Page 27 of Tempting Me (The Asher Family #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY

LUCA

I didn’t warn my family that I was going to be bringing Shay to Sunday morning breakfast this week. I didn’t need to warn them—they are all going to welcome her with open arms.

This does, however, mean there’s a slight chance I’m going to have to explain what actually happened all those years ago with her brother. My family doesn’t know how her family treated me and why we’re no longer friends. They just know there was a falling out and I never wanted to talk about it.

Crazy thing is, after all these years and especially the past few weeks, I wouldn’t trade any of it if it meant I’d end up in the place where I am now.

“You’re sure that your family is going to be okay with this?”

Shay laces her fingers with mine and grips tighter.

“I’m sure.”

“But, I mean, my family treated you so poorly. I was one of them. They have to know, right? ”

“They know small pieces here and there, but mostly they just know that your brother and I had a falling out.”

“So they don’t know how my family treated you?”

I shake my head. “It’s going to be fine.

Now had I told them what happened all those years ago when it actually happened, yeah, they probably wouldn’t be too impressed with you or anyone in your family.

But it’s been years, and according to Sadie, everyone has seen a difference in me in just the past three weeks.

The moment I walk through the door with my hand in yours, they’re going to know, if they don’t already, that all those changes are because of you. ”

She groans, but she’s smiling as she does it, so I know she likes what I just said.

“You are just so cheesy sometimes. I can’t believe I never saw this before.”

“Just because it’s the truth doesn’t mean it’s cheesy.”

“And there you go again, being extra cheesy.“

“If it earns me the smile that’s on your face right now, I’ll be as cheesy as you want me to be.”

She reaches across the truck, shoves my arm, then laughs.

“Stop it. Seriously, and don’t flirt with me in front of your family. I don’t need them to see how easily you win me over with your silliness. While we’re at it, we may as well add that you shouldn't touch me either.”

I let out a slight chuckle at her request. Not flirting with Shay sounds wrong. I only know one way to be around her, and I’m not going to change it just because there are other people around, especially not my family. Her family I’ll make an exception for, until she is ready to tell them.

That’s a whole other conversation the two of us need to have. We’re both aware of how this summer is going to end, but I want us both to be on the same page when that time comes.

Her family is not going to be happy about our relationship, but I’ll do anything she wants to keep it.

I pull my truck up in front of my sister’s house, which used to be my dad’s, then rush around the front of the hood to open the door for Shay. She rolls her eyes, which only makes me kiss her right there on the street for everyone in the town to see.

She kisses me back for a brief moment, but then she shoves my chest.

“Luca Asher, anybody could see us right now.”

“If you think people in this town haven’t caught on to the two of us at this point, you might not be made for small-town life.”

“People aren’t talking about us. Not like that.”

I grab her hand and lead her up the sidewalk to the door. “They might not be talking about us, but they sure do know something’s going on that we’re not telling people about.”

She looks up and down the street quickly.

“And how would they know that?”

“Well, I hate to break it to you, but The Marina is swiftly turning into a brand-new place and everyone is noticing.”

Her lips fight a smile. She’s probably thinking about how we ran into Mrs. W. that night and how not a single person since has mentioned us working together.

People, in fact, do know and aren’t saying anything.

The respect small towns have for their own is one of a kind.

“I like knowing that people are talking about that place.”

I nod .

“Me too.”

I open the front door without knocking, pulling Shay inside with me.

It’s not until I’m closing the door that it occurs to me that maybe I should have knocked. This is Ruby’s house now. Walking into your sister's house is not the same as walking into your parents’ place.

As if she knew I was talking about her, Ruby walks out from the kitchen.

The smile she wears as soon as she sees me and Shay is one I haven’t seen in a really long time.

“You came,” my sister says as she rushes to hug Shay. “I was hoping you would.”

“It was getting hard to tell Luca no. He’s asked me every week for a few of them now.”

“I know. He would complain each Sunday that you didn't come.”

Shay turns to me, her brows shooting up to her hairline.

“You’ve been talking about me to your family this whole time?”

I hold my hands up in surrender.

“They figured it out on their own, and once I knew they all knew, I swore them to secrecy.”

“He really did,” Ruby says. “Come on. Everyone is out back.”

We follow her through the kitchen. It’s a warm summer morning, so breakfast outside is refreshing.

Two kids whiz by as soon as we open the door.

“Max, Susie, go wash your hands,” Ruby says. “It’s almost time to eat. ”

“And don’t say you don't need to. I saw you both digging for worms in the garden,” Declan adds.

