“Wow.” Derek gave a slight nod. “Damn.”
Dex rubbed his jawline. “Dad talks about him like he’s a son or something.”
Derek looked at Dex again. “I liked him as a friend at the cabin, but now we’re going to have to grill him a bit more.”
“Oh my god,” I said. “I will kill you—”
“Yeah, give him the big-brother treatment,” Dex said. “Make sure he’s good enough for you.”
“Seriously, I feel like I’m in Bridgerton but without the pretty gowns and horses.”
Both of them wore a confused look.
“Tell your wives to watch it,” I said. “Mom and I have seen it three times already. And don’t you dare embarrass me. Dad already likes him, so there’s no reason—”
“We’re just messing with you,” Derek said. “We already like him.”
“You do?” I asked in relief.
“Yeah,” Derek said. “The fact that he invited himself here is pretty telling.”
“Yeah,” Dex said. “He’s serious.”
“He’s already met you guys,” I said. “He knows it’s just a casual thing.”
“But still, you don’t hang out with a woman’s family unless you’re serious,” Dex said. “Especially not two guys like us.”
I rolled my eyes and deepened my voice. “‘Two guys like us’?”
“I could put him in a rocket and leave him on the moon,” Derek said.
“And I can stop his heart,” Dex said proudly. “Literally.”
I glanced at the doorway and spotted Atlas walking inside. “Okay, he’s here. Be cool.”
“We are cool,” Dex said. “Coolest people ever.”
Atlas stopped by the bar and grabbed a drink before he joined us. His bag was over his shoulder because he’d just left the clinic, and it was swollen with overstuffed papers and his laptop. The sleeves of his shirt were pushed to his elbows to show off his veiny arms, and he had a clean jaw because he’d shaved that morning. With his cognac in hand, he took a seat beside me, his bag on the floor against the wall. “Looks like Daisy already ate all the fries.” His arm moved over the back of my chair, and he smiled at me before he took a drink.
“Guess you should have gotten here earlier, then.” I grabbed the empty basket and shook it, the parchment paper inside scratching against the wicker.
“If it makes you feel better, we didn’t get any either.” Dex extended his hand across the table. “Nice to see you again.”
Atlas took his hand, doing one of those dude hand embraces with a smile, and then did the same with Derek. “How are the wives?”
“Good,” Derek answered. “They’re actually at SoulCycle together right now.”
My eyes narrowed. “While you drink and eat a bunch of fries.”
“We didn’t get any,” Dex said. “Remember? And look at us. Do we have dad bods?”
I released an annoyed sigh. “I hate that term. It’s offensive.”
“How?” Derek said. “You’ll never have one.”
“Because a dad bod is still a normal weight,” I said. “It’s not like it’s unhealthy or something.”
Dex shrugged before he took a drink and looked at Atlas. “What’s going on with you?”
“Work.” His arm remained over the back of my chair, showing me affection even though my two ripped, brilliant brothers were right across from him. Confident and unafraid, he acted completely like himself. “I feel like that’s all my life ever is.”
“Eh-hem.” I flashed him a look.
He gave a grin and side-glanced at me. “Like I said…work.”
I smacked him in the arm. “Wow…you’ll pay for that later.”
Both of my brothers laughed at his joke.
“Come on, baby.” His arm circled me and pulled me close, giving me a quick kiss on the mouth. “You know I’m joking.” He moved back to his chair and looked at my brothers like they were his friends instead of my family. “Your dad and I started the first stage of our human trials. Not seeing a lot of promising results, unfortunately. It’s early in the process, but we still hoped there would be indications by now. Everything is faster in mice, so we just need to be a little more patient.”
Derek sat with his fingers around his glass. “Hopefully it works out. I can tell my dad is distracted because he’s quieter than usual.”
“Yeah,” Dex said. “He’s not blowing up my phone.”
“What’s it like to work with my dad anyway?” Derek asked.
“An honor,” Atlas blurted. “He’s really meticulous about everything he does, and sometimes he gets in these moods when I know to be quiet. He wears it on his face, all the brain activity going into his thoughts. Sometimes he’ll just sit across from me for a straight thirty minutes and not move. But he usually says something insightful when he’s finished. And as an employer, he pays well and provides benefits and 401(k) matches, so he’s pretty great. When I went down to part time, he didn’t reduce my pay, even though I insisted that he should.”
Derek listened intently then took a drink of his beer. He wore the same look as Dad, falling deep into his thoughts, quiet and contemplative.