Page 146 of Finance Bros

“Are you serious?”

“Peopleloveyou and Mal.”

I’m literally stunned. “I—I can’t believe it.”

“I know. Me neither, but you gotsomethingthat’s working.”

The veiled dig amuses me, and I smile with her. “That’s incredible.”

“This morning, I got an email from an online trading company who wants to sponsor the next episode.”

“No shit?”

“No shit. I know we need to get to the meeting, and I want to know how Mal’s doing, but I’m so excited!”

I can tell. And it looks good on her. “Mal’s fine. He’ll be back tomorrow.”

“I’ll send a group text in a little bit with all the stats. You think we’ll be okay to film tomorrow night? Will Mal be up for it?”

“Yeah,” I say with confidence. “Just let me know what you want us to talk about. I’m assuming you’ve got thoughts.”

She gives me one of her jump-scare hugs. I lift her off the floor and spin her around once, in a perfect mood. She screams a little before dissolving into laughter.

When I set her down, we join the morning meeting, sitting next to each other with Miguel. I notice the dirty looks he’s getting from everyone but Nathan. The look he’s getting from him is…different. It’s angry, but there’s something else in it, too. Frustration, maybe? Regret?

Curiosity killing me, I lean in to ask Miguel quietly, “You okay?” He’s buckled under their mean vibes before, and the room is full of them today.

He cups a hand to hide his mouth and whispers in my ear, “Nathan came to my apartment last night. He wanted me back on their team.”

“Did something happen?” I ask, barely moving my mouth.

“Have lunch with me,” he says.

I nod and refocus on Georgie who’s explaining different ways of writing a risk analysis to Jia, who I’ve gathered from previous meetings isn’t having the best time with her mentor either. For someone who used to be so outgoing and quick to smile, she’s seemed down lately, and we’ve stopped walking to work together. I wonder if she feels the same way about this internship as Mal does—that maybe it isn’t a good fit for her.

I count myself lucky again to have been paired with Charlie who’s teaching me something new every day. For the first time in a long time, I’ve got nothing to be pissed off about. It’s hard to know what to do with myself. Is this how normal people feel?

My good mood persists while I have another productive morning with Charlie before meeting Miguel for lunch at Big Bites. Face to face with him, I notice the signs of sleep deprivation on his face. His large, dark eyes are weary, and there’s a little frizz in his hair that’s usually much better tamed—like he forgot to put product in it.

He doesn’t look bad, he never does, but he doesn’t look as put together as usual. “First off, congratulations,” he says. “I can’t believe those numbers.”

I can’t help my smile. It’s crazy that our shouting into the void plan that began with bare chests and cute pets is actually working. “Honestly, I can’t either, but I’ll take the win.”

“Oh, it’ll definitely be a win. The other team’s falling apart.”

“Okay, yeah, what’s up?”

“This goes nowhere,” he says, palms flat on the table, tone serious and low.

“You’ve got my word.”

“So, Nathan came to my apartment last night. Just showed up around nine. I thought he was gonna give me shit for leaving the team or make sure I wasn’t telling you guys what they were doing—not that it matters because there’s no way they can beat you guys?—”

“Us,” I remind him. “You’re part of it, too. Right?”

“Oh—yeah—no question. No, this isn’t me saying I’m bailing—trust me—as long as Piper is drawing breath, I’m going nowhere near that shit again.”

“Okay,” I say, reassured.

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