does she know Shay’s half of the deal?

This does not look good for me.

“Do all the girls know about my working for Shay?”

She nods. “Maybe not Quinn. She’s been busy with Miles.”

“How often do you have these nights?”

“Twice a month at least, but weekly if we can.”

“Twice a month or weekly?” I ask in disbelief. “What does Hudson do when you’re there?”

Sadie shrugs. “I don’t know. He hangs out and waits for me.”

“He could call me.”

“He could.” She agrees and then grins. “Or you could have a boys’ night.”

“Boys’ night.”

“Yeah.”

It sounds so weird and yet …

“That’s not a half-bad idea. For tonight.”

Especially since I now need to know what my brothers seem to know about me.

I grab my coffee, stick my hand in the air to wave goodbye, then I head out the front, turning for Hudson’s. Lucky for me, Miles and Hudson are both here.

“Boys’ night. Tonight. My house,” I say and pull up a seat next to Miles .

“Can’t. I’m busy with Quinn,” he says and takes the to-go bag from Hudson.

I glance at Hudson.

“I know Sadie is busy already.”

“I’ll hang out,” he says. “Just us?”

“Tell Linc and …” I glance round the room and spot Declan Young two seats down from my left. Declan grew up here, but then he left for college and started a tech company. I heard he got married and had a kid, but his wife left him and his daughter a year ago, so he moved back here to raise her.

Of course, I heard all of this through the rumor mill, so there is a high chance it’s not true. I can find out at boys' night.

Oh, I’ll recruit Dutton Richford, too.

“Declan,” I say in a little louder tone.

He turns slowly to look at me. One brow raises as if to say, you’re bothering my alone time.

“Luca.”

His voice is a lot deeper than I remember.

We were in the same grade, but I didn’t spend a lot of time with him.

He was too busy setting academic records at school while I was just trying to make it through the day before I could get outside and away from a desk.

I vaguely remember Ruby complaining later when she hit junior high how much she hated hearing his name mentioned by all the teachers.

“You feel like coming to a boys’ night tonight?”

“Nope.”

“Come on, man. It's gonna be the first night of a tradition. You should come to my house. Be there.”

“Yeah? You got a babysitter on hand for my daughter? ”

His voice is laced with sarcasm, but I’m gonna pretend that it’s not, because we are having boys’ night and it needs to be more than just me and my brother and my brother’s best friend.

Not to mention the fact that perhaps I could use a new friend who doesn’t know my history when I need to vent a little.

“You moved next door to my dad, right? Lucky for you, Ruby is in town visiting.”

Declan just chuckles.

“I bet Ruby would watch her. Have you talked since you moved back?” I add, just in case he didn’t fully understand.

Declan glances between me and Hudson.

“Look, I don’t wanna start any drama, but there is a 110 percent chance that your sister is never going to do favors for me.”

I smirk.

Ruby must still hold a grudge for some reason. Typical Asher move.

“Write your number down on that coaster, and I’ll see what I can do.”

I’m aware that he doesn’t sound too crazy about hanging out, but I’m going to invite him anyway. He’s my age, and he needs people in this town on his side. And if the rumors are true, his daughter is the same age as my nephew and they will get along great.

Declan stares at me as he thinks about his choices, but eventually, he writes his phone number on the coaster, slides it across the bar top, and then leaves.

I immediately start a group text with Hudson, Linc, Declan, Dutton, and Miles, because he gets to be a part of this whether he likes it or not.

Luca

Tonight. My house. 6 p.m. Pizza. Beer.

Hudson's phone chirps, and he pulls it from his pocket. He reads it and then glances up at me.

“Were all the periods necessary?”

“Yes. I wanted to be straight to the point.”

Hudson nods and gets back to work.

No argument or teasing or trying to come up with a reason he can’t be there.

I smile just as a club sandwich appears.

And he knows my order now.

A year and a half ago, he’d have found any excuse not to spend time with me or Miles. Or anyone else for that matter.

Then the whole Sadie thing happened and he’s the big brother I remember growing up.

I’m not going to cry or whatever, but until right now, I didn’t realize how much I missed that side of him.

And Miles, he’s keeping something from all of us, and I know it has to deal with Quinn, but considering my current situation and how I don’t want anyone to ask me questions, I won’t be hounding him anymore.

My phone buzzes.

Linc

Sounds good. I could use a night out.

Luca

It’s technically a night in.

Linc

Is this you changing my mind?

Luca

Nope. See you tonight.

Miles

Heads-up for all who don’t know by now, but Luca is calling this boys’ night.

Declan

I know. I just left Hudson’s.

Luca

And he’s left his number. Hence why he’s replying to the text.

Luca Asher has changed the name of the group to Boys’ Night Crew.

Dutton

Wrong number.

