Page 13 of Gin and Bear It

But I’ve always dreamed of having what my grandparents had—a partner in business and life.

Maybe I’ll have that someday. Not with Ash, obviously, but someone.

“What about you? You need to get married, too,” I say. “Your grandfather was an asshole, and he knew that marriage would be the thing you’re least willing to do for the inheritance. What’s making you this desperate?”

He looks out the window for a moment, tension around his mouth. Pip rears up and gently taps Ash on the thigh for a pet, snapping Ash out of it. He lifts his hands and Pip takes that as a cue to haul himself into his lap. I snort. Ash really is cat neutral, because he has no idea what to do with Pip.

“Uh…he doesn’t know me,” Ash says.

“You have a lap and you haven’t petted him yet. Pet him or he’ll be upset,” I say. “Anyway, what’s making you this desperate?”

“Legal bullshit with my band,” he says, giving Pip a delicate scratch between his ears. “Our lead singer Caro and our guitarist Gordon basically screwed over me and Dylan, our drummer, with some contract bullshit. I need to get married to get the money to pay for lawyers to get it sorted. I get part of it when I get married and start at Stryker Liquors, then the rest after a year of working there.”

“What contract bullshit?” I ask.

“Basically, they claimed a contract was only to fix how the money that we make touring was distributed. But in reality, they split the royalties for songwriting and use of our music four ways instead of all that money going to me and Dylan.”

“You wrote your band’s songs?” I didn’t know that. Growing up, Ash was always broodily scribbling something down or drawing on his jeans. Apparently, something came of it.

“Dylan and I did, yeah. For all of our albums.” He glances down at Pip, who’s looking up at him expectantly. “Our money has been halved. Between that and the fact that Dylan and I can’t get along with Caro and Gordon anymore, the band is basically broken up. And that means no money from performing either.”

“So you really need this.” I’m not super familiar with the law, but I’ve heard of artists going bankrupt fighting legal battles.

“Do you really think I’d voluntarily get married otherwise?” He quirks an eyebrow and lifts his mug so Pip won’t rub against it. Pip hops back down to the floor instead. “The money I’d get from the share of royalties that Caro and Gordon basically stole matters, but it pisses me off more that they’re stealing credit for what Dylan and I worked hard on.”

His tone darkens a little bit, finally taking on the serious tone that I assumed this conversation would have. It’s like he’s opened the curtain a little bit and I’ve seen the actual Ash behind it, just for a flash.

Damn it, now I feel bad for him, somehow. I don’t write music, or even do anything visually artistic, but I’d be pissed off, too, if someone stole my credit and my money.

He seems to sense that I feel bad for him, because he shifts in his seat, his eyes taking on a new light. I try to school my expression, but it’s too late. He’s sunk his claws into me.

“Why should I help you, though?” I finally ask. “What if you cut and run once you get the first part of your inheritance?”

“Because you can help yourself by helping me.” He puts his foot out and Pip butts his head against his toes. Then, he leaps back into Ash’s lap, his hope for pets reignited. “Do you need another reason, all these obstacles you say there are aside? And I wouldn’t be that shitty to you. I need to be married for at least a year.”

He’s not wrong. I can do this for completely selfish reasons if it means getting what I want. Right? I need to get real. I’m not going to meet and fall in love with someone in six months. I can hardly get a text back.

My stomach twists and tightens. Could I pull off being in love with Ash?

I scan his face as he runs a hand over his short-cropped hair. Even looking at him makes me warm up and I can’t figure out if it’s embarrassment or attraction.

But I still don’t think I can’t fake it. Yeah, most of my beef with him happened way back in high school, but something about him taking my first kiss—which meant a lot to me—and being my first humiliation from a man is something I can’t shake.

Add the whole wedding incident on top of that, and the odds of me faking this well are shooting down.

“The obstacles aren’t insignificant,” I say. “I have to seem in love. And everyone is going to wonder how we randomly decided to get married right after I learned about this whole inheritance. And Waylon is going to flip.”

“He won’t be happy.” He sighs and Pip sniffs his breath. The little weirdo. “But what’s he going to do? He’s just your friend, not your husband. Or brother.”

“Speaking of brothers, Jeremiah is going to cut your balls off.”

Jeremiah is friendly…mostly. Except for when it comes to my boyfriends, who he has to thoroughly grill to assess their worthiness before mellowing out.

He didn’t like Troy, but he tolerated him. Barely. Probably because Troy is inoffensive on the surface.

But Ash? Jeremiah is going to have a lot to say about Ash.

“He can try. We can make them believe.” Ash shrugs. Again, his confidence is grating.