“Come on. I’ve been dying to meet Luca’s infamous twin.”
I look at Luca, and I can’t read his expression. He’s either in agreement or going to flay me alive later. I mean, Iamhungry… and I also just got fired.Fired.I absolutely cannot be alone with my thoughts right now, or I’ll break down and cry. It’s too depressing.
“What are you guys ordering? I can get us bagels down the street,” I declare. “Or we can—”
“Don’t you have work?” Luca interrupts, glaring at me. His voice is so stern and serious, and for a second, he reminds me so much of our dad. Growing up, our dad was the fun parent. Mom worked full-time, so Dad stayed home with us and took us to all of our extracurricular activities. He never yelled, but when he used his serious voice, you knew you’d fucked up. Luca inherited this special trait from him, because they share the same disgruntled expression.
My shoulders slump. “I got fired.”
Nathan lets out a slow, loud breath, and Luca just continues to stare at me.
“Fired? For what?”
I shrug. “They’re getting rid of our imprint,” I say casually, trying to hide the pain of losing the one thing that made me truly happy. Luca’s face contorts with pity. “Don’t,” I warn, my voice breaking. “If you make that face, I’ll cry.”
“I’m sorry,” Luca says quietly.
“Let me order us bagels,” Nathan chimes in.
I instantly like him.
Luca and I nod, and I sit at the table with them, giving Luca an apologetic smile.
“It’s fine,” he concedes, sighing. “I didn’t know you got fired. Maybe try leading with that next time. I can help you out until you get your feet back on the ground. My offer still stands.”
When our parents died, Luca took on the big brother role automatically. Since the time we were nineteen, he’s been my father figure—co-signing my leases, disapproving of ex-boyfriends, and sending me fifty dollars via Venmo here and there to make sure I wasn’t living off of ramen noodles. It didn’t matter that my job paid decent, and I had a roommate to offset the cost of living. He always looked out for me, always wanted to be sure I was comfortable.
He always reminded me that I could come work for him. I never took him up on it. His money was his—he’d earned it. I didn’t feel like I deserved any of it, especially when he offered to do things like buy me a new car, so I always declined his help when I could.
But now? I might actually need it.
His company, Gather—a vegan health food line consisting of juices, pre-packaged food, and smoothies—blew up in popularity a few years ago. The annoying part is he doesn’t have a college degree. He started Gather our senior year of high school, and despite the crazy two years that followed, the company began to gain momentum quickly. He worked his way up—all the way from selling juice from a cart at USC, to a food truck, and now, an empire with a modern yet eco-friendly office in West Hollywood. You can’t walk into a Whole Foods without seeing the Gather section. There’s talk of opening restaurants and expanding into other areas.
Basically, there’s a reason he lives in a huge house and drives a Range Rover.
I smile and look over at Nathan, who is on the phone with the bagel shop.
“Don’tyouhave work?” I ask Luca, throwing his question back at him.
He shrugs. “I took some personal time. I had a… late night.”
I smirk. “I can see that. And look, if you want me to leave, I will,” I add, but he waves my statement away.
“I already told you, it’s fine.”
“Swear?” I ask, sticking my hand out for our secret handshake.
“I swear on Buffy’s life,” he answers, and we both smile at our inside joke.
“Okay, bagels should be here in twenty,” Nathan says, hanging up his phone.
I glance between them. “So. Give me the deets. How’d you two meet?”
Luca groans.
Nathan laughs, and Luca takes his hands from across the table. My heart swells with joy. Luca has never brought a guy home—not ever. In fact, I can’t remember the last time he took any time off.
“He really was my accountant,” Luca says slowly, giving me a smile that saysoops.
