She grabs another cookie and goes off to the living room.
“Tell me everything.” She jerks on my arm to sit down at the kitchen table.
I tell her the entire story. How Ashton came over to the house and then I had to go to his. I told her how Brooke told me to say ‘yes’, and how I finally caved.
“This is the greatest day ever.” Tiff’s face is bright with excitement.
“I figured it would get him off my back.”
“You’re not excited at all?”
I shrug.
“I can’t believe you.”
“You want the truth?” She nods. “No one has pursued me like this since Tony.” I did it. I finally said aloud the one thought that has been weighing on me.
“Lex, you’re my best friend, and Tony was my twin brother, so please understand me when I say this. I miss him too. Every single day. However, he wouldn’t want you to be sad. He would want you to date and find someone.” Tiff tells me this all the time. I feel like she says it every day. I know what she means, but it’s still hard for me too. Tony was my soulmate. He loved me like no one else could. “Just go out with him and have fun. For one night, be crazy.”
I roll my eyes. “Be crazy?”
“Yes. Do it. Do him, for Pete’s sake.”
I laugh. “I don’t know about all that.”
“Well, I know you’ve not been laid in at least three years.”
“Stop it. Sadie might hear you.”
“No, she won’t. So, when is the date?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“Just remember: go crazy.”
Chapter Eight
Ashton
“Your son is in the other room, sick as a dog, and you’re grinning like a fool.” Brooke is wearing a small smile he
rself. “Why is that, Ash?”
“She said yes,” I say simply with a shrug of my shoulders. “And hey, he’s got a stomach bug, so don’t try and pin this on me. I haven’t fed him fast food. He probably caught it at school.”
“Don’t try and change the subject. Where are you going to take her?”
“I’m not sure yet. I honestly thought I would be sending her flowers and gifts for the rest of my life. She didn’t seem like she would ever change her mind.” I smile sweetly at her and add, “If she needs someone, are you up for babysitting Sadie?”
“Sure. Go ahead and tell her that I will, actually. They can hang out and I can gauge how it went by how she is when she comes to pick Sadie up.”
“You’re the best, Brooke.”
She smiles as Reed calls out for her. She goes to him as the victory pulses through me. Now I need to make sure this date is perfect, so she’ll give me a second one.
~
Lexie agreed to let Brooke keep Sadie for our date tonight. I haven’t been this nervous since I found out Brooke was pregnant. What makes it even more nerve-racking is that because it’s been a long couple of days, I offered to just have a relaxing dinner at my place. She seemed skeptical and weary when I told her, but she didn’t cancel. My phone on the counter starts buzzing with incoming texts.