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“You know what I want right now?” I whispered, and Brooke turned to face me. Anne looked just as curious. “The cookies you two bake.”
“What? Are we allowed to bake now?” Brooke laughed, and Anne got up from her lap, squealing as she jumped up and down.
“I’ll go get the apron you bought me, Brooke!” Anne shouted as she ran to her bedroom, and Brady followed after her.
“Yes, nothing will go wrong if you’re here,” I whispered as I pressed my lips against hers, and she smiled as she placed her soft hand on my cheek.
“Oh, you’re so getting laid tonight,” she laughed as she got up and walked into the kitchen, picking up Anne, who had come running back with her apron.
It’s amazing just how happy Brooke made everyone.
Chapter 28
Brooke
One Year Later
“Come on, girl, we’re going to be late!” Marie shouted from the living room, and I rolled my eyes as I finished applying my lipstick.
“Yes, come on, Ma!” Anne yelled, and they giggled together in the living room. My stomach fluttered whenever Anne called me her “ma” or when she introduced me as her mother to her friends. I always got giddy and broke out into a huge smile.
It was an honor for Anne to call me her mother even though I really wasn’t, biologically. I loved her so much, and she was such an amazing person. And because of how serious our relationship was getting, Asher and I felt it was important for Anne to know more about her mother.
Asher rarely talked about Charlotte, but the day he did, I was sobbing with Anne because Charlotte sounded like an amazing woman, and it also felt like Asher had been robbed of a chance to be a family with his first wife.
It was clear that he loved her by the way he talked about her, and I finally understood what Elise meant when she said that it was clear that Asher had a type. But then again, I was attracted to the grump, and I was madly in love with him.
“We won’t be late because our appointment isn’t until one o’clock, and it is barely noon,” I groaned as I lifted my phone and showed them the time.
“Yeah, yeah, but there is nothing wrong with getting there early,” Marie mumbled as she opened the door and motioned for us to get out. “People might take our space.”
“We literally have an appointment; stop being so paranoid,” I told her, and Anne laughed as she held my hand, standing between Marie and me. “You booked this appointment three months in advance, and you’re a regular there,” I reassured her, and she sighed as she pressed on the elevator keys.
“You don’t understand, Brooke. It happened once, and I felt like I was going to lose my mind.” She curled her fingers like a cat as she clawed the air, and I laughed, shaking my head.
“They apologized and proceeded to give you a free massage,” I reminded her, and she clicked her tongue as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Yeah, that did happen,” she admitted begrudgingly, and I laughed. My best friend was incredibly dramatic.
“So, where did the boys go today?” I asked her as I slipped my locks behind my ear, and she looked at me out of the corner of her eyes.
“What, are you scared that Asher will do something out of character?”
“No, I’m not,” I denied, but I was actually scared. The man had been acting suspiciously the first two months of our relationship, and I could never figure out what was wrong with him or whether he was up to something.
I would ask Jax if everything was alright at work, and Jax would tell me that Asher was still the grumpy, always pissed-looking, huge man that I had fallen in love with.
“Well, Matthew said they’re going to watch the World Series and that they all had bets on the Cubs. Just some man stuff,” she shrugged as we got to her car.
“Oh,” I whispered as I buckled Anne in her booster seat, and she thanked me with a toothless grin. She had recently lost her front tooth, and her father almost fainted when he saw her tooth on the palm of her hand.
It had been such a funny day, and I had to reassure him that his daughter wasn’t dying, and that it was quite a normal thing to happen at her age.
It took forever to calm him down.
“Girl, relax and enjoy your day away from your man. He hogs you too much,” she said as she started driving to our next destination, and I gasped as I turned to face her.
“Asher doesn’t hog me!”
