19. Jay

CHAPTER 19

JAY

Another month flew by with Ash at my side. Everything was so domestic, and I secretly loved it.

On my days off, we'd visit my family or his. Mom and Dad were relieved that I was finally dating. They'd been worried that with my stubborn personality and never having brought anyone home before, I'd end up alone.

I was more than offended when Mom told me this, but Ash had managed to smooth my ruffled feathers. I saw the way my parents smiled as they watched us, and they weren't shy about stating how good Ash and I were for each other. That was at least one thing I agreed with my parents about.

Meanwhile, Ash's mom, Emery, hadn't been at all surprised about the two of us dating. I'd only met Emery and Ash's little sister, Jamie, a handful of times in the past since Ash usually hung out with Howie at our house. Even still, Emery welcomed me into the family with open arms, and though Ash and I had only been officially dating for a couple months, it felt like I'd belonged already.

The few men I dated in the past never got to the "meet the family" point, but I'd heard from friends how difficult it could be. I was happy that wasn't the case for us. It seemed our families were melding together nicely.

It helped that our moms had started having tea together when I'd started college. I knew I was overthinking it and they probably connected over shared interests, but I couldn't help but question if they'd been plotting for our getting together since long ago.

Besides visiting the family, work had almost completely taken over my life. It was a long couple weeks while Sam and I went through resumés and conducted interviews to find a new instructor for Bodhi.

Interest in the studio had grown significantly in the last couple months, which meant Sam and I had been overworking ourselves to open as many classes as we could. That still wasn't enough, with members complaining that classes were always filled.

It was high time we added more staff to the team. Ash had insisted on helping me clean and organize the other two rooms that I'd been putting off, though it was more like forcing me. I'd learned that Ash surprisingly enjoyed cleaning. I might have grumbled and complained at the time, but it was a huge help since it meant the studio could have four classes going at once now.

Since neither Sam nor I had ever been bosses before, we decided it was best to just start out with one new hire. Sam might claim to be my employee, but we both knew that he was a key part of Bodhi just as much as I was. He'd been there from the first time I'd casually mentioned how fun it would be to own my own yoga studio one day.

Hell, Bodhi probably wouldn't even have existed without all the help he'd given me. He freaking dropped everything and moved to my hometown for me. That wasn't something a friend would easily do.

I looked at him with awe, once again so freaking grateful to call this wonderful man my best friend.

He caught me staring and shot me a look of disgust. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm just touched, okay? I won the jackpot on getting a best friend," I said with a hand to my heart.

"Well, obviously. I'm fucking spectacular," he said with a fake toss of his short brown hair. I laughed, agreeing as I scooted closer beside him.

"So, who are we thinking between these two?" I asked and placed the two resumés in front of us. "Harper and Diego have similar teaching histories, but I like the fact that Diego also has his Pilates certificate. We'd have to invest in the equipment, but I think our members would enjoy the variety."

Sam shot me a grin. "Looks like we have our newest hire. I did like Harper, too. We should keep her in mind for when we're hiring again. I think she'd make a great addition as well."

"She'll probably be snatched up by another studio before we're ready to expand," I said with a sigh. I really liked Harper as well, but with this being my first business, I was hesitant about expanding too fast. What if I hired all these people and membership suddenly dropped?

Sam gently nudged my stomach. "I think we're gonna be hiring a lot sooner than you think."

I gave him an incredulous look that had him chuckling and throwing an arm around me. "You gotta have more confidence in what you created?—"

" We created," I insisted. "You know I couldn't have done any of this without you."

He shot me a soft smile and squeezed my shoulder. "I have no doubt you would've been able to accomplish all of this without me. I'm just here for the ride."

I hated that he was diminishing everything that he'd done for me. Before I could argue further, though, he shot up a hand to stop me. "Let's get back to the main point. I'll bet you fifty bucks it won't even take a month for Diego to fill up his classes, and we'll be back to having the same problem again."

We'd had an increase of members, but there was no way it was enough people to max out Diego's classes. "You're on," I said with a smirk, and sealed the deal with a handshake.

Diego was super excited about getting started right away. We talked about him teaching Pilates, depending on interest, but that would have to wait until the equipment arrived. He recommended a brand he'd used in the past and liked.

