"Ah, that was wise."
For a young finance bro in Manhattan, that was kind of a big deal. Not that I was about to praise him for it. But something about it warmed me, annoyingly so, that he'd thought ahead and cared enough about his brother to protect him from temptation.
Which didn't mean he wasn't still a bastard.
There was a noise behind us, and we both turned to see Archie emerging from the hallway, a sheen of sweat on his face. Oh, boy.
"Uh, hey, guys."
"What happened?" Tristan asked.
Archie shifted uneasily on his feet, his eyes going back and forth between his brother and me. "So it's kind of a funny story..."
Oh, this was going to be good.
"Yes?"
"After a rough day and all that work in the kitchen..."
I heard Tristan sigh, and I miraculously managed to stifle my laughter.
"Well," Archie continued, "I thought I'd do a little self-care, you know, use all those expensive bath products you have."
Tristan had expensive bath products?
The man in question emitted a low growl from deep in his throat. "And?"
"And I decided to take a bath to relax, unwind. I saw this whole thing on social media where—"
"Archie," Tristan interrupted. "Get to the point please. What happened?"
"So I was filling up the tub, and then I got distracted. By my phone of course, and I kind of forgot about the tub."
Oh, my God.
"You flooded the bathroom?"
"Not all of it."
"How much?"
"Define much."
As if on cue, I looked up just in time to see a single drop fall from the ceiling and land with a soft plip onto the pristine floor. And then there was another, and another, drawing all of our attention.
Here comes the explosion from Mr. Bully.
I turned to watch him, to study his reaction to this very unwelcome sight, expecting more growling or for him to storm off. My eyes darted to Archie who stood as still as a statue, my heart going out to him.
Because if I knew anything about Tristan Hawthorne, it was that he was a grade A asshole who'd be beyond pissed at this turn of events.
So you could have knocked me over with a feather at the next words to come out of Tristan's mouth.
"Not a big deal, bud," he said. "No use crying over spilled milk. Let's just clean it up as best we can, and then I'll call someone to assess any damage."
What?
"And I should just give you back that money, right?" Archie asked.
