Page 32 of Bleeding Hearts

“I don’t mean to interrupt this fun little staring contest the two of you are having.” Theo pauses. “Actually, yeah, I do mean to interrupt it. I feel like I’m invading your personal space watching you two and it’s making me feel weird.”

“Sorry.” I chuckle. “Hi, Theo.” I smile at him.

“Hi there, Asher. It’s fantastic to see you. We were just talking about you.” He smiles back, a devious look in his eyes.

“Oh really? And what exactly about me were you saying?” I look between the two of them, noting the wide smile on Theo’s face and the annoyed flush on Demi’s.

Theo opens his mouth to speak, but Demi beats him to it.

“We need your help with Kaden and Logan’s wedding,” she says.

“That’s not the only thing we were talking about,” Theo mumbles.

Demi gives him a sharp look like maybe that wasn’t the only thing they were talking about, but it’s sure as hell the only thing we’re talking about now.

“Sure. What can I do?” I shrug.

“Have you seen this place? What can’t you do should be the question.” Theo looks around.

“What are you talking about? Carl’s fucking great,” I reply. “And I know you love it here too. I see you all the time,” I add.

“For a bar, absolutely. It’s perfect here. For a wedding…” He lets the words trail off, a shiver of disgust rolling through his body. “Fuck no. We need to do some major recon before I allow one of my best friends to be married here.”

“Okay, fine. So, what do you need me to do exactly?” I ask.

“Maybe just help Theo and Gabby clean the place up and decorate the day before? Move some stuff around. A makeshift aisle maybe? Theo?” Demi looks toward him to continue.

“I’m thinking we’ll decorate the place with tons of flowers, carve the aisle out of petals, set up an elegant table for the buffet spread, plus a separate table for the cake. Oh, and before any of that I’ll definitely need you to deep clean first because I will not be doing that.”

“I can do that.” I laugh at his clear refusal to pick up a broom. “It all sounds nice. I’m sure the two of them are gonna love anything you guys put together,” I say, and it’s the truth.

Kade and Lo are the type of people that care much more about being married to each other than the actual wedding. They essentially handed over any and all planning to all of us, removing themselves from it all.

I think Theo is secretly happy about that though. He’s definitely the planner of their little group. He always seems to be the one in charge of things, so Logan giving him free rein on her wedding day is probably music to his ears.

And I know that Demi was honored that they asked her to cook for the wedding. Frankly, I don’t know why she would even be surprised.

Demi is a fucking phenomenal chef. I’ve known that since the very first time I saw her food before I even tasted the magic she created.

She made some sort of chicken dish and the food itself was pretty standard, but when she set it down in front of us, it looked more like a work of art than a simple chicken dinner.

I mean, seriously, it was easily something you’d get out of a five-star restaurant. Then I took my first bite and I knew cooking was what she was meant to be doing.

I still have no idea how someone infuses that type of flavor into chicken. I don’t even know what exactly it was, but I do know I finished the entire thing and would’ve eaten a whole other second portion despite being full.

I joked about hiring her as my own personal chef, and a part of me was serious. If I had the money to pay Demi to cook for me every day, I would. She had joked back that I couldn’t afford her, and she was right.

She’s worth way more than I could ever give her.

“Perfect.” Theo claps, a smile on his face. “I’d love the full menu as soon as you have it so that I can start having placards made.” He looks at Demi.

“I just want to try one or two more recipes for side dishes, then I’ll get it to you,” she responds.

“I’ll have to fill Gabby in tomorrow if she ever gets off work. I have overtime occasionally too, but I swear she’s been practically living at the hospital lately and she loves it.” He scoffs.

“She loves her job. Give her a break. Plus, she’s probably trying to avoid her roommate,” Demi says.

“I love my job too, but I also enjoy having some semblance of a life. And fuck knows why, he’s positively delicious.” He sighs.

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