Page 127 of Finance Bros

“Like what?” I ask.

“You don’t have to say,” Ryan says, all protective of him.

“No,” Miguel says, glancing at me. “I get it. It’s mostly Piper and Nathan. Piper’s a bitch, you all know that.”

Bailey leans in, elbows on the table in a verytell me morepose. “And Nathan?”

“She likes him. Like she wants him.”

“Has she had him?”

Miguel nods. “But Nathan’s not exactly picky about who he’s with, you know?”

Bailey grins and shakes her head, eating this shit up. “No. What do you mean?”

“I mean he likes to get laid. A lot. And Piper likes to play games, so…”

“He just goes around talking about it?” I ask.

“Look,” Ryan cuts in. “We don’t need all the details. The point is, things aren’t working out for Miguel with their team, he’s still got forty-five dollars and a setup we can use to move our team to the next level.”

“No offense, Miguel,” Bailey says, sitting back, “But Piper’salready got a sabotage agenda she’s not being shy about. That makes this a little hard to trust.”

“We can trust him,” Ryan says without equivocation.

“How doyouknow?” I ask.

He gives me a harsh glare. “I just do. This is low risk, high reward. What’s the worst case scenario? He finds out what we’re doing and reports back? They already know what we’re doing. Piper’s made that extremely clear. It doesn’t mean they can compete. We’ve already built the foundation we need to be successful, and if Miguel can help, which he’s offering to, then we can get started on the podcast this weekend.”

“I hate this.” I don’t mean to say it out loud, and when Miguel looks genuinely stricken, I almost apologize, but I clamp my mouth shut.

It’s not like he seems untrustworthy in terms of the challenge. What I don’t trust him with is Ryan. Ryan who’s mine, but only temporarily. Ryan who I deeply betrayed and hurt and who is generally an asshole to people but not Miguel. Ryan who says he doesn’t trust me butdoestrusthim.

Is he attracted to him, too?

“Can I have a word with you outside?” Ryan says to me. It’s not really a question.

“Want me to order for you?” Bailey asks.

“We already ordered,” Ryan says, and I wince.

“I’m not hungry,” I say.

Ryan shakes his head, grabs me by the arm, and drags me out of the deli. “What the hell is your problem?” he asks as soon as we’re out the door.

“What’s going on with you two?” I ask.

He blinks in surprise. “What do you think is going on?”

“Don’t fucking play with me. I’m barely hanging on here, just tell me.”

“Barely hanging on?” He looks baffled.

“Fine,” I say. “You want me to ask, I’ll ask. Is there something going on with you and Miguel?”

“Jesus Christ, Mal.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. Stop being an asshole and tell me.”

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