“Yep, just let me close up and I’ll be good to go,” I replied.

Ashlyn lifted her bag from the edge of my desk, pushed back the chair, and moved toward the door with Ky. Her eyes flashed to mine in silent plea of the conversation we never finished. The fact that she wanted to hide what Lachlan did certainly didn’t sit well with me. The world should know the extent of his fuck up. I diverted my attention back to my laptop, finished off the email I was halfway through, and pushed back from my desk. Then I grabbed my wallet from my top drawer, shoved my phone in my pocket, and was ready to go.

After falling into step beside Ky, we headed for our favorite diner, Antonio’s. Ky chatted animatedly, and there was no doubt in my mind what this little lunch outing was about. I loved that he thought he could keep things from me, but I was that annoying little brother who knew everything about his big brother.

Antonio’s had a flurry of lunchtime revelers. Ky entered and headed to our usual booth, while I held open the door for Ashlyn. Her eyes flashed to mine before she dipped under my arm and passed. I leaned in until my mouth hovered over her ear, and she immediately halted as my body pressed close to her side.

“You have my word. It will remain between you and me,” I said in a low voice.

I stepped away, and she turned to face me. Her eyes traced my features, then she rose on her tiptoes and placed the softest of kiss on my cheek. “Thank you, I owe you one,” she whispered, her words laced with gratitude.

We moved through the diner, waving at Antonio as we passed the kitchen, and headed toward Ky. Burgers, fries, and sodas soon covered the table, while laughter filled the air. Ashlyn appeared to be in her element. She was joking and messing around, teasing me, and encouraging Ky to do the same. It was as if everything was fine and dandy in her life. It was refreshing to see, and gave me some hope that maybe Lachlan hadn’t won.

“I have something I need to share with you both,” Ky announced, after popping the last bite of burger into his mouth.

Here we go.

Ashlyn leaned in eagerly, and I watched my brother closely and with great pride as he got ready to say the words I had been anticipating for months.

“I’m going to propose to Eden.”

“Oh my god.” Ashlyn’s shriek caught the attention of every single person in the diner, as her eyes were overcome with tears. Abruptly her hand shot out and grabbed mine, squeezing it hard and completely taking me by surprise. I hissed when pain shot up my arm as she excitedly dug her nails into my now-throbbing hand. Fuck me, where did she get this strength?

“Josh, they’re getting married. Eden and Ky are getting married,” she cried, completely ignoring Ky, who looked on with sheer excitement.

“Fuck, Ashy! I need my hand to work.” I laughed, and she immediately dropped it as if I was burning her, then her eyes widened briefly in shock at what she had done.

How did she not know she grabbed my hand? I lifted my hand and placed it on her thigh, and her eyes flew briefly to me. The second I felt her fingers brush against mine, I took the silent invitation to entwine my fingers with hers and join our hands as one. There would be no standard hand holding; I was going to smother hers with mine, and wait until she was the one to break. She needed this, she just didn’t realize it. I couldn’t ignore that her eyes held everything she wanted to hide. Ashlyn was the type of girl who dreamt of a happily ever after, and the tears that swam in her eyes weren’t completely filled with joy and excitement for her best friends. There was the briefest sign of heartache that flashed before me, not because it was Ky getting married, but because she had resigned herself to a life of never getting this.

“Congratulations, big brother. I couldn’t be happier for you.” I held my free hand out and shook Ky’s in cheers.

“Now you two are coming ring shopping with me,” Ky declared. Then he pulled two twenties from his wallet and put them on the table.

He could not be serious.

“Don’t look so shocked, Josh. You’re coming with me. I need both of your opinions. Let’s call it a bonding session.” He looked at me expectantly.

“You’re kidding, aren’t you?”

“Would you joke about buying your girlfriend an engagement ring?” he asked.

“Well, I have no immediate plans on proposing to anyone, so I can’t really answer that.”

“There will come a time, little brother, and fuck me if I can’t wait for it, just so I can remind you of this exact moment.”

“Josh, get your head out of your ass. We have rings to look at, rings to try on, and a ring to buy,” Ashlyn demanded in pure sass.

Shit, her voice was getting high pitched again as her excitement levels rose. She untangled her hand from mine, pushed back on the chair, and joined Ky. Then they both looked at me eagerly. I was being ambushed, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. Usually in these situations, I’d at least have Eden with me, and we would mount a solid defense.

“Fine,” I pushed back on my seat and scoffed, as Ashlyn started bombarding Ky with questions about different cuts of rings and diamonds, and how he was planning on asking her.

Ky shot me a pleading look over his shoulder as the three of us walked out of the diner. So now he wanted my help? No way big brother.

A smirk was all he got.

I WAS DROPPING BOMBSHELLS like strippers were dropping panties. What’s that saying? Grab life by the horns, balls, or whatever. Well, that was exactly what I chose to do.

Three days ago, Ky dropped his own bombshell about his plans to propose to Eden. Do you know how hard it was to talk with her and not scream “he is going to propose?” It was like giving me chocolate and telling me to just look at it.

Now I had my own bombshell to drop on my friends. I was nervous, but the excitement of the unexpected was something I couldn’t resist. I was sick of fighting something that would be so good for me. It was time to start the final chapter in the reinvention of Ashlyn Hart, and it would be the biggest chapter to date.

My nerves ran rampant as I entered the restaurant, but I still had a spring in my step and a smile on my face. Earlier in the day, I sent Josh, Ky, and Eden a text and asked them to meet me at Joe’s Place, the Italian restaurant at the bottom of my apartment building, for dinner.

When I came into view, their eyes followed me as I crossed the busy restaurant. Josh gave me the once over, and shot me a questioning look. Considering he was the only one to know of the fuck up known as Lachlan Johnson, I knew my sudden change in attitude made him suspicious, so I offered him my first smile of the group.

“You look mighty pleased with yourself,” Eden stated with a hearty laugh.

My eyes instinctively dropped to her left hand, only to find it ringless. Damn it.

Josh pulled out the empty seat beside him, and I slipped in. Placing my clutch on the table, I sent a smile around the table and couldn’t hold in my excitement any longer. “So, I have news, and I wanted to share it with all of you first. Then hopefully I’ll celebrate with you.” I took a deep breath. “I’ve quit my job.”

A collective gasp resonated around the table. It wasn’t a secret what my job meant to me, and each of them knew the hours and dedication I put into it, so hearing that I was turning my back on it was shocking. My dream was to always work in fashion. I worked my ass off in high school for a scholarship to the best college in the United States to offer a course that would allow me to live my dream. It led me to New York, and had allowed me to engulf myself in the industry. Three sets of shocked eyes stared back at me, but there was one hint of a smile encouraging me and pushing me forward, and that was from Josh.