Page 32 of Tempting Me (The Asher Family #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

LUCA

Most of the guys are at my house after I get off work.

Hudson decided that tonight was a fucking swell time for boys’ night.

He was wrong.

So, so wrong.

I wasn’t included in the text, or I would have voiced that opinion.

Yep, it’s been a whole five hours since I was sitting in his bar eating lunch. He said he'd give me space to stop being a dick, but apparently, that meant dinner time was my cutoff.

“Dude, you’re being a real downer, and today is a good day. It’s been a good couple of weeks, actually.”

I glare at Miles.

The ending to his summer versus mine are not the same.

“What's going on? For real this time,” he asks and sits up, attempting to look innocent. As if he and Hudson never talk.

I don’t say anything .

Declan walks through the door with a six-pack and some chips.

“I’ve got one hour and then I need to walk back to my house,” he says, quickly setting his things down and twisting the top off a beer. “Your sister is watching Susie and made it very clear I’m on a time limit.”

Dutton walks in next. He’s got his head down, looking at his phone. It reminds me of Grace in a way. That family is all business. This is probably the most social Dutton gets.

Sucks for him that I'm not in the mood.

I’m going to ruin everyone's night.

I’ll blame it on Hudson.

“Good. Everyone is here,” Hudson says as if he’s a judge waiting for all parties to arrive before we begin the night. “Shay and Luca broke up, I think.”

“Seriously?” I groan. “An announcement?”

“Yes. The sooner we talk it out and make a plan, the sooner you can get the girl back. I wish someone had helped me sooner. Every day without Sadie was hell. I never wish that pain on anyone.”

“Yeah, well”—I grab a beer—“Shay and I are not you and Sadie.”

“Principles still apply,” he says.

Why doesn't anyone get it? I wasn't enough for her. She was fine tossing out everything we shared together like the trash in the back room just so her brother wouldn't be upset with her.

Who does that?

I’m the guy you keep as a secret. I’m never the real thing.

It’s a shitty fucking feeling that I don’t know how to explain to anyone, and I don't want to. I don’t want to talk about it.

“Just go talk to her,” Miles grumbles after I refuse to stop scowling.

“No.”

“Run it by us what happened,” Linc says.

“It’s not worth it.”

“Just tell us,” Dutton says. He’s set his phone down and is fully invested in this conversation. I glance around at all of them. All eyes are on me.

“If I tell you, can we drop it?”

They nod.

I give them a quick recap of what happened after Leo showed up at The Marina.

“She messed up, okay?” Miles speaks first. “She panicked and said it meant nothing, but you know it does.”

“Well then, that’s what she should have said. Not … what actually came out.” I blow out a breath, feeling my heart strain all over again. “The point is, if at one point she was embarrassed or whatever, then she could feel that way again.”

“Whatever the point is, Luca, you can’t fix it unless you two talk to each other.”

“And say what? Hey, just curious, are you sure you weren’t lying, and if you were, why did you? And also, can you not do that again so that we can be together?”

Dutton’s head bounces side to side. “In a way, yeah. You’re the most honest person I know. Tell it to her straight.”

They make it sound so easy.

“I … it’s not that easy, guys.”

“Do you want to patch things up with Shay?” Miles asks to clarify .

“I … yes, of course. I just—fuck, why is this so hard?”

“Go talk to her. Whoever put this idea out there that the one who fucked up has to be the one to fix it was dumb. Relationships are a team effort. Tell her what you want and what you expect from her. If she doesn't want it, she can tell you.”

“I don't know, that sounds awfully dominant,” I mutter.

I smirk a little.

Shay does like it when I take control and boss her around, so maybe telling her exactly what I want is the right move. It doesn’t need to be flashy, just the truth.

“Let’s change the subject, please.”

“I was thinking of signing us up as a basketball team,” Linc says out of the complete fucking blue.

“Does anyone here actually play basketball?” Declan asks. “Outside of knowing the basics?”

We all shake our heads.

“All the more reason to do it.” Linc’s attention turns to his phone just as there’s a knock at the door that makes us all pause.

We all glance around the room as if we need to double-check the count of people here. Hudson, Miles, Dutton, Declan, and Linc. Everyone is accounted for.

Maybe it’s my dad.

I get up to answer the door and scowl as soon as I see the face on the other side.

Leo Parker.

From the corner of my eye, I see Hudson and Miles both stand.

“I’m not here to start anything,” Leo says quickly. “Can I come in?”

