Page 85 of Billionaire Unbroken - Asher
“Probably even more than I am,” Cole said, amused. “I love watching her marvel over all of the tourist attractions. I’m going to miss that when we get home.”
“There will be more vacations,” I said.
“Definitely,” he answered. “But until that happens, I’ll miss those looks of wonder on her beautiful face. It’s been a pretty amazing honeymoon.”
“It’s not over,” I reminded him. “I’ll let you get back to it. I just wanted to talk for a few minutes. Texting isn’t the same thing.”
“Asher?” Cole said huskily.
“Yeah?”
“It means a lot to me that I’m getting my brother back.”
I swallowed hard.
Fuck!
“There’s probably been times when I just wasn’t there for you,” I said remorsefully.
“Bullshit!” he said forcefully. “You’ve always been there for me, Asher. I know you protected me when we were young. I might not know the details, but I know it happened. I was probably too young to understand why you seemed to get some of the brutal beatings that I didn’t sometimes. But I remember the bloody mess you were when you came back to our room. So don’t ever say that you weren’t there for me. I would have gone crazy if I’d had to grow up without you. You’ve always taken care of me and protected me even though you aren’t that much older than I am. There’s never been a time that you weren’t there for me when I needed you. I’m a big boy now, Asher. Maybe it’s time for me to be there for you.”
“That’s not the way it works,” I said gruffly. “I’m your big brother. And you’ve always been there for me, Cole. Just FYI…I hate what happened when we were kids, but I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up without you, either.”
Hell, we’d probably kept each other sane because we’d always had each other to talk to.
It was always Cole and me against the rest of the world.
Maybe that hadn’t exactly been healthy, but we’d managed to survive our past.
Problem was, my brother had other priorities now, and we didn’t need to fight the whole world anymore.
“I’m glad we’ve always had each other,” Cole said in a low, sincere voice. “I’m married now, and Lauren is my everything, but I’ll always be there if you need me, Asher.”
I knew that.
I’d also hoped that he’d get married to a good woman and have a family someday.
I’d always wanted something better than solitude for Cole.
“Same,” I said hoarsely. “Now get back to your honeymoon. I suck at emotional discussions.”
Cole and I didn’t voice our emotions often, but I’d always known how he felt and vice versa.
“Don’t sweat the situation with Sierra,” Cole said earnestly. “If you two care about each other, it’s all going to work out.”
Hell, I hoped he was right because I wasn’t quite sure how I’d go on with my life if it didn’t.
Sierra
“Ican’t decide which one I like more,” I told Reese as we stood in the department store in Billings, looking at three dresses.
Asher and I were leaving for Texas in the morning, and I really wanted a nice dress.
He’d already told me we were having a nice dinner in Austin, and I didn’t want to wear the one old dress that I owned.
It was more of a casual summer dress, and Asher had seen it way too many times during the wedding festivities.
I had a little extra money that I was planning on sending to my mom.
