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There’s the familiar chip on X’s shoulder. We’ve all seen and felt it. And I get where he’s coming from, even if I don’t totally understand. “Hey, that’s not what’s happening here. You’re my friend. I’m worried about you. Can you really count on the Reeds?”
“This will sound weird, but after an evening with them I don’t feel that gaping hole in my life anymore.”
I rear back. That’s a lot, coming from X. “Where will you live on the island? Where will you work? What will you do?”
Especially if it doesn’t work out.
“Bethany… Do you remember my sister with the blonde hair?” He smiles. “It still feels weird saying that I have brothers and sisters.”
The pretty one with the unusual gray-green eyes? “Yeah.”
“Dude, she’s a financial genius. She and her husband, Clint, opened a private, boutique investment firm three weeks ago, just after their honeymoon. But his background is in oil and gas, and he didn’t go to college, so he’ll be in school while studying for the CFP exam. She’s already got more business than she can handle alone.”
Seriously? “How much is she managing?”
“Nearly a billion dollars. She’ll have to turn away clients if she doesn’t get help fast.”
“Holy shit.”
“She’s good, man. She’s shrewd and ballsy. She knows tons of movers and shakers. I appreciate you helping me get a job, but if I stayed in LA as your wingman, I’d start at the bottom and do years of menial shit before anyone took off the training wheels. With Bethany, I can make a difference right now. We talked about it last night. We worked through a few clients’ files together, like an audition. I made suggestions. We discussed everything, then jointly developed a strategy. The market is about to close. Together, we’ve made those three clients close to six figures each today.”
“Wow.” If that’s true, it sounds like a hell of an opportunity, and I would never want to hold him back. “That’s insane.”
“Right? I can learn a ton from her. She’s been working in the financial sector since earning her MBA from Harvard at twenty.”
It’s hard not to be impressed by that. “Then, yeah. It sounds like a hell of an opportunity you shouldn’t pass up. Does she know you haven’t taken the CFP exam yet?”
He nods. “Last night, I registered to take it in August. Bethany says she’ll help me study. She needs me to get up to speed before the baby comes. Clint won’t be ready to fly solo by then, and she’s panicked.”
With good reason. “You’re one hundred percent sure you want to do this?”
“Ninety-five. I know it’s a really fast decision, but I’ve thought it through a few times in my head. The only thing keeping me in LA is my friends. I won’t miss my crappy apartment. And even if I get a crappy apartment on the island? Dude, I’ll be in Maui. I’ll go from having no family to having six siblings, along with a niece, three nephews, and more on the way. And I think I’ll make some cool friends, like Noah Weston’s younger brother, Trace, and his fiancée, Masey. Evan’s best friend, Sebastian, is a lot like me—completely sarcastic. We had a ton in common.” X falls quiet. “My gut tells me this is the right move. But I’m going to fucking miss all of you back home.”
“It will be weird as hell without you around. We’ll miss you, too.” He stands, and we exchange a bro hug, complete with back slaps.
“Thanks for understanding. You can visit me anytime, you know.”
“I appreciate that. I admit, I wouldn’t mind coming back here.”
Xavian settles into his chair again, then frowns. “The other reason I came is for E. If last night was merely ‘fine,’ then you didn’t pop her cherry. I gave you a night to see if you’d change your mind about that. Since you didn’t, I’m here to fulfill my promise to her. She wants to feel like a woman—at least for a night. I can give her that.”
X might be trying to keep his word, but his persistence about getting into Echo’s panties pisses me off. “You’re not touching her.”
“If you’re not going to man up, then you don’t get a say. It’s her choice.”
“What I’ve got going with Echo is none of your business. You will not fucking touch her, X. Not tonight. Not this week. Not ever. Drop it.”
Brow raised, he sends me a cutting stare. “Or what? I’m not breaking my promise to her without a good reason. You being delusional enough to think you know better than Echo how to live her life isn’t it.”
I lunge out of my seat and grab the sides of his chair, mostly to keep myself from punching him. “If you touch her, I will beat you senseless. And we can’t be friends anymore.”
