Bro Code(59)

The worry in her eyes doesn’t go away like I’d hoped it would. Instead, she shimmies out of my arms with a groan. “You don’t have to do that, Barrett,” she says under her breath so that her staff can’t hear. “Half of what I said was bravado anyway. It’s not in the budget for me to get the factory back up to safety codes. We’re going to have to stay shut down.”

“Hey, now.” I tilt her chin up with two fingers so that her gaze meets mine. “I wouldn’t worry so much about that. I might know a guy who recently put his apartment in the city on the market. There’s a lot of money to be had there. And come to think of it, he owes you big time.”

The life re-enters Ava’s eyes, her lips spreading into a tight smile. “I can’t believe you did that for me,” she murmurs tenderly.

“I did that for us, Ava.”

She blushes as I offer her my hand, and it feels so right when I lace our fingers together. I nod my chin toward the door. “You ready to get out of here?”

There's no reason to stay in this corporate wasteland any longer. After all, we have a lot of company restructuring work to do. She squeezes my hand and gives me a smile of approval, but then turns away and clears her throat before she addresses her staff one more time.

“We’ll meet first thing on Monday to discuss our new business plan, all right?” She’s met with a blend of “Yes, ma’am!” and “Aye-aye!” As we walk out the doors of Roland Enterprises and into the parking lot, the whole team follows behind us.

“See? You’re a great leader already,” I whisper to her, which elicits a giggle in response. I carpooled with Nick on the way from Chicago, but it seems like the obvious choice to ride with Ava now. I slide into the passenger seat and buckle in. I’d offer to drive, but Lord knows how much she loves to be in control.

“Mind if we go back to your place one last time?” she suggests. “It might be a bit more private.” She pauses, then adds, “You know, for planning the restructuring.” Her cheeks turn rose pink. God, she’s adorable.

“My place sounds great,” I say, laying a gentle kiss on one of her blushing cheeks as she turns the ignition and the car rumbles to life.

“Although, once my apartment sells, any chance your mom might be able to accommodate me on her couch again until I lock down a new place?”

Ava laughs as she peels out of the parking lot, heading straight for the highway without needing directions from me.

“I’m sure we’d all be happy to have you.”





Epilogue


Ava


Indiana winters can feel practically endless, but I stand by the fact that the summers make it all worth it. Summer is winding down and it’s a perfect seventy-eight degrees, not a cloud in the sky above our little backyard barbecue.

From the moment the realtor showed us this two-story blue house on the end of the cul-de-sac, with its updated kitchen and huge backyard, I knew Barrett and I had to have it. I could perfectly envision hosting parties on the red brick patio and roasting marshmallows over the stone fire pit on a fall night.

We signed the paperwork and closed on the place within a month of our first walk-through. The location is perfect, too, it's almost the exact midpoint between the factory and the office Barrett is renting for his new law firm, and with Mom and Dad’s place only a few miles down the road, we get plenty of opportunities to have the whole family over.

No Mom and Dad today, though. Just Nick and Dana for a double date to celebrate finally being moved in. The two of them have been practically inseparable since the day Nick ditched Barrett and me to go on a date with her, leaving us to cover party supply shopping on our own. With how things turned out, of course, I’m happy that he did.

Barrett has been manning the grill all afternoon. Meanwhile, I’ve taken on the hard labor of snacking on potato chips and dancing to the radio, so I've also been on beverage duty, as well. I pop the top off of two long neck bottles, one for him and one for me.

“Working awfully hard there. You ready for another?” I wander closer to Barrett, and he accepts the beverage, squeezing my backside with his other hand. I raise one brow at him in warning. “Behave.”

He shrugs, a smile on his full mouth. “Your ass looks nice in those shorts.”

As I take a swig, I can’t help but notice the way the sunlight hits my ring. It’s been about a month since Barrett and I said, “I do” but I think it would take several lifetimes for me to get over how beautiful this ring is.

I knew he could afford a nice-sized rock with how well business has gone at his practice, but this enormous princess cut diamond blew all of my expectations out of the water. Still, he could’ve proposed with the metal ring from a can of corn and I would’ve said yes.

“Staring again?” Barrett smiles coyly and squeezes my side with the hand that isn’t gripping the spatula. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me tight against him, kissing me and flipping a burger at the same time. The man is nothing if not talented.

“Get a room, you two,” Nick calls from the hammock, although he has Dana nuzzled up in the crook of his arm. I also happen to know that he’s got a ring in his pocket, as if today wasn’t already perfect enough.

“We’re married dude, remember? You’re going to have to be okay with it.” Barrett pulls me in close before dipping me back into a much longer, deeper kiss, making a show of it just to get on Nick’s nerves.