23. Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Layla

I hop into Josh's truck with a bottle of wine and a bag of groceries. I'm wearing my favorite navy-blue dress that cuts above my knees with some gold jewelry.

Josh is in a dark blue button-down. It kind of looks like we tried to match outfits. His gaze can't seem to hold mine or anything else in the car for longer than a second. He must be really nervous. I even have some butterflies in my stomach.

We are on our way to dinner at Asher and Charlotte's, but we are mainly going to tell my brother about us.

Last weekend, after we agreed to tell him, I told Josh that I would set up a dinner at their place. Charlotte agreed to do it under the guise that she wants to hear more stories from our time in Italy.

"You ready for this?" I ask him as he taps the steering wheel with his thumbs mindlessly.

"I just want to get it over with. The anticipation is what's killing me."

I reach over and rub the back of his neck, trying to relieve some of the tension he's feeling.

"Do you want to tell him right away or have dinner first?" I ask.

"I don't want to sit through an entire dinner without telling him, but what if we tell him right away, and it ruins the evening?"

"Well, to be honest, if he reacts that poorly, then I don't want to spend the rest of the evening with him."

I really don't think he'll be angry. I mean, sure, it might be kind of weird for a while, but let's not forget about the fact that he is with my best friend, and I didn't get angry about it. I'm sure he'll be able to see that.

We pull into the driveway, and he puts the truck into the park and then turns to me. "Before we go in, I just want you to know that no matter what anyone says about us, I want to be with you. Nothing will change how I feel about you. I'm done letting what other people think keep me away from you."

His hands cup my face. He leans in and gently presses his lips to mine. It's the kind of kiss that always leaves me feeling dazed as his lips move over mine so softly and slowly. When he pulls away, every part of me wants to dive back in and forget about going inside.

But I know we need to get this over with. We open our car doors, and Josh grabs the groceries for me as we walk to the front door. Before I knock, Charlotte opens the door with a bright smile.

"Hi guys!" she exclaims. "Come on in."

We walk through the door to find Asher hanging out on the back deck with a beer. Charlotte leads us out there to join him .

Asher stands. "Hey, man." He shakes hands with Josh.

I look around for Brie but see no sign of her. "Where's my niece?"

"She's spending the night at Mom and Dad's," Asher replies. "We figured if she were here, there'd be minimal adult conversation being had."

"Yeah," I laugh. "Brie is good at being the center of attention. What do you think she will do when the baby gets here?"

"We've been talking to her about the things that will change when the baby gets here," Charlotte says as she absentmindedly runs a hand over her growing belly. "I'm sure it will be an adjustment, but she'll be fine. She's a sweetheart."

"Are you guys going to find out the sex of the baby?" Josh asks, taking a beer from Asher as we all sit down.

Asher looks over at Charlotte. "Yes. We actually get to find out in three weeks."

"I can't believe you are already that far along. This pregnancy is going to fly by," I tell them.

"I know. It's already close to the halfway mark. It's unbelievable," Charlotte agrees.

Josh looks at me from his chair, his eyebrows raised in anticipation. I think we need to do this before he loses his mind. I don't think he can focus on anything else until we get this out in the open.

"Well, before I get started in the kitchen, Josh and I had something we wanted to tell you guys," I start, including Charlotte in this so Asher doesn't realize I've already told her.

"What's that?" Asher looks at me strangely.

"Well, when Josh and I were in Italy," I say, clearing my throat and looking over at Josh. "We actually kind of discovered that there might be something more than just friendship between us."

Asher's eyes shift between mine and Josh's. "You mean you would've called yourself friends before the trip?"

Josh smiles at me. "Fine," I laugh. "We realized underneath the anger between us were feelings," I pause. "Romantic feelings."

Asher's head falls forward as he lets out what seems like a bitter laugh while he shakes his head. Josh sits up straight while we all stare at Asher. I honestly can't tell if he's pissed or not. Charlotte shrugs her shoulders at me. Even she doesn't have a clue what the hell this reaction is.

Asher lifts his head and wipes his mouth with his hand. "You mean it took Italy to make you two idiots see that?"

"Well, I don't think there's any reason for name-calling here," Josh defends. "Wait…are you pissed?"

"No, you fool. I'm relieved that this whole charade of hating each other is finally over. It's been exhausting."

"For crying out loud, you too?" Josh falls back into his chair.

