A Guide to Being Just Friends(57)

Noah looked defeated. “Fine. I thought it’d be cool. You get her a tiny little box, put just the key in it. She unwraps it and is all, what’s this?” Chris and Wes watched in amusement as Noah mimed the scene. “She looks at you and you’re all, our future, baby.” He gestured dramatically.

“For the love of relationships everywhere on earth, please stop. Also, maybe you should run Grace’s gifts by us,” Chris said.

Noah laughed. “I know you can’t buy it without Everly seeing it, wanting it too, but seriously, what do you think?”

Chris gave a smile Wes had only seen a handful of times. Absolute contentment. “She’s going to love it. Let’s set up another walk through.”

When they climbed into Chris’s SUV, Noah took the front seat because, as usual, he’d called it first. Wes scrolled through his phone, checking his emails.

“How’d your thing go the other night?” Chris asked, meeting his gaze briefly in the rearview.

“With Ana? Fine. I sure as hell don’t miss those types of events.” Wes leaned back in the leather seat but he didn’t miss the look that passed between his brothers. It made his neck itch.

“You know, we didn’t have to take on CoreTech. If the Pergo siblings are high-maintenance, we can cut them loose.” Noah turned in his seat as he spoke.

“I worked my ass off to get them. Why would we do that?”

Chris, ever the mediator, glanced back again. “We just don’t want you taking on jobs you aren’t passionate about. We broke out on our own because we wanted to follow our own paths. It’s not about amassing the biggest companies for our portfolio. We aren’t trying to prove ourselves to anyone this time.”

“I know that. But CoreTech looks great in there. They’re opening up a New York office. They offer both physical and digital security. It’s a good match and once I finish analyzing their current system, I’ll have a better idea how to strengthen and expand it. I do think we’re at the point we could stand to hire a couple of assistants though. I’m tired of fielding emails.”

“We could talk to Penny Lee at the community center. They’re doing some résumé-building workshops. People are always looking for work. She said you guys were pleased with the candidates for the board?” Noah turned back around, staring out the windshield while Chris drove.

“Three women, two men. Two of the women were former athletes. They’re all a great fit.”

They chatted about other investments, their current holdings. They circled around their father, silently agreeing to put a pin in that issue. They pulled up to the radio station a short while later, where Wes and Noah had left their vehicles.

In the parking lot, they finished up their conversation about business.

“Do you want to meet at the gym later?” Chris asked Wes.

“Not particularly but I will,” Wes said. He liked running, preferably on a treadmill, which he had in his bedroom. Chris and Noah were a bit more into the gym scene than he was.

“Ask him if he wants to play Wii sports. You’ll get more enthusiasm,” Noah said, shoving his shoulder.

“I don’t see him asking you to go to the gym.” Wes smirked. He knew it was just because Noah lived farther away.

“We should run a game of pickup ball at the rec center. If you guys see Rob tonight, ask him about it. I feel like we should do something for the holidays there.”

“Everly asked about that. The station sponsors so many community food and clothing drives but maybe we should talk to Penny and see if there’s specific needs at the rec center. A way for us to get personally involved.”

“Grace would want in on that. How about Hailey?” Noah asked, looking at Wes.

His heart hiccupped. Noah asked like Wes and Hailey were a … unit. A couple. They might not be the latter but he sure as hell felt like they were the former.

I think it’s good you’re dating. Why the hell had he said that? Especially since the words felt like rocks in his mouth. The night of the speed dating, he’d kept her in his sights, wondering if she’d say yes to anyone. He’d had this odd sense of relief when she hadn’t found anyone she connected with. At the time, he told himself it was because no one there had been good enough for her.

But then she’d said he and Ana looked good together. Kept acting like they were a foregone conclusion. Was that what she wanted? The idea of Hailey with someone who made her happy shouldn’t have left him winded. Maybe he should put that in the guide: we will be happy for each other when the other finds a partner. This didn’t feel like happiness. More like he’d been struck from behind.

“I can ask her. We’re just friends.” His voice must have come out sharper than he intended. Both of his brothers were looking at him with matching curious expressions.

Noah held up his hands. “I wasn’t implying anything different. You guys hang out a lot. She hired Leo. I thought she might want to be part of whatever we do.”

Wes nodded, rubbed his hand over his mouth. “Yeah. I’m sure she would. I should get going. I want to put together a pitch for the CoreTech programmers.”

Again, his brothers exchanged a glance. It was starting to piss him off. “What?”

“Why don’t you design the software?”

“What?” He stared back and forth between them.