“If anyone ever learns how to tell you what to do, especially when you’re black out, please let me and Lena know.” Ryder laughed. “Well, other than Bree, I guess.”
Miles sat up and took off his shades. “FUCK. Did anyone post anything from last night? Even if I’m not in it?”
His sudden energy startled me. “Not that I know of. But they know not to.”
“What about taking any pics or recording?” Miles sounded panicked, and I took my phone out to double-check.
Ryder leaned forward to place a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Jesus Christ, man. Calm down. Even if someone took a picture of you, would it be the end of the world? You did nothing even close to wrong.”
“You don’t understand the shit I will get if they posted anything. I mean, wedding postponed or canceled.”
“Nothing’s on any of the guys’ socials I follow.” I looked up from my phone. “We’re good. They’re not that stupid.”
Ryder shook his head and laughed through his nose. “Would it really be that big of a deal if she knew you had fun down here? Like, what does she think you’re doing? At a fucking knitting convention?”
Miles ignored his brother. “What about the ones you don’t follow? Like Jason? Connor has some that aren’t public. And their stories!? Jesus fuck, their stories!”
He sounded worse than panicked, more like desperate. No, scared. Like he feared for his life. It made my already iffy stomach even queasier. Ryder and I shared a look, more what the fuck than is he having a breakdown, but still both.
I leaned on my knees and spoke softly. “Dude, it’s okay. I’ll ask them when they get back. It’s not a big deal. Even if one of them posted a story without you in it, it’s okay.”
“It’s really,reallyfucking not.”
“Miles, seriously, man, what would happen if one of them posted something on their own private accounts about things they’re doing that don’t feature, mention, or tag you?”
Miles’s face paled, and he looked back and forth between Ryder and me. Maybe it was hangxiety, but I’d never known him to get anxious the morning after partying. He was afraid of what would happen, and that scared me.
Which was only made worse when he said, “That’s not… it isn’t… You know? Like how it’s supposed to be. She can’t… She’ll be… I can’t be… be seen to be like that. I’m the breadwinner and leader. You know? Like… I can’t… that doesn’t fit how it’s supposed to be.” His eyes were wide black pits, and his face trembled. “Please just ask them if they posted anything. There can’t even be videos or pictures on their phones. Please just ask them when they get back if they took any, and if they did, to delete them. Please, man, for real.”
“Yeah, of course.” My brow stitched together so tight it hurt. “I’ll take their phones and delete them myself if there are any, and check if they posted any stories.”
Miles stared at me for a moment, eyes flicking back and forth between mine, then melted back into his seat. After putting his shades back on, he said. “Thanks, Finnegan.”
Ryder looked just as concerned as I felt. “Can you tell me what the fuck just happened? Why would it be so terrible if there were pictures of you at a club with your male friends at your bachelor party?”
Miles didn’t look in his direction. “It’s not on brand.” He sounded much cooler, not an ounce of worry. “Her whole thing is about being an upstanding man and woman. Moral men don’t go partying at a place like that. They don’t party at all, really.”
That was new. Ryder and I exchanged a glance. He asked, “Is that something you believe? If it is, why the hell are we here? Doing all this? Spending all this money?”
“Doesn’t matter in real life, only the optics. She’s been reaching out to brands for sponsorships, and trad content is so hot right now. Can’t be a trad wife without a trad husband.” He laughed like that wasn’t the most deranged thing he’d ever said in his life.
Ryder sat back with a “Got it,” and took out his phone.
A few moments later, Miles chatted with me about inane bullshit, and I indulged him. I had heard of “trad” stuff before and knew Bree came from a traditional family, but that content stuff was new. Miles didn’t talk about Bree all that much to me, not that I asked, but I knew she was a content creator with her eyes on being an influencer. I just didn’t know what kind of content or influence she wanted to peddle.
I spent little time with that shit. It was a turn-off for reasons I did and didn’t fully understand, but Miles summed it up well. It’s all fake as fuck. It didn’t sound like it mattered, and Miles definitely didn’t believe in that shit, but so long as the optics were immaculate, then they were good to go. That was fucking gross.
Miles was telling me, again, that he was sure his favorite MMA fighter would go three and zero when Jason and Tyler came trudging out of the pool, dripping all over me.
Jason said, “You guys wanna jump in? It’s actually nice. Pretty warm.”
“Yeah.” Ryder stripped his shirt off, causing me to blush and look away. Before he left, he turned to me and said, “Coming?”
I didn’t hesitate. It felt like we had just been relieved from our Miles babysitting shift. Which I guess we were. I also didn’t want to ask the guys about their phone behavior, only to find out they'd posted a bunch of shit and have Miles freak out again.
Connor was still in the water and swam up to us when we got in. “Yoooooo.” He was pretty buzzed already. “This place is amazing, right?”
“Yeah, it’s cool.” Ryder sounded like he stopped short of saying something else. “How are you still going, man?” He laughed.
