Page 78 of Finance Bros

Me

You good then?

Mal

You?

Me

I’m fine. See you tomorrow.

Mal

Tomorrow night too?

Me

I told you, we’ll see.

Mal

Did you have a good night?

I blow out a breath, thinking about how to answer that. In all honestly, I feel wrung-out. Emotionally hung over. Uncertain. Other than a few minutes while he was suckingme off, I was overthinkingeverything. I was trying to separate my feelings from what we were doing, trying not to conflate the two. But something about the way he kisses me is—I don’t know what the word for it is—fond?What a stupid word. Is it even a word? It’s definitely not a sexy word. And the hugging. Goddamn, the hugs. They’re like marathons.

It feels good to be turned on—it felt incredible to come down his throat—best orgasm of my life, no contest, but I also feel ashamed of it. Like I was taking something that isn’t mine to have.

But in the interest of not putting him into a dark, belligerent mood, I respond casually.

Me

Yeah, it was a good night. Sleep well.

Mal

You too.

Long story short—I don’t sleep well, but Bud sleeps like a champ.

The following morning with the same song stubbornly stuck in my head, I’m dragging ass getting ready. I see I missed a call from Norah. I debate about whether to return it, and I ultimately do, but I only last a few minutes on the phone, barely able to speak in complete sentences. She assumes I’m struggling to wake up, which is at least half true, and I promise to catch up with her after work.

Deacon, who sees me spill nearly a whole box of cereal, which I have to clean up while wanting to cry, brings me a double shot of espresso while I’m shaving my face.

I nearly come out of my skin when I see the gentle giant behind me in the mirror, but he holds up a hand like he meansno harm and offers the drink with his other. “It’s got ginseng in it.”

“Thanks, man.”

He gives me a weak, shy smile and disappears.

The shot helps. By the time I’m on the elevator at Marks & Baker, I’m sharper, and as a bonus, my hands aren’t shaking like they normally would be with so much caffeine in my system. Piper and Nathan are on the ride up with me, and I notice Nathan’s looking a little smug. “Any subscribers yet?” he asks.

I scowl at him. “Why? You like my tips?”

Piper grins. “Ilike your tats. And your cat.” And then she snickers.

“Thanks for all the comments,” I tell her.

Nathan shifts, looking away, but Piper gives me a sly, half grin. “No rules, right?”

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