Ruby lets out a huff and walks back into the kitchen.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” I say to Declan and shake his hand.

“Yeah, neither did Ruby,” he says, then looks at Hudson.

“What?” my oldest brother asks. “I truly didn’t think she would care. Max and Susie are becoming little best friends. It made sense in my mind. I didn't know she couldn't stand him. Like really, really can’t stand him.”

“I told you that the other day,” Declan adds.

“I thought you were being dramatic.”

Declan stares at Hudson as if he has no idea how to reply to that. I get the sense that Declan isn’t a dramatic man.

“Well, we are happy to have you,” I say and take a seat at the table with Sadie and my dad, pulling out the chair next to me for Shay.

“Shay, hun, it’s so good to see you again,” my dad says. “I’ve missed having the Parker family around.”

Guilt hits me instantly, and I know without looking at Shay that it’s going to hit her, too.

I reach for her hand and hold it tight.

“I’ve missed you, too, Mr. Asher,” Shay says at the same time.

“Does this mean that when your folks are back, we can all get together like the old days?”

Shay and I share a look.

A conversation I've been avoiding for years is finally here.

“Not exactly. Shay is the only Parker who still doesn't despise me.”

“Is this the moment we all get to find out why?” Miles says, stepping out from the sliding door with Quinn’s hand in his.

“Don’t jinx it,” Hudson scolds him.

“My family accused Luca of stealing money from The Marina, and when he denied it, they accused him of lying too.”

“Luca would never steal from The Marina,” my dad says quickly.

“I know.” Shay says, looking embarrassed. “I should have known that back then.”

“So it was all a miscommunication. We could have fixed that.”

Now it’s my turn to be embarrassed.

“Well …”

“Did you do it?” Hudson asks, completely shocked.

“No, but I did sort of sleep with Leo’s girlfriend at the time and made things worse.”

“Who?” Hudson, Miles, and Shay all ask eagerly at the same time.

My dad adds a quiet “Good heavens.”

Declan chuckles. “This is an exciting breakfast.”

I shake my head.

“Her name was Indy.”

The moment her name is off my lips, Shay breaks out into laughter.

“Leo broke up with Indy before someone stole the money, so I don’t think he’d have been upset about that.”

“What?”

I turn my focus to Shay. Her brother outright told me that because I slept with her, any chance we had of fixing things was gone. If he wasn’t even dating her, why would he have been so dead set on us not being friends anymore? Outside of the money going missing, that is.

“Yeah, she was bad news. He made a lot of bad choices while he was dating her, and my parents said no more .”

Shay picks a cut up strawberry and pops it into her mouth.

I’m so lost. So what else happened that summer?

I don’t think I’m going to get any answers today. This is a lot to pack in. I spent the last decade and more thinking my choice was what sealed all this, but there had to be something else. What could it have been?

“So what do your parents think of the two of you together,” my dad asks, “if they think my son is a thief.”

Shay cringes. “They don’t know about us … yet.”

The fact that she added on the yet is the only reason I'm not spiraling out over why we are still a secret to most of the town.

She plans to tell them the truth.

That moment is going to be one of the best of my life, I can feel it.

“So if you didn’t steal the money, who did?” Quinn asks.

“We don’t know,” Shay answers.

As if I can sense him looking at me, I meet Miles’s gaze. He mouths Leo to me, and suddenly all the dots connect.

If Leo was making bad choices, stealing money could have been one of them.

The thing that boggles me is why, after all these years, if it was him, hasn't he come clean?

“Speaking of The Marina, when can we see it?” Ruby asks. She brings the last tray of food to the table and takes a seat. The kids dig in first, stealing most of Sadie's famous quiche .

“Soon.” The pride that beams off my girl is a sight to see.

There is no way her parents can come back, see that place, and decide to sell it to someone else.

As soon as breakfast is over, Shay and I get back in my truck.

I have a surprise for her for the rest of our day.

“Where are we going?” she asks as I turn onto the highway that leads out of town instead of toward The Marina.

I grab her hand, bring it to my lips, and kiss the back of it.

“We are going to Wind Valley.”

“For what?”

“So that I can take you on a proper date where I can kiss you as much as I want and hold your hand as much as I want.”

“There you go again,” she says with a massive smile on her lips.

“What?”

“Being cheesy.” I shrug as she leans over the center to kiss my cheek. “But I really like cheesy.”

“Good, because once you’ve been on a date with me, there is no going back.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s no going back as it is. You don’t need to court me at this point.”

Her words hit me in the chest.

They’re exactly what I needed to hear.

There’s no going back.