Page 40 of Love Me

“Charlie named it Garbage. But we gotta think ofsomething else, ’cause no man needs to be called Garbage for their short little life.”

“What about Winchester?”

“What are you, the Queen of England? No.”

“Magpie?”

“No.”

“Kanye Westie? Pup tart? Dogzilla? Jimmy Chew? Oh! I got it!” He snaps his fingers. “Chew-barka!”

I look up at him from my desk, dumbfounded. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He shrugs his shoulders before taking a seat in one of the chairs placed haphazardly around the empty space. I’m hardly in my office, spending the majority of my days working with my hands or in meetings.

“How’s things with Dallas and Blaire?”

“They’re hanging in there. Stopped by yesterday. If you ever checked your phone, you’d be getting more updates. What are you working on?”

“What am I not working on right now? I need to spend more time on this recipe and getting it going. Everything needs to be perfect.”

“You’re putting way too much pressure on yourself. Anything new you’ve added has been incredible, why are you so worked up over this one?”

I lean back in my chair, pulling my hat off and running my hand through my shaggy hair while thinking about his question. I’ve been working on perfecting the recipe for the straight bourbon whiskey for a while now. There’s a shit ton of rules, which I’m used to, and confident that we can meet the standards, but I want this to blow everyone away. I want to crack that baby open in a few years and have it be a game changer on the market.

“Legacy? I guess. Yeah, I’ve adjusted some of the recipes,but this would be mine. Something we haven’t done yet. Long after I’m gone, whoever inherits Aspen Ridge Distillery will still have my make. I want to leave my mark, not just as one of the founder’s grandsons, but as someone who’s earned his title and place here.”

“Alright, shit. Yeah, I can relate to that.”

“It’s hard to bitch when we’ve all been lucky to find our places here, but I don’t want it to be just because we’re all family and keeping it in the family.”

“I get that, and I hear you. But we’ve worked our asses off. Dad and Grandpa didn’t give us shit.” I give him a look, arching my eyebrows. “Alright, fair,” he concurs. “Dad may have created my position, but I’ve got two degrees in marketing and business. You know we needed someone to come in and focus on what I do. I’m busy non-fucking-stop. You know why I sleep around? ’Cause it takes the edge and the pressure off. I don’t have to think, there’s no pressure, and I’m damn good at it.”

“So, we’re all a little fucked-up then.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, I guess so. Except for maybe Kins. She seems to have her shit together.”

“Little angel. She’ll never do anything wrong.”

“Never.”

“Not having Sunday dinner sucks. Never thought I’d say it. Hopefully we’ll all be able to get back to our normal routine as soon as things settle down with Blaire.”

“Agree. You tell Mom and Dad about you and Hannah yet?”

“I’m sure everyone has started to hear the rumors. It’s moving quick though, so I should probably get on that.”

“I don’t know if she has. She hasn’t left them. Sawyer’s been stepping up and taking care of everything.”

Shit. I feel like an asshole for not being there for my brother, even though he’s asked everyone for space. But Dallasis a straight shooter, while he’s the most loyal and dedicated to his family, he will still be the first to call any of us out. But if we’re already married when he finds out . . .

“Alright, I’ll talk to Han and figure out a plan.”

“Good. Now, let’s talk about this bullshit coming up.”

Carter and I jump into our meeting, but my mind is on Hannah, wondering what’s the best way to play this and how to address the elephant in the room. We need to tell her parents, and we need to get married.

Soon.

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