This is the first time that he's ever come to me .

I step back and wave him in.

He slowly moves into the living room.

“Are you having a party?” he asks.

I open my mouth to say it’s just a casual hangout, but Linc beats me to it.

“It's boys' night. Want a beer?”

Leo looks over his shoulder at me. His left brow raises, and I can read his expression, exactly the same way I could back in high school.

I let out a small laugh.

“Yep. Boys’ night, but you don’t get a beer.”

“Fair enough.”

“Why are you here?” I ask, not waiting for him to start this conversation.

“I’m here for Shay.”

“Good,” Miles says. “We were just making a plan for Luca to win her back.”

“Miles. Fuck. Chill.”

He laughs, holding his hands up. “Sorry. We were though.”

I kind of miss when he was quiet and broody all the time.

Love does weird things to people.

“I want to help,” Leo adds, shocking us all.

“What?”

He lets out a long sigh. “Look, you dating my sister isn’t ideal, but I’ve never seen her like this, and over the summer—well, before you started working together—anytime I called, she talked about The Marina and nothing else.

Her plans for it and how much progress she’d made.

Which was great, because she loves that place, but it was her whole life.

Then one day, I called and her voice was different.

She sounded lighter, and if she wasn’t telling me about something cool she’d done, she was rushing to get off the phone.

I’m assuming to see you. Whatever. I could tell something changed.

I didn't know what it was, but I knew it was good. Imagine my shock when I caught you with her.”

I rub the back of my neck.

“Surprise,” I say, and a couple of the guys behind me laugh awkwardly.

Leo grins for a split second. “I know it wasn’t you who stole from The Marina.”

“What?” I ask at the same time as Hudson and Miles.

“Yeah, I … it was me.”

Holy shit.

“You stole the money?”

He nods.

“And you let your family think it was me.”

He nods.

“All this time?”

He nods again. “Well, until the day I caught you and Shay.”

I have no words. I just stare at him.

“I know. It’s … I was too embarrassed back then, and time went on and my pride got the best of me. Not to mention, you slept with my girlfriend.”

“Ex,” Hudson and Miles both say.

I glare at them and then return my focus to Leo.

“That’s what Shay told us.”

“She was right. I stole the money just to impress that girlfriend, and when she told me to do it again, I dumped her.”

I nod and then sit .

“I can't believe it was you. That was a dick move to let me fall for it.”

“Yeah, it was. I’m sorry.”

He sits next to me, and I don’t need to think twice about my response.

“You’re forgiven.”

“Thanks, man. Now that that’s out of the way, I need you to know something else.”

“There's more?” Declan says with an eagerness I’ve never heard. I swear his eyes even light up.

Again, all the attention is on me.

It’s weird, but at the same time, I feel oddly supported right now.

Is that why girls’ nights started?

“What else is there?”

He lets out an even bigger sigh than before he told me that he was the thief.

“My parents are putting The Marina on the market next week.”

I stand quickly and glare at him.

“You're joking?”

He shakes his head.

“But that place is like home to Shay and me, to all of us. Shay just spent the summer pouring her heart into that place. Do they already have a buyer?”

“Not yet, but the place looks really good, thanks to you and Shay. It’ll sell quickly.”

I scrub my hands over my face.

How is Shay taking this? Is she okay? I should have called her. Been there for her. Found a way to make it better or help her or … I don't know. She hurt me, but my heart still wants he r to have everything she wants in life. Including The Marina.

“I’ll buy it.”

“What?”

“I’ll buy it,” I repeat.

“Luca, you can’t just decide to buy it on a whim like this.”

“I can and I will. Tell them to sell it to me. Better yet, I’m going to their house right now to ask them.” I turn my attention to Linc. “Send me everything I need to know so I can make an offer in the morning as soon as I leave the bank.”

“Luca, you already own a business,” Leo says, as if I don’t know this already.

“So, I’ll own two.”

The room falls silent, until Hudson leans forward.

“Since you’re being all crazy right now, I … ugh, I have an idea.”

I meet his eyes and watch as a grin takes over.

I know what he’s going to say before he says it.

I’m in.

I just need to convince her parents first.

Nostalgia hits me hard as I walk up the path to Mr. and Mrs. Parker’s front door. It’s been years since I’ve been here, yet every memory of running this exact sidewalk and bursting through the door without knocking hits me hard.

Like it was yesterday.

But today, my steps are focused and I knock, waiting for one of them to open the door.

I’m also praying they don’t slam it in my face .

