Page 64 of My Brother's Bad Best Friend

He shrugs. “Not too bad. I think they kind of expected to get signed, too.”

“Poor guys.”

“Don’ll take care of them. I’m not worried.”

“Good.” I squeeze his hand, looking around the room. “You pulled this together. I’m impressed.”

“Eh, least I could do. I mean, shit, it took me long enough to release that video.”

“But when you did…” I trail off, and shrug.

Don’s little film went viral. I mean, as viral as a skate film can, at least. He got thousands of views and the forums and subreddits were all buzzing about him. Don and Jonas immediately capitalized on the attention, filming another couple videos in quick succession, both of which got some serious buzz and traction, which is what led to Don getting signed by Nike. Now he’s a real pro skater, with all that comes along with that.

“No more little movies,” Jonas says. “It’s almost sad, you know?”

“You enjoy it,” I say, shrugging. “Who knows, maybe you’ll find someone new.”

“Definitely no shortage of applicants.”

I laugh, remembering the time a couple weeks ago when he showed me his email inbox and how full it is with skaters trying to work with him.

“Not such a bad problem to have.”

“Nah, but you know me. Always busy and always complaining about it.”

I smile and get up on my tip-toes to kiss him again. “It’s what I love about you.”

He palms my ass, grinning, and kisses me back. “I should go mingle,” he says.

“Good. Get to it. I’m going to check on my crop.”

“Have fun.” He winks and heads off into the crowd.

I wander out alone, back into the hallway, and head toward the grow room. I enter the code and go inside, into the blessedly quiet space, shutting the door behind me to block out some of the music.

When Ezra got bought out, Jonas needed a new grower. He interviewed a ton of people, but eventually he gave it up once I started spending more and more time in here. At first, I had no clue what I was doing. I made a million little mistakes early on, stupid things I’d never do again.

But now, one year later, I have the hang of it. There’s nothing quite like growing plants. I walk through the thin rows, my fingers trailing along the plants, skimming their leaves. I whisper to them, tell them that I love them and want them to grow. I named a bunch of them although there are too many to really name them all.

And they’re growing, big and beautiful. I know these plants are technically a drug, at least a legal drug in California, but that doesn’t matter to me. There’s something incredible about growing something. I never really pictured myself as a farmer but now it’s all soil balance and light levels.

I lose myself for a while, doing some boring manual work that needs doing, when the door opens at the far end. Jonas slips inside and smiles at me.

“I got you something,” he says, hands behind his back.

“Oh, yeah?” I brush dirt off my jeans and walk over to him.

He grins and brings out a piece of cake. I laugh a little and take it from him. “You know me so well.”

“Yes, yes, I do.” We kiss again and I lean up against a table, biting into the cake. He yawns and stretches a little bit before cocking his head, hands hanging at his side.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing. I was just thinking.”

“That’s always a mistake.”

He grins but lets it slide. “We should get married.”

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