"What do you mean, me too?" Asher asks with amusement.

Josh looks frustrated now for an entirely new reason, and I find it kind of adorable. Charlotte smirks at me.

"Liam and Eric guessed it at Brie's party. They said the same damn thing to me. Does everyone feel this way about us? What about you, Charlotte? "

Charlotte shrugs. "I mean…I kind of guessed there was something between you two."

Asher winks at Charlotte. "We talked about it all the time," he adds.

"It's okay, babe," I tell Josh. "We were both fools for denying it to ourselves."

"Still," Josh mutters. "It's kind of humiliating that everyone knew but didn't say anything."

I place my hand on his knee and squeeze it. "At least we admitted it to ourselves eventually."

Asher looks at my hand and cringes. "I'm definitely happy for you two, but this touchy thing is going to take some time getting used to."

Charlotte rolls her eyes. "Oh, please," she touches his knee, "they do a lot more than that in the bedroom."

Asher stands up quickly. "Ok. Sex talk is off the table. I'm sorry, but I can't hear stuff like that."

A flash of humor crosses Josh's face, but I can also tell that he is relieved Asher isn't pissed.

"Fine!" Charlotte agrees as she pulls on my brother's hand. "Just sit back down, you big baby. Ugh, Layla does the same thing to me when I try to talk about us."

Asher's eyes bug out. "You try to tell my sister about our sex life? What is wrong with you?"

"She's my best friend. I want to tell my best friend these things. "

"Well, find a new best friend, because you will not be discussing our sex life with my sister."

"Hey!" I interject. "She will not find a new best friend. But I do agree that from here on out, sex talk between anyone in this group is strictly off limits."

Asher puts out a fist for me to pump. He's such a dork, but I concede and hit my fist with his.

"Well, I'm gonna go get started on dinner," I announce as I stand up.

"Ooh, I'll come help," Charlotte replies as she follows me into the kitchen.

She's beaming as I start to get the ingredients out of the fridge.

"Oh my gosh, this is so exciting!" she exclaims as she leans against the island.

I start to chop the vegetables for the salad while she snacks on pretzels in front of me.

"I thought you were going to help," I joke as I continue to chop.

She waves her hand in the air. "I just wanted to come in here and gossip. I'd just be in the way if I tried to help. Anyway, does it feel good to have it all out and in the open?"

I turn around and drizzle some olive oil in a frying pan. "It does. Although, it's not like we kept it a secret for very long. Just a couple weeks."

"True. You two have moved along very quickly in this relationship. "

I guess we have. I mean, it's not like we're talking marriage or anything. "I'm twenty-seven. He's thirty-two. We know who we are and what we want."

"True. I mean, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Your brother and I were living together as a family before we were even together for a year. When you know, you know."

"We'll see where it goes. I don't want to move too fast, but I have a good feeling about this."

She claps her hands excitedly. "So do I. Promise me that you'll let me have the baby before the wedding so I'm not a fat maid of honor."

I laugh as I throw the shrimp in the oil. "Did I not just say we'll see where this goes?"

"Sure you did. But I know where this is going. I feel it in my gut."

"Maybe that's just the baby you're feeling," I say with a wink.

"Haha, you're freakin' hilarious. No, this is definitely my gut talking. I've got a good sense about these things."

I don't want to admit it to her yet, but I think she's right. I've got this feeling that this is it for me. I can't imagine anyone making me feel the way that Josh does. But it's too soon to be thinking like this. I try to take my mind off the idea while I cook, but it's kind of stuck in my brain the entire time.

A wedding here in Savannah would be perfect. Somewhere underneath the southern trees. Nothing big or fancy either. I know that wouldn't be Josh's style and I like the idea of something intimate .

Once my shrimp and linguine are finished, I pour them all into a large serving bowl, and Charlotte helps me bring the salad outside. I gesture for the guys to join us at the table, where Charlotte already has all of the plates and utensils set up.

Josh pulls out my chair for me. As I take a seat, he leans down and whispers in my ear. "Did I tell you how beautiful you look in that dress?"

He takes a seat next to me. "I don't believe you have," I whisper.

He leans in to kiss me on the cheek. "Well, you do. I can't wait to get it off you tonight."

A blush must form on my cheeks because I suddenly feel warm. I can't wait for him to take it off me either.

"Thanks for cooking for us, sis. You know how much I love whatever you make." Asher scoops some pasta onto Charlotte's plate first then his.

