Page 128 of Finance Bros

He leads me out of the flow of sidewalk traffic to the other side of a mailbox. He doesn’t touch me, but he stands close. “Last week, I found him crying in the men’s room. He and Nathan have been hooking up, and I guess Piper found out and started talking a lot of shit.”

Whoa.“Him andNathan?” I know Nathan. Kind of. Never in a million years?—

“I get the impression it was just fucking around, nothing serious, but Piper took it personally.”

“He was crying, though? Sounds likehetook it personally.”

“Look,” Ryan says, his voice lower. Softer. “When you’re being bullied, it’s not unheard of to have a breakdown in a men’s room.”

My jaw tightens. “Are you speaking from experience?”

He won’t look at me. “This isn’t about me and you.”

Why doesn’t he get thateverythingis about me and him?“I made you cry?”

He shrugs it off. “I was a kid.”

My heart feels like it’s crumbling. “I don’t know what to say.”

“We can deal with that later,” Ryan says. “You’re okay with this, right?” He gestures toward the deli, meaning Miguel being on our team.

Whether he meant to or not, he cut me down to size, so I can’t say no. Ryan’s right. It’s worth the risk in terms of the challenge, but this whole business of Ryan making friends—ones that aren’t me? Do they hug, too?

“Sure,” I say quietly.

“Good. We’ll meet up tonight?”

“Your place?”

“No—I mean all of us. At Miguel’s place to check out the set up.”

“Oh. Yeah, all right.”

“We’ll play it by ear after that,” he says, which I guess is all I’m gonna get.

I follow him back into Big Bites with my heart in my stomach and my hope hanging on by a thread.

24

RYAN

Miguel has a very nice place in the Castro. Evidently his stint as a YouTuber set him up nicely for a while, and he was able to buy the upper floor of a townhome. His office is exactly the cozy kind of space Bailey wanted, but at the moment, it’s a blank canvas with good lighting and a ton of recording equipment. The walls are a warm, dark green.

The four of us work together to set it up. We bring in two chairs from Miguel’s living room and an end table to put between them. Bailey’s heart is set on calling the show “Finance Bros,” and as much as I hate it, and I think Mal does, too, there’s no talking her out of it, especially when Miguel agrees. If we hadn’t spent a good chunk of our life actually being brothers, I don’t think it would bother me so much, but it’s not an aspect of our relationship I want to advertise. It’s awkward enough that Bailey knows.

A white neon sign with the name of the show costs a hundred and eighty bucks and will be delivered next week. We leave a spot on the wall for it, then decorate a bookshelf, pull in a rug, and do some test shots.

With Miguel’s experience and equipment, we’ll be able to film from three angles: one camera on me, one on Mal, and the other on the two of us.

A few beers and two pizzas later, we’ve got a filming schedule and a list of topics for the first two shows. Mal seems to be settling into the new arrangement, but he’s short on jokes and smiles. He’s annoyed, too, that Miguel won’t tell him what the other group is working on, but that’s on me. I told him it’d be better if we didn’t know, even when he said he had no problem telling me. All I know is we’re doing better, and that’s all I need to hear, which is probably why Piper’s been lashing out.

Something about Malcolm pouting hits all my buttons, and by the time ten o’clock rolls around, I’m near dying to be alone with him. I managed to forget about our sexy text exchange earlier because I have to be able to compartmentalize while I’m at work, but watching him move furniture and sneak glances at me while our plan is coming together is a big turn on. Even the way he and Bailey bicker gives me a warm, connected feeling inside. I don’t know how much longer I can go without smashing my mouth to his—among other body parts.

He brought Stephanie with him to Miguel’s but no overnight bag. When I see him yawn, I say, “We should get out of your hair,” to Miguel.

“Thank you guys again. I’m so glad there’s something I can do that’s useful.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Bailey says. “We’ll make sure you’re useful.”

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