“It was great working with you two today,” Charlotte said, engulfing me in a crushing hug. “I can’t wait until next month. We’ll get more done and keep this moving along.” She pulled from my arms and noticed my brother. “Asher? Is everything okay? You don’t look so good.”

“He’s fine.” I yanked him to his feet. He wouldn’t take his eyes off Jay. “He’s tired. It was a long day.”

“It was. Go get some rest, and we’ll be in touch.”

“Safe travels tomorrow,” I said, tugging Asher toward the exit. “Thanks for dinner.”

Once we made it to the car, Asher squeaked and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. “I changed my mind. Let’s go tell Jay that we thought about it, and the answer is no fucking way.”

“Funny, five minutes ago you were negotiating prices with the man like it was no big deal.”

“It’s a very big deal! Huge!”

“Now that it’s your ass it is. When it was mine, it was nothing.”

“But … you’re used to this stuff,” he hissed.

I held out my hand. “Keys. You’re not driving, or we’ll end up in a ditch somewhere in Vancouver.”

He dropped the keys into my hand, and I shoved him to the other side of the car. We got in, and Ash wrung his hands, knees bouncing.

“Atti, I don’t feel so well.”

“That’s because you’re a nervous virgin, baby. How’s it feel?”

“Fuck you. Get me out of here.”

“Am I taking you home?”

He hesitated then tore a hand through his hair. “Fuck, I don’t know.”

I sighed and considered my options. It was Saturday night. “Can you sneak me in like I’m one of your secret girlfriends?”

He considered, staring at nothing as his gaze shifted back and forth. “Yeah. Yeah, I can.”

We drove to Mom and Dad’s in silence. I didn’t know what Asher was freaking out about. It wasn’t like we were going to do this. I’d already told him how I felt. Now that Jay had laid the big guns on the table, I figured Asher would back down too.

So why was he panicking?

It took some Mission Impossible-style sneaking to get me upstairs without anyone seeing. Once secured in Asher’s room, I encouraged him to put some music on and dust off his old Xbox. It was time to game and not think about anything.

He didn’t argue. We played through numerous rounds of Halo before I gave up the controller and encouraged Asher to find a game to play solo for a bit. I got comfy on his bed and curled onto my side, watching him play.