Page 58 of More To Us

She nods, then rises up on her toes and gives me a kiss. "You need to get to work."

"I'm already late. What's another few minutes?" I kiss her.

"Go." She pushes on my chest. "I don't want you getting in trouble."

"My brother's the boss." I kiss her again. "I'm not too worried about it."

"Still. You need to get going. But will you call me tonight?"

"Well, yeah. What kind of question is that? I'm not going to wait until tomorrow to call you. I'll probably call you on my break too."

I try to kiss her but she pushes me away, smiling. "Go. Get to work."

I give her one last kiss but keep it quick, then open the door and we go back inside. "Have a good day."

"You too." She heads back to the free weights. I'd like to stay and help her, but I know Nash will yell at me for not being at work. My phone's already buzzing with his text. I text him back and tell him I'm running late.

The day goes by quickly, as it always does when I'm doing construction. That's one reason I like it. The days go fast and it's always something different. One day I'm installing floors and another day I'm knocking down a wall. And I like that at the end of the day, I've accomplished something. I've built something or made something look new again. To me, construction is a creative outlet, just like music. That's why I do it. But if I had to choose between construction and music, I'd pick music, which is a problem because I'm supposed to help my brothers run Wheeler Construction when my dad retires.

I never got back to him about his suggestion to get more involved with the business. It's not that I don't want to, but I don't want it to be at the expense of my music.

"You playing this weekend?" Nash asks. We're having dinner at a restaurant near his apartment. His fiancé, Callie, is having a girls' night with Ivy, Jake's girlfriend, and Jen, Bryce's girl.

"Yeah, on Saturday," I tell him. "You coming?"

"We can't. We're going down to visit Lou." Lou is Callie's old boss. He lives in a small town a couple hours south of here. He's like an uncle to her. "We're coming back on Monday. Callie starts classes on Tuesday."

"That's right. I forgot you guys were going there."

"You got any plans for the holiday?"

"Not yet. I haven't really thought about it."

Next Monday is Labor Day. We usually have a family cookout in the back yard, but this year, my brothers are all taking off for the weekend. Jake is taking Ivy to our cabin in Wisconsin, and Bryce and Jen are going camping in Minnesota.

"Dad and I will probably just throw some burgers on the grill."

"You gonna invite your girlfriend over?" Nash grins.

"Maybe. I haven't asked her yet." I haven't told Nash about Kira, but in my family, word travels fast. I'm sure my dad or Bryce told him about her.

"So when do I get to meet this girl?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll have her come to family dinner."

Every other Sunday we have family dinner at the house. The next one is a week from Sunday.

He cuts into his steak. "You'd bring her to Sunday dinner? Must be serious."

"I can bring a girl to dinner without it being serious." I take a bite of my salmon. It's usually served with rice but I got broccoli instead. I try to limit my carbs.

"You really like this girl, don't you?"

"Yeah. I do. We have a lot in common. She even works out at my gym."

"That piece of shit gym? How'd she even find that place?"

"I don't know, but I'm glad she showed up there because she never gave me her number that night we met. I probably never would've seen her again if she hadn't joined that gym."

---