Ten minutes later, everything he needed was ordered and expected to arrive in a few days. My heart ached at seeing the final price, but I had to remember it was an investment. And if Sam's words held any truth, I'd make the money back from Diego's classes in no time.

Nobody wanted to lose a bet, but this was one bet I wouldn't be disappointed at if I did lose, no matter how unlikely that was.

My words came to bite me in the butt not even a week later. The Pilates class was up and running and had garnered a lot more interest than I'd expected, so much so that Diego was barely leading any yoga classes.

I looked at the booking system's analytics and realized that most of his students had joined recently and looked to be specifically for Pilates.

Sam came up beside me to take a look at what was on the screen and laughed. "Is it finally time for me to say ‘ I told you so '?"

"But how? We barely even promoted Pilates, well besides telling our members that we were offering a new class," I said, still staring at the screen like it'd tell me the answers I was looking for if I stared long enough.

"You mean you barely promoted. I, on the other hand, had no plans of losing our bet," Sam stated with obvious pride in his voice as he handed me his phone.

He had our social media page pulled up. I'd created one for the studio to promote our grand opening, but I'd never been too good at the whole social media thing. I didn't put much effort into the page after the studio had opened.

Sam had said he was interested and would take care of it, so I left it to him. I hadn't asked about the page since, and only now realized we had a few thousand followers.

Sam had been posting consistently, and as he'd said, the most recent posts had been about the new classes the studio offered. There were hundreds of likes and dozens of comments saying they were applying for a membership immediately.

Apparently the commenters hadn't been joking, and that was where the spike in new members came from.

I turned to Sam with a raised brow. "And you said I could have done all of this without you."

He laughed the statement off. "Guess it's time to give Harper a call, huh?" he said, holding out his hand and wiggling his fingers as if waiting for something.

I grumbled, mostly to play the part. I was actually grateful I'd lost this bet as this increase in business already paid off the new equipment I'd purchased. With a dramatic sigh and all smiles, I smacked the fifty-dollar bill into his waiting hand.

The doorbell chimed at that moment and Ash walked and witnessed our exchange. He raised a brow at us and asked, "Do I even want to know?"

I ran into his open arms, rested my chin on his hard chest to look up at him, and complained, "Sam's robbing me blind. Looks like you're gonna have to feed me tonight."

"Damn, straight," Sam commented and let out an evil sounding laugh, then eyed us. "Though, I'm sure your little Ashy will stuff you good anytime you ask, if you know what I mean."

"Sam, get me and my man out of your dirty thoughts!" I glared at him, which only made the evil laughter start up again as he waved the fifty dollars in the air and left us alone in the reception area.

Ash's cough brought my attention back to him. He looked so adorably shy as he said, "I can feed you."

"What if I'm a glutton? I'll eat you out of house and home." I rubbed my chin against his soft shirt. He smelled slightly musky, probably having just come from the gym. That, mixed with the delicious scent of pure Ash, gave off a sexiness that had me almost drooling.

Ash's eyes softened as he swept my hair out of my face. "Then it's a good thing the NFL pays enough to feed you until basically forever."

"Forever? That's a long time," I asked with a dubious chuckle. I was unsure if he'd said that casually as a joke, or he'd actually meant it, 'cause my heart was all in.

There wasn't even a second of hesitation before saying what had to be the most romantic thing I'd ever heard.

"Doesn't sound long enough to me."

I had been scared of being trapped, so my visits back home decreased all the way until I'd moved back. I was afraid of what I'd actually find if I'd ventured out of my state, so that had bound me inside of Texas.

Even the first time Ash and I had hooked up, I'd been afraid of the consequences. I had so many fears that I'd wasted so much time, but Ash never complained. He stayed by my side and told me I was brave.

I wanted to be brave for him, and I wanted so much more time with him than forever could give. Which meant I couldn't be scared to show him my heart.

"I love you," I stated plainly. It probably wasn't the most romantic way to tell him for the first time, but I couldn't wait any longer. Not when Ash had kept his feelings for me burning for over ten years. It was long overdue for me to make the first move.

Ash's expression morphed into what had to be pure joy. He wrapped me up tighter and pecked me on the lips. "I love yous" passed his lips between each kiss.

I accepted them easily, feeling so light. Fear didn't even have a chance to grow, not when Ash helped me be my bravest.