Chapter 188: Penny
After the steakhouse, we’re all too full to move, but somehow end up at a bar three blocks away.
It’s Anna’s idea.
“Rooster needs to feel like a man again,” she says brightly. “He can’t drink much, but we’ll let him pretend.”
Rooster groans. “You married me for my charm, not my liver.”
Asher glances sideways at me, mouth curling. “You up for it?”
“Yes,” I say too quickly. Because I’m still buzzing from dinner, from how close he sat, from how he kissed me outside like it was nothing. Like I was his.
I want to be his. God, do 1.
The bar is warm, dimly lit, with exposed brick and low music. There are couples pressed close in booths, groups of friends scattered around the floor, and an old dartboard in the corner.
It’s not fancy. It’s perfect.
Asher and Rooster take seats at the bar. I catch Anna’s eye.
“Bathroom run?” she suggests.
“Please.”
We leave the boys to their drinks and stories.
Inside the tiny washroom–white tile, slightly crooked mirror–Anna props herself against the sink and grins at me.
“You look like you’re floating.”
“I am not.”
“Liar.”
I groan. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
“No.” Her eyes soften. “It’s good. You needed someone who looks at you like that.”
I glance at myself in the mirror.
Cheeks flushed. Hair falling in soft waves over my shoulders. Lips that still feel kissed.
“He told me I’m his,” I whisper.
Anna straightens. “He said that?”
I nod.
She grins. “Damn right you are.”
I laugh, breathless. “You and Rooster-”
“-took forever,” she says. “We circled each other for months. I was terrified. He was too proud. But when it happened…”
Her smile turns soft. “Worth every second.”
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Chapter 188: Penny
I lean against the sink beside her
You look happy
am
Her fingers toy with the simple gold chain around her neck. “Planning the wedding now. Small. Just us, family, closest friends. No big scene, I told Rooster if he made me walk down some giant aisle, I’d strangle him with my bouquet.”
I giggle. I can see that.”
She winks. “You’ll be there, of course.”
I blink. “Really?”
“You’re family now. Whether you and Asher say it out loud yet or not.”
My heart does a funny flip.
Anna pushes off the sink. “Come on, we better get back before they start swapping war stories that’ll scare you
I follow her out, still reeling.
off.”
When we return, Asher is laughing. Actually laughing, deep and warm, head tipped slightly back, a smile that makes my stomach drop.
He’s leaning in toward Rooster, telling some story with his fingers brushing the back of my empty seat, like he’s saving it for me.
I pause a moment just to take him in.
God.
If I thought broody Asher was hot, this Asher–smiling, laughing, loose, dark hair falling a little over his brow–is a problem.
A capital P problem.
My legs go a little weak. Maybe it’s the wine. Maybe it’s him. Both.
Anna smirks at me knowingly.
We slide back into our seats.
“…and so this nurse,” Rooster is saying, grinning, “she’s got me trying to do this stupid resistance band thing, right? Arm barely works, I’m trying not to look like a jackass-”
Asher is already smirking.
“-and I’m halfway through when she leans down to adjust my grip and says, dead serious, ‘Don’t worry, sweetheart, you’re doing so good. I’ve seen way worse arms than yours.“”
Anna snorts. “Which you, of course, took as a compliment.”
“Damn right.” Rooster lifts his glass. “Best compliment I’ve had in months.”
I laugh, reaching for the beer Asher ordered for me. It’s cool, crisp, just what I need. I take a long swig.
“You’re doing amazing, though,” I tell Rooster. “Truly.”
His grin falters, softens. “Thanks, Penny.
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Chapter 188: Penny
He gives me a small nod.
I know what that means. I know, now, what he went through. The burns, the rehab, the fight to get back to any version of mi
I wish I could hug him.
I glance at Asher again. He’s mid conversation with Rooster now, fingers absently playing with a lock of my hair. Like he doesn’t ever to be’s dri Like it’s natural. Like it’s his right.
And God help me, I want it to be.
1 sip my beer, heart full, a little tipsy, a little drunk on the way he looks at me like I’m everything.
I never thought life could feel like this. Not after the fall, not after Tyler, not after all the fear and doubt.
But here I am.
In a dark bar with the man I want more than anything, his family around me, laughter in the air.
And when Asher turns, eyes dark and steady, and leans in to murmur, “You good, Princess?”
I don’t hesitate.
“Perfect.”
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