The idea of a marriage was starting to weigh on my shoulders like an anvil.
Cruz looked at me and said, “You were featured in Page Six on that date... Any chance something could go there?”
My stomach squirmed uncomfortably. The company was under siege. I’d taken risks before to get this company off the ground—asked family for money, cold-called for investors, stayed up late working only to get up early in the morning.
How far would I really go?
Could I disappoint my dad?
Could I marry for money?
Could I fail my friends?
“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “I can ask.”
Cruz nodded, putting my name under the three-month mark, right at December.
Three months? It was practically the blink of an eye.
But he was already moving on, looking between Quentin and Aaric. “Either of you have a secret relationship you’ve been hiding from us?”
Quentin didn’t answer that question, but he did say, “I’ll go next.”
Cruz nodded, scribbling Quentin’s name at the five-month mark and then Aaric at month seven, himself at nine, and Jude at the one-year mark.
For a moment, the only sound was the humming of fluorescent lights as we stared at the whiteboard.
Cruz capped the marker, dropping it into the silver tray under the whiteboard. “Is it worth it?” he asked us.
Jude said, “We need to stop asking that question.”
We all gazed at him, but I asked for an explanation out loud. “What question should we be asking then?”
He smirked. “How can we convince someone to marry your ass?”
“Oh, fuck off.” I balled up a yellow legal page and threw it at him.
As our chuckles died out, the air seemed to squeeze from the room, like a balloon left out in the cold overnight.
After a moment, I said, “We give it our all. And we succeed or fail, together. As brothers.” I looked around the table at the men I respected so much. This could be the end of MyHome as we knew it. The end of everything we’d spent more than a decade to build.
They each nodded in agreement, everyone echoing, “As brothers.”
21.Jada
A strange senseof disappointment washed over me as I walked outside with my buttered, toasted Pop-Tart and found the street empty. I kind of expected him to pick me up again since he was so averse to the bus, but I had to admit I wasn’t a great passenger either. Ribbing him came as naturally as admiring him. Maybe he’d given up on me. Or maybe Rei was right.
Besides, I wasn’t quite ready to see Bryce again, considering the chance that he was secretly in love with my best friend. But I liked our time together too.
I blew out a heavy breath as I continued down the sidewalk toward the bus stop. It had been a long time since I felt insecure like this. I’d worked through my self-judgement a long time ago. For being tall, for my extra weight, for my coiled hair and the freckles across my nose.
But suddenly, I was wondering if Bryce preferred Rei’s shorter height. She was just over five feet tall. Even though she was curvy like me, she was small and feminine with an outgoing personality, unlike my more sharp, reserved demeanor.
I turned the corner on the sidewalk, the bus stop coming into view. “Crap,” I muttered, seeing several people were alreadysitting on the bench. My back was already hurting. Hopefully there would be a seat open on the bus.
I stopped just short of the crowded bench, digging through my purse for my headphones when I heard the low purr of an engine and a car door opening.
A glance up revealed Bryce’s town car waiting where the bus would soon be. He had opened the door and was standing beside it, looking expectantly at me. “Ready for work?”
