“Heard you saw my mom,” Brett said from across the table.
Now that we had all finally returned to LA—Brett had visited James on set, Dominick and Kendall had escaped to Cabo, Ford had taken Everly to Disney, and I had been in Miami—we met up for our weekly dinner.
I surrounded my scotch with both hands, hoping the conversation would die here. “I did.”
But I knew it wouldn’t.
Their asses had become extremely nosy when it came to what was happening between Jo and me.
“And?” Brett inquired.
“And what, motherfucker? I went to your mom’s shop, I got a cookie and some fudge, I tried to pay her, she wouldn’t let me, and I left.”
“Why so many I’s in that sentence?” Brett asked. “Shouldn’t it be we?”
Every eye at this table was on me.
They all knew I had been in Miami to see Jo.
It wasn’t a secret.
I wasn’t playing a pronoun game. I was just avoiding the conversation.
“Why tell you something you already know?”
Brett laughed. “I see what’s happening here. You’re hoping by avoiding the topic altogether, we’re going to let it go and that we’re not going to point out that you’ve now made two trips to Miami to see a girl you don’t want to have a relationship with.”
I drained my glass, hoping the waitress would appear any second so I could order another one. “That hasn’t changed.”
“Really?” Ford asked.
“Really,” I answered.
“Bullshit,” Dominick barked. “I don’t believe you.”
I glanced at my older brother. “I’m not lying. I don’t have any more trips planned to see her.”
“Yet,” Brett chimed in.
Fuck me, they were relentless.
“Long-distance is not for me, and even though she’s from LA, I don’t see her moving here anytime soon. How many times have I told you guys that?” I looked down at my plate, at the bits of batter the calamari had left behind. “There’s no reason to drag this out if the ending isn’t going to change.”
“So, you’re going to let a good thing go?” Ford said.
I looked at him and said, “How do you know she’s a good thing?”
“Mom says she’s a hell of a good thing,” Brett replied.
All of them were smiling, nodding, and I knew those assholes had had a conversation behind my back. The moment Gloria had met Jo, she’d probably sent Brett a message, and he had thrown the guys into a group chat to talk about it.
“Listen,” I started, “you can lay it on as thick as you want, but it’s not going to change anything, so back the fuck off.”
“Because you backed off when it came to Kendall?” Dominick said. “How many conversations did we have when I didn’t want to date my client’s sister?”
“Endless,” Ford groaned.
“Do you think, because it’s you, this is going to be any different?” Dominick continued. “I don’t think so, buddy.”
“Why are you pushing so hard for her?” I asked everyone at the table.
“Because you’re happy,” Brett said. “And I haven’t seen you like this in a long time. Sure, travel puts a fucking smile on your face. Sure, you like practicing law and closing million-dollar—hell, billion-dollar deals. But it’s not enough, Jenner. Money isn’t enough for any of us.” He stopped to look at each person around the table. “Guys like us, we need more; we need something we can’t get from business ventures, and that’s someone to share it with.” He nodded toward me. “You know that. And if you don’t, you’re a fucking moron.”
I stayed silent while I processed his words and finally added, “My situation is different.”
“How so, my man?” Brett asked. “When James and I got together, I was living in Miami—you know that. Things weren’t easy for us, but we made it work. My boys—Jack, Max, hell, even Scarlett—none of them had it easy with their relationships either, distance a factor with each one. And you know Dominick’s deal; it was going to take a fucking unicorn to get him to settle down, and Kendall turned out to be one.” He took a drink from his tumbler. “What I’m saying is, we’ve all been there, buddy. We’ve all experienced our fair share of shit.”
“You’re right,” I agreed, running each of their stories through my head. “I’m definitely not denying that.”
“But it changes nothing—is that what you’re saying?” Dominick asked.
I shook my head, sighing. “I don’t know … I just don’t fucking know. And I don’t even have the time to think about it. My schedule is about to take me on the road, and none of those stops are near Florida.”
“What’s preventing her from coming to you?” Ford asked.
I laughed. “School. Finals. Graduation. Remember, she’s a pup.”
“Damn, dude,” Dominick exhaled. “I keep forgetting how young she is.”
And that had been one of my main points, but they kept dismissing it.
“But she won’t be in school for much longer,” Brett voiced. “Graduation is in, what”—he took out his phone and looked at the screen—“six weeks or less?”
I nodded. “Yeah, something like that.”
“It’ll be interesting to see what happens when she’s not chained to Miami—where she’ll choose to end up,” Dominick said.
I thought the same, but I wasn’t going to mention that to Jo. I didn’t want to influence her decision. I didn’t want to put any pressure on her. I wanted her to decide on her own.
And even though home was LA, it didn’t sound like she had any intentions of returning.
“Who wants to place a bet?” Ford asked.
No fucking way. This wasn’t happening on my watch.
I put my hand up in the air. “If you want to bet on the outcome of my life, do it behind my back, but I’m certainly not going to sit here and listen to the wagers you guys are willing to risk.”
“Fair enough,” Ford said, grinning at the other boys.
“I’ll start the group text right now,” Dominick added.
“A bunch of fucking dickheads,” I barked at all of them.
Jesus, it was going to be a long fucking night.