Thanks to Leo apologizing and coming clean less than an hour ago, I have a hunch they won’t shut me out, but it’s been a long time.

I’m not sure what I can expect right now.

This whole summer has been filled with surprises.

I hear the lock click on the other side, and slowly, the door opens. Mrs. Parker sighs and smiles.

“Luca Asher, this is a sight I was convinced I’d never see again.”

“You and me both.”

She steps back and waves me inside.

“I had a feeling you’d be coming by soon. I just wasn’t expecting it today.”

“Yeah, Leo hadn’t even left my house before I grabbed my keys and headed this way. What I have to say can’t wait.”

She nods.

“Hun!” she calls out, and Mr. Parker appears from the hallway that leads to Leo and Shay’s childhood rooms. His office is also back there.

The same pictures from when we were kids line the walls and the same furniture we’d all pass out on after a long day in the sun still sit in the front living room.

No matter how long it’s been, I still feel at home here.

“Luca,” he says with surprise, his hands on his hips as he looks me over. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you both, too.”

I fear an awkward silence is about to fill the air. There are so many things to say, yet none of us have any idea where to begin.

“Let’s go to the dining room, and I’ll get some lemonade,” Mrs. Parker says. “I made cookies, too. ”

I chuckle. Some things never change.

Mrs. Parker works quickly, and within minutes, the three of us sit down.

“I just want to start by saying that I am so, so, so sorry that we didn’t believe you, Luca,” Mr. Parker starts the conversation.

Mrs. Parker sucks in a breath, and I look in time to catch her swiping away a tear.

“You don’t need to apologize,” I start and then look at Shay’s mom again. “And you definitely don’t need to cry. Leo’s your kid. You should 100 percent believe him over me.”

“But it’s you,” Mrs. Parker whispers. “We knew you just as well as we knew him.”

I reach for her hand.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not, though.”

Her response makes me grin.

“Now I know where Shay gets her stubbornness.”

Mr. Parker laughs, and his wife finally nods.

“Which brings me to why I’m really here. I’m not here for apologies. I don’t need them, but what I do need is for you to sell The Marina to me so that I can put it in Shay’s and my name together.”

“Luca,” Mr. Parker says softly and starts to shake his head. “We don’t want to put the burden of that place on Shay.”

“It wouldn’t be on Shay alone. It would be both her and I, and with all due respect, that place is not a burden. Not to me and definitely not to Shay.”

He sighs. “It’ll take up too much of her time—and yours—and we just don’t want that for her. ”

“You two deserve to have freedom and not be tied down to a place that takes so much attention,” Mrs. Parker chimes in.

“I think that’s a choice for Shay and I to make. She’s done so much to that place over the summer, and the way it’s changed in just a matter of months is only the beginning of how amazing she can and will make it.”

“Luca, this is very admirable of you, but we just can’t,” Mr. Parker says with finality.

His shoulders are drooping and she’s frowning.

“Who do you plan to sell it to?” I ask.

“There is a gentleman from Wind Valley coming to look at it tomorrow.”

I nod slowly, then do my best to look them both in the eye as I speak.

“If you sell it to him, I’ll just go to him and convince him to sell it to me.

I’ll do it with whomever you choose to sell it to.

They might make me pay twice or even triple your current selling price, but it’ll be worth it to watch Shay’s dreams come true, to be by her side when it happens.

Because no matter how this works out, I will find a way to get that woman every bit of the life she wants and deserves, and once she forgives me for being an asshat these past few days, I’m going do everything in my power to show her that I’ve never loved anyone more than I love her.

I’ll spend day after day showing her that if she wants it, I want it—and we want that Marina. ”

I hold my chin high, so they know I’m not kidding around.

Mr. and Mrs. Parker share a look that it seems only they can understand.

When neither of them speak, I stand.

“You might not have believed me back then, but I need you to believe me now. I will do whatever it takes to get Shay that marina, even if I have to sell my own company to do it.”

I head for the door. I’m just about to turn the handle when Mr. Parker clears his throat.

“If anyone in our family can bring that place back to life, it’s Shay. Despite all of this, I do want this for her, too. Get your offer to Linc by dinner tomorrow and you’ve got yourself a deal. If Shay is going on this journey, I can’t imagine a better man to be at her side.”

And then he hugs me.

I don’t cry, but damn, knowing they trust me again after all these years, that they trust me when it comes to their daughter and her dreams … if a moment is going to count, it’s this one.