Page 54 of Asher

“You sure?” Asher asked and turned to me when Nix nodded. “You okay with that?”

“Yeah.” I patted his leg next to mine. I’d put Nix to bed before and knew her bedtime routine like the back of my hand.

“Alright. I’m going to clean up. Come give me a hug.” He slid to the edge of the couch and opened his arms for Phoenix. She backed up a few steps to get a running start and jumped into his arms. Asher let out a grunt when she collided with his body.

“I almost knocked you over!” She yelled happily before bounding up the stairs.

“I love you,” he called up after her and she screamed it back down the stairs to him. “You know you don’t have to put her to bed, right?”

“You know I love reading to her.”

“Okay. I’ll pick this up and head up to my room. Meet me there?” He leaned in and pressed a lingering kiss to the corner of my mouth. It was strange. In the past few years, we’d become friends, I’d never been in his room. It always seemed too personal.

Just another one of our invisible walls we used to keep us in the friendzone.

“Okay.” Standing quickly, Ash pulled me up with him and slapped my ass. My eyes went wide, and need shot through me.

“Don’t take too long.”

I opened my mouth to respond when Nix yelled down the stairs that she was ready. I made my way into her room where she sat on the bed surrounded by a pile of books. “I thought we agreed on two.” I raised a brow, the corner of my lips tugging.

She smiled innocently. “I couldn’t pick.”

“How about we pick the top two and then tomorrow we can read the next two?”

“You’re staying tomorrow night too?”

“Yeah. I’ll be here for a while.”

She hopped up and hugged me. “Yay!” I squeezed my arms around her.

“Alright. Let’s get you under these covers.” I pulled back the pink princess blanket on her bed so she could slide her little feet under. Picking up the first two books in her pile, I sat them in my lap before moving the other two to the nightstand by her bed. The picture of Carrie caught my eye, just like it did every time I went into her room.

She truly was beautiful, and it broke my heart Phoenix had grown up without knowing her.

“That’s my mommy in heaven.”

I smiled and looked over at her. “I know. She was sweet. Just like you.” I bopped her on the nose. It wasn’t a lie. Carrie was sweet. She’d never been mean to anyone.

“You knew her?” Phoenix’s eyes widened in wonder.

I tucked a little piece of hair behind her ear as she laid back on her pillow. “Yeah, Sweetheart. I did. She was so nice, and she had curls just like yours.”

Nix bit nibbled on her lip. “Are you going to marry my daddy like Aunt Rylie and Uncle Mason got married?”

My mouth opened and closed a few times because what did I say to that? Nix never asked these types of questions before, and I couldn’t exactly tell a seven -year-old that I drunkenly married her father. “I think that would be a conversation we should have with your dad.”

“But he said you guys were going to kiss now.” Her brows furrowed and I reached over with one finger to smooth them out.

“I probably will kiss him a few times. Will that bother you?”

She scrunched up her nose before shaking her head. “No. But did you know that if you marry daddy, then you’ll get to be my mommy. Then you’ll never have leave.”

My heart melted. “Oh, Sweetie. I’ll never leave you, no matter what happens.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” I gripped her hand tightly. “I love you, Nix. Now why don’t we read these books?” She yawned and snuggled further down into her bed as I began reading the first book. I wasn’t even five pages in before she started snoring softly. I sat next to her for a few more minutes before pressing a soft kiss to her head. Making sure the night light was on, I shut off the bedside lamp and made my way out of the room, careful not to step on any rouge barbie shoes.

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