Van stops first and crosses his arms over his chest. That’s when I see a head of brown hair behind him. Rachel’s brown eyes come up over his shoulder and I see her grin. Then she waves at me. Paisley’s dark red hair comes up next to her and she also grins at me and waves.
Now I’m laughing. “You girls just couldn’t let them have all the fun, huh?” I ask on a laugh. Two of my brothers are fucking whipped and Van probably let them come along just to shut them up.
“Well, we heard you ran off and married a biker. We had to see what that was all about,” Rachel states. My sister-in-law is nuts. She says whatever the hell she wants whenever the hell she wants. I love her.
“Come give me hugs!” I shout, holding my arms open. Both girls move around Court and Channing to get to me. “Paisley I haven’t seen you in forever! How is Boston? Channing behaving himself?” I ask as I wrap my arms around her slight shoulders. The poor girl is tiny. I feel bad for Channing who has to bend at the waist to kiss her.
“Boston is fine. Though I don’t much mind having to come to Dallas to rescue you.” She backs away from me and puts her hands on her hips, all attitude. I love her too. She’s got the attitude to match her hair. She also doesn’t take shit from anyone so she’s all right in my book.
Rachel wraps her arms around me next and jumps up and down. “This is so cool! I can’t believe you married a biker! And why weren’t we invited to the wedding? I invited you to mine you know.”
I sigh when she backs away and before I can open my mouth, my brothers are standing right in front of me. “What the fuck is going on, Ash? This isn’t like you, running off with a biker and ignoring your family,” Van spits out, fury in his green eyes.
Ugh.
I pull my hand up and tap my finger on my chin while looking at them thoughtfully. “You ever stop to think it’s none of your fucking business?” I question before dropping my hand and crossing my arms over my chest.
Rachel and Paisley look at each other with wide eyes. I think Court’s mouth is touching the floor, Van looks like I hit him and Channing, the ever-impassive one, just stands there. He’s only been in my life for the past two years and I’ve let it loose around him before.
“This isn’t you Ash. You’d never leave Victor at the hospital like that and you certainly wouldn’t say ‘fuck’. I would know, I’ve been your brother for twenty years,” Court states, looking more and more pissed off as he speaks.
I want to roll my eyes but I don’t. I want to be a new person and that person isn’t going to be completely immature. “I’ve been married to Damien since I was eighteen years old,” I let out simply.
“What. The. Fuck?” Rachel chokes out, her eyes still wide.
Van and Court just look hurt. “You’ve what? How is that possible? You’ve been with Victor since you were fifteen!” Court finally says, clenching his fists against his legs. Van runs a hand through his hair and Channing finally has a new facial expression. Shock.
“If I was your younger sister, I could understand the overprotectiveness but I’m the oldest. That means I look out for y’all not the other way around. Victor and I broke up a few weeks after he went to Iraq. It was a long time coming. I didn’t like who I was with him. I met Damien at that public school I had to go to.” Suddenly exhausted from all the drama and things I don’t want to relive, I plop down on the bar stool behind me. “Y’all were twelve and thirteen. You didn’t know what was really going on. I liked it that way because it wasn’t any of your business. I didn’t get into your business when you knocked up Rachel, now did I? And Van I didn’t get into that mess with Annabella until after she decided to be a whore. Then it was everyone’s business.”
I get to the end of my little speech when I spot Damien behind the group with me. Then I hear Chutney get up on the stage. She tests out her mic and then her band starts playing. “Sometimes You’re the Hammer, Sometimes You’re the Nail” by A Day to Remember is her song of choice.
I want to get up and cheer her on. This song is perfect for the moment. “Look, the three of you don’t know me. The age gap was enough to cause that and I let it. I’m tired of being proper Ashley who does what everyone expects. I don’t wanna wear fancy dresses and go to charity functions. I don’t want to be a part of the high society life at all. None of you have a say in that. I’m a grown woman and it’s my say, not yours.”
Channing steps forward and I see Damien match his movements. That’s about when Rachel notices Damien. She elbows Paisley, who swings her head in his direction. Her mouth gets tight and I see her ball up her fists. “We don’t want to tell you how to live your life, Ashley. We just want to know what’s going on in it. You’re our family whether you like it or not. That means we’re going to get in your business more than you like.”