"It's no problem. You know I love to cook, especially since I don't get to do it at the restaurant."

"Speaking of your restaurant, Charlotte told me things went well there while you were away."

"Yeah, it went really well. Zane did a great job, and I was able to enjoy the trip without worrying about anything."

Charlotte giggles. "I'm sure Josh had a hand in the distractions."

I look over at Asher who rolls his eyes. I curl my lips, so he doesn't see me smile at his discomfort. I love him like crazy and appreciate that he just wants me to be happy, but if he thinks I've gone the last year without hearing things I haven't wanted to hear or seen things I never wanted to see, then he's delusional .

The amount of times he's groped my best friend in front of me or thought he was being quiet when he whispered something dirty in her ear is too many to count.

We spend the rest of the evening telling stories about Italy and reminiscing about old times. When it's getting late, Josh starts to shift around in his seat, working up the nerve to say something.

"Well," he eventually speaks up. "I appreciate you guys having us over. It's been a great night, but I think we should get going. It's getting late."

"Thanks so much for dinner and coming over. It was so nice to have a night with another couple," Charlotte says as we all get up off our chairs and walk back inside.

Asher pulls Josh aside and starts saying something to him that I can't quite make out. Josh is nodding along the entire time, then they shake hands.

Charlotte looks at me and shrugs her shoulders. Then the guys meet us at the front door, where we all give hugs and say goodnight.

Asher hugs me last. "I'm really happy for you, sis. But you tell me if he fucks up, and I'll kick his ass. I've always got your back."

"Thanks," I laugh. "I think."

Josh grabs my hand, and we walk to his truck, where he opens the door for me. I feel complete relief that this is all done and out in the open. My brothers all know, and nobody is angry.

I like that Josh just drives back to his house, knowing that I'm coming home with him. We're starting to get into this routine of staying at each other's places .

"That went well," he says as he grabs my hand.

"It did."

"He didn't even punch me."

I chuckle. "Were you expecting to get punched this evening?"

"It was a definite possibility in my mind. I've seen your brother pissed off before. You don't want to be the one on the receiving end of his fury."

"Ah, he's all bark and no bite. He wouldn't hurt a fly."

He throws his head back and laughs. "You haven't seen the other side of him."

"Oh, please, both of you guys are big softies. Hiding behind your scary emotions, but in reality, you're the nice ones."

He parks his truck in his driveway and then looks at me in a way that makes me need to rub my thighs together. "Did you just call me a softie?"

I bite my lip and lean further back against my side of the car. "I may have. What are you gonna do about it?"

"That's it," he says as he takes off his seatbelt, but I'm out of the car before he can get me. "You better run, Freckles."

I take off into the house, sprinting up the stairs while I can feel him hot on my heels. It's that terrifying feeling when you don't know when, or if, the person behind you will get you, like playing tag, but this time, I don't think I'll mind if I get caught.

I'm turning the corner into the hallway when I feel an arm wrap around me and lift me off the ground .

"You aren't going anywhere," he growls in my ear.

He takes large strides into the bedroom where he throws me down on the mattress. I turn around onto my back and look up at him. His eyes are smoldering as they focus on me. His lips are pressed into a hard line, yet there's a slight twitch to them, hinting at a playful side underneath.

Then he sheds himself of his shorts and grips his length. "I'm no softie, Freckles. There's not a damn part of me that is soft when it's around you," he says while running his hand up and down his hard dick.

My body shivers at the sight. I don't think I'll ever not react to watching him do this in front of me.

He lets himself go and grabs my dress, pulling the straps down and almost ripping it down my body, then throws it on the floor. He does the same to my underwear until I'm lying in only my bra.

But he doesn't seem to have the patience for that right now.

He steps forward, grabs under my legs, and pulls me to the end of the bed.

"Do you want to feel how not soft I am for you?"

He starts to tease me with his dick as he runs it along my soaked pussy. I suck in a breath at the sensations, especially when he reaches my clit.

"Talk to me, baby. Tell me that you want my hard dick inside of you."

"I want it," I beg breathlessly. "Please, give me your hard dick."

He smirks down at me. "Good girl."

Then he pushes inside of me until he bottoms out, and we both let out a satisfied moan. He cages me in with his arms and thrusts in and out with purpose until I'm clenching around him and screaming his name.