I swallow the rest of my water, hoping it will make the aftertaste less bitter. “Why didn’t you go with them?”
Taking another bite of his lasagna, Asher pats his flat abdomen. “Because unlike them, I have a stomach made of steel.” He glances around the dining room and drops his voice. “And I wanted to talk to you.”
Awe, crap. I was afraid this might happen.
“Look, Asher. I know you want to fix things with your brother, but you really need to respect—”
“This isn’t about Preston.”
I relax against my chair, feeling ten thousand pounds lighter. “Okay, then. What’s up?”
There’s an impish glint in his eye when he grins. “I want to propose to Breslin and Landon.”
Excitement rushes through me and I find myself smiling, too…until I realize.
“I hate to be the one to break this to you, but legally you can’t get married.”
“Yeah, I know,” Asher says with a sigh. “But I still want them to know how much they mean to me. Which is why I need you to help me throw a big party so I can propose to them and we can have a commitment ceremony.”
“Are you sure a party is the best way to do that?”
Landon might not mind, but Breslin hates being in the spotlight.
He beams. “Hell yes. I want everyone to know how much I love them.”
I can’t help but get a little misty-eyed, because that’s so romantic.
“Of course.” I whip out my phone so I can start jotting things down and planning. “When were you thinking of doing it?”
“Three weeks from today.”
Geez. Talk about short notice.
“Okay. That’s a little quick, but we can totally make it work.” I type a few notes into my phone. “Location?”
He looks around. “How about here?”
I chew my lip as I ponder this. The renovations should be done by then. Especially since I told them they were only allowed to remodel the exercise room in the basement.
“We can definitely have it here. Approximately how many people do you want to invite?”
He starts ticking things off with his fingers. “Well, there’s my football team, so that’s fifty-five people right there…plus their wives and girlfriends.” He makes a face. “Some have both though, so make sure to only invite the wives. There’s also my coaches, the general manager, and the equipment managers.” His face lights up. “And we definitely have to invite Coach Cranes and his wife. I’d also like to invite my agent and some of my sponsors.”
My head’s spinning by the time he’s finally finished rattling off his list of invites.
“Given it’s happening so soon, I’m going to need you to give me all their emails, so I can send out e-invitations.”
“Not a problem.” He looks at his watch. “Can we order Chinese now? I’m starving.”
“In a minute. First, I need to know how you plan on doing it.”
A sly smirk lines his lips. “Damn, small fry. And here I thought you were strictly pussy.” His voice lowers. “Landon and I both believe in ladies first, so we usually take turns going down—”
I cover my ears with my hands. “That’s not what I meant, you nincompoop. I was talking about the proposal.”
“My bad.” He drums his fingers on the table. “I was thinking it might be kind of cool if I popped out of one of those giant cakes.” I’m about to remind him that this is supposed to be an engagement and not a bachelor party when he says, “But knowing them, they’d probably like it if it was a little more…intimate. What do you think?”
Closing my eyes, I try to envision the perfect proposal for the three of them. “There’s a pool and a gazebo in the backyard. I can place some floating tea candles in the pool and line the gazebo with a bunch of twinkling lights. I can also have Complicated Hearts playing from a small speaker I set up. How does that sound?”
A grin stretches his mouth. “Perfect.”
I start to speak, but the sound of the doorbell ringing cuts me off. A second later, I see Landon and Breslin run by as they make a mad dash for it.
“We’ll get it!”
“I’m sorry,” I hear Breslin say theatrically. “I don’t think you have the right house.”
“What’s that?” Landon chimes in. “The house number they gave you doesn’t exist, and you think we should take it since it’s your last delivery of the night?”
There’s a long pause…and then.
“I mean, it would be such a shame to waste all this delicious food.” Breslin clears her throat. “Not that Kit’s lasagna wasn’t amazing.”
Asher snorts. “Amateurs.” He cups his hand over his mouth. “Stop pretending like that was a surprise delivery. Kit knows her cooking tastes like ass on a humid day.”
Ouch.
The two look sheepish when they finally slink back into the dining room…carrying two bags of what smells like heavenly Chinese food.
“You could have just told me you didn’t like it.”
Guilt colors Breslin’s face. “I know you worked really hard and I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.” Her lips go flat and her green eyes narrow into tiny slits. “Especially since he couldn’t even bother to be here.”
Since I’m not in the mood to hear her drone on about how much she hates Preston, and then have Asher grill me about why his brother hates him so much, I announce I’m going to get some clean plates from the kitchen.
Landon follows close behind me. “I’ll help.”
I walk over to the cabinet and take down four plates. “I appreciate the offer, but I got it.”
His voice drops to a whisper. “I know, but I wanted to talk to you.”
Oh, boy.
On the bright side, Landon is my safe zone. Unlike the other two, he has no beef with Preston and to my knowledge he hasn’t made any derogatory comments about us getting married.
“Shoot.”
He looks around the kitchen before he speaks. “I want to propose to Breslin and Asher and I was kind of hoping you could help.”
Heavens to Betsy. He has got to be kidding me.
“Gee, you don’t say.”
He frowns. “Do you think it’s a bad idea?” Worry lines his face. “Or that they’ll say no?”
“No,” I quickly reassure him. “I think it’s a great idea. And I don’t think they’ll say no.”
I have to stop myself from cringing because I honestly have no freaking idea how I’m going to keep Asher’s surprise proposal a secret now.
I place the stack of plates on the island. “What’s your plan?”
He shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “That’s the thing. I don’t really have one. I just want them to know that even though we can’t legally get married, I’m committed to the both of them. Forever.”
The breath I was holding leaves me in one big whoosh because if he doesn’t have a plan, that means I can still make this work.
“Perfect.” I place an arm around his shoulders. “Picture this.” I sweep my free hand from one side to the other. “I throw you a big party right here…exactly three weeks from today.”