Wilder

“It was good,” I bragged.

“Yeah, like your ego isn’t big enough already.”

“How did you do?” She’d kept a 4.0 since freshman year, and the last thing I wanted was to be the one who pulled her down.

“All As! Physics was so close I could have taken a wrong breath and gotten a B, but I kept my 4.0.”

Thank you, God. I swept her into my arms, lifting her up so her lips were level with mine. “What should we do to celebrate?”

“I figured you’d go do that triple front you’ve been busting your butt for, and then deal with the media.”

“Maybe we could grab dinner? Talk about us?” I asked, her feet still dangling above the floor.

She looped her arms around my neck. “I think you might be the first man in existence to want to sit around and talk about our feelings.”

“Well, if some other man wants to talk about our feelings, I might have a problem with that.”

“You know what I meant.”

“I did, and I do. I want this settled between us so we can move on.”

Her face fell, and I immediately regretted my word choice.

“Have you seen the trailer yet?” I asked.

She shook her head, and I lowered her slowly to her feet, letting our bodies press against each other but denying her the kiss she was staring at my lips for.

“We’ll talk after,” she promised, but nothing more.

“Okay.”

It killed me to let her walk away, but I had to prep. The show was starting in ten minutes.

“Hey, I need a second,” Brandon said from behind me, shocking the hell out of me. He wasn’t even in a suit; instead he was dressed down to look almost normal.

“Whoa, what are you doing here?”

“You’re our investment.”

I gave him a what-the-fuck look.

“Okay, you’re my baby brother, and I wanted to be here when you pull off the triple front flip, okay? Maybe I’m a fanboy at heart.” He shrugged. “Besides, after what happened yesterday, I wasn’t leaving.”

I nodded. “First, never say fanboy again. Brooke is in custody—psychologists have been called in—and so is the worker she paid to loosen the catwalk. If she hadn’t almost killed my girlfriend and her own sister, I’d almost applaud the genius of her planning.”

He nodded slowly. “Penna will recover?”

“Yeah. She’s heartbroken, but you’d never guess it the way she’s putting on a face for the cameras. She’s stuck in that cast for three months, but knowing her, she’ll be on the ramp in that wheelchair.”

“Okay. And speaking of wheelchairs…”

“Nick is here, but he’s sticking to the background. He’s not ready to deal with press yet, and I’m okay with it.” I canted my head. “You brought him, didn’t you?”

Brandon shrugged. “I may have told him that there was a seat on the jet if he wanted it. And then I may have sent that jet for him.”

I sucked in deep breaths, trying to get my emotions under control, and then I mentally said “fuck it” and threw my arms around my brother, slapping his back. “Thank you.”

He returned the gesture. “Don’t mention it.”

I pulled away. “I guess we’d better get up there. How many views are we at?” We’d been a thousand shy about an hour ago, and I knew Brandon—he was an asshole about numbers.

“You’re close, but you’re not there,” he answered.

I nodded. “Yeah. I figured. We took a gamble with the trailer, but she’s worth it.”

“What are you going to do?” Brandon asked.

“Use the ship.”

“What?”

“If we don’t make it, I’m going to the board. As in put my ass in a suit, fly to L.A., and use the ship as collateral against the cost of funding the movie. We both know the ship is worth a hell of a lot more than the production costs.”

“There’s an idea.” A spark flashed in his eyes that I almost called pride.

“I know Dad will be pissed. It’s Mom’s ship.”

“Yeah, well, Dad’s in Mykonos right now…if you catch my drift.”

My mouth dropped. “No fucking way.”

Brandon nodded. “Why do you think he’s been working so hard to hand over everything? He told me that there’s a difference between making a living and making a life.”

“Holy shit.” That was incredibly unlike our type-A father.

“Then he told me that watching you is what taught him that.”

Okay, now I was speechless. “I don’t…I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll use the ship. Dad spent your entire life investing in you. Now it’s time for you to invest in yourself, and I honestly think he’ll be excited that you’re making a business decision for once. You’ve got this. Now go jump through the air.” He slapped me on the back again and walked off, passing Landon. “Break your leg, asshole,” he called out, flipping him off.

“Nice to see you, too, Brandon,” Landon answered. “Damn, that guy has a memory like an elephant. Is he ever going to let that go?”

“Steal a guy’s girlfriend once, and his brother hates you for life,” Penna answered, wheeling over to us.

Landon winced. If he’d known what had gone down the last week with Rachel here, he’d be doing a hell of a lot more than wincing. “Come on. That’s ancient history.”