Luca

It’s not! Sorry, Dutton, I should have given you a heads-up.

Miles

I didn’t get one.

Luca

Because you ran out of here too fast.

Declan Young has deleted the name of the group.

Declan

Can everyone just say yes so my phone stops going off?

Miles

Raincheck. As you know.

Dutton

Fine. Only because I need a drink.

Luca

See you all tonight!

I’m not much of a host, but I think that six pizzas for six guys might have been overkill. Screw it, they can take a box as a parting gift when the night is over.

My front door opens, and Hudson walks in with a big smile. He lifts his hand, which has a twelve-pack of beer in it.

“I know you had some, but I wanted to contribute.”

“Thanks. Pizza’s in the kitchen.”

He nods and heads that way just as I spot Linc, Declan, and Dutton hovering in my driveway.

“You boys coming in?” I ask, crossing my arms and leaning in the doorway.

Declan moves first.

“One beer and I’m leaving.”

Fair enough.

“Thanks for the invite,” Linc says and then walks in.

“Of course.”

“I’m still not sure why I’m here,” Dutton says, following right behind Linc.

Once everyone is inside, we gather in the kitchen.

Everyone is just looking at each other like it’s weird to do this, but they each have a beer, so that’s progress.

I open a box of pizza, grab a slice, and head for the living room .

“ESPN is on,” I say. I hear various versions of thank fuck, then more boxes open and they all join me in the living room.

Dutton is on his second slice when he speaks up.

“What’s the point of tonight? Do you have an announcement or something?”

I shake my head.

“Nope. Just wanted an excuse to hang out.”

“He found out that Sadie and Grace have girls' nights,” Hudson chimes in between bites.

Dutton chuckles, followed by Linc.

“Is that why your dad is watching the kids and not Ruby?” Declan asks.

“Shit, Ruby is going to girls’ night now, too?”

“Why is girls’ night a big deal?” This coming from Dutton.

“Because as of this morning, I was informed that they talk about us.”

“Us. Who exactly is us ?” Linc asks with finger quotes around the last word.

“You, me, everyone in this room.”

“Who, Brooke?” Dutton sits up.

I shrug.

“Probably.”

“They don’t sit around and talk about us.” Hudson laughs, but then his smile drops. “Do they?”

“It can’t be that bad,” Linc adds, his gaze clashing with a few of the guys. “Well, not for me. I’m friends with all of them.”

“Must be nice.” Dutton takes another sip of his beer.

“I’m no genius, but I’m guessing that you found out they spoke about something that involves you specifically, so you needed a boys night for …”

Declan keeps his focus on me as he waits for me to finish his sentence.

“For the fact that we never hang out, and now, since we are all having a wonderful time, we will do this once a month.”

“Once a month?” Dutton practically gasps.

Hudson chuckles.

Linc nods in agreement.

And Declan, well, I don't know him well enough to know what his face means right now, but I don't think he’s totally against it.

My mouth opens to say more, but then my cell phone vibrates on the table. The moment I see Shay’s name pop up, I snatch that phone into my lap like a frog with a fly for dinner.

I can feel eyes on me, so I glance at Hudson.

His brow raises.

Shit. He saw it.

In my defense, I had no idea she was going to text me.

“Be right back,” I say and head for the kitchen.

Shay

Do you still have that arch photo on your phone?

Luca

Yes.

Shay

Will you send it to me? I want to match some of those colors for this room.

I grin, typing out my response.

Luca

So she finally admits, in writing no less, that she liked my idea.

Shay

She just wants the picture.

Luca

Are you going to show the girls at girls’ night? Be sure to tell them it was my idea.

The little bubbles pop up and then disappear.

I chuckle, and a throat clears near me.

I glance up at Declan.

“Hey,” I say and it comes out all high-pitched like I was caught breaking the rules somehow and don’t want to get in trouble.

“Hi.” He grins and grabs another beer.

He takes another slice of pizza with him to the living room.

I send Shay the picture with no further comment, and she doesn’t supply one either.

When I get back to the living room, the guys are all laughing at something on the TV. Their chatter is on a roll now, too.

I sit back, taking in the view.

I don’t know what I had in mind for this night, but I’ll tell you what, just hanging out for the purpose of hanging out isn’t half bad. Nowhere to be, no expectations, and no agenda.

It’s nice.

A couple of hours later, I've got commitments for the next boys’ night as they all walk out the door.

I’d say the night was a success.

I never got around to asking Hudson what he knows about my Shay situation. I’ll have to save that for another day .

I glance out my front window. I can still see the glow of the streetlights.

I yawn a big yawn and let out a breath.

Then I sit on the couch and change the channel on the TV. I’ll watch one episode of anything to keep me awake, and then I’ll head to The Marina.