Chapter 3
MAX
I’m unplugging my laptop to take home with me so I can work tonight when Cole, my youngest brother, strolls into my office.
“Good day?” he asks, making himself comfortable on the sofa opposite my desk.
“Started off terrible and went downhill from there.” I need to remind Louise to ignore me the next time I suggest a full day of meetings.
Now I have case notes and paperwork to finish that will keep me busy for over a week.
“Do you want to go for dinner, or do you have plans tonight?” I had a quick lunch at my desk between meetings, and coffee isn’t enough to keep me going, not after the exhausting gym session I did before work this morning.
“As free as a bird,” Cole replies, looking unhappy about that.
“Still not found the one?” I wrap air quotes around my last two words for emphasis.
He blows out a long, heavy breath, slackening off the knot in his tie. “Dating in San Francisco is shit.”
“I have no complaints.” I slide my laptop into my leather workbag and fasten the metal clip to secure it.
“You’re not fussy.”
“And you’re too fussy.” I wag my finger at him, then point to the cell phone in his hand.
“Dating apps suck, you’ll never find the love of your life on there.
” I only know this because after years of using those apps, he’s still unhappily and frustratingly single.
He has struggled to find love since splitting up with Stephanie three years ago.
They were college sweethearts, and he still maintains she was the love of his life.
If she was the real deal, Stephanie would never have cheated on him with his best friend, breaking his heart and destroying his self-confidence. Poor bastard.
Cole places his cell phone face down on the sofa as if he’s annoyed with it and puts it in timeout. “Whatever.” He runs his hands through his dark hair. Why he’s still single is a mystery since he’s a handsome motherfucker.
He’s younger than me by eight years, and I notice the way the women in the office ogle him. According to Louise, it’s his gray stormy eyes that they all love for some reason. It gets them hot and bothered beneath their desks.
There are plenty of women lining up to date Cole, but none of them feel right according to him.
“Should we ask Eli and Nathan if they want to join us for dinner?” Cole asks. Unable to keep his hands off his cell phone for more than a minute, he picks it up again when he receives yet another notification.
“Nathan is too loved up to join us.” I state the obvious. Since Arianna stormed into my older brother’s life like a full-on hurricane, he’s become pussy whipped. I don’t blame him; she’s beautiful and funny, a complete contrast to the salty old goat that is my brother, and perfect for him.
“Nathan and Arianna are off to buy furniture for the nursery,” I say, confirming his evening plans.
With a baby on the way and a wedding only a few months away, my workaholic brother has no choice but to take time off work.
He’ll never admit it to us, but he’s totally into the whole dad- and husband-to-be thing.
I can see how invested he is in organizing the wedding and how excited he is about being a dad.
He practically bought the entire bookshop out of baby books.
Surprisingly, I’m happy I’m going to be an uncle.
It’s something I never thought would happen, considering how my brothers and I have always prioritized work over relationships.
Honestly, I never imagined Nathan would be the one to start a family.
And as for me? The idea of becoming a dad still feels completely foreign to me.
Commitment is a terrifying word. It makes me want to run for the hills.
But Nathan has shown me something unexpected: if a grumpy bastard like him can find love, maybe there’s hope for Eli and Cole, who might find love again too.
“And what about Eli?” Cole asks, referring to our other brother, the one born between the two of us. Four boys. My mom was a sucker for punishment.
“He’s out for dinner with the head of the company who is hosting our annual staff team-building day this year.”
“Sounds boring.”
“According to Sapphire it will be an enlightening experience.” I draw a rainbow across the sky, just like she did when she came to the office earlier to pick up Eli.
“Who’s Sapphire?”
“She owns the company we hired.” She’s far out, kooky as fuck with multicolored hair, and the only other way to describe her is bright.
I swear she was high as fuck. Or maybe she’s just a lover of life.
Something Eli struggles with. The guy is so uptight that his butt cheeks squeak when he walks.
I laugh at the ridiculousness of the two of them waiting for the elevator together.
Sapphire was in full-on talk mode, not taking a single breath or giving Eli a chance to speak when he usually has an answer for everything.
“So, it’s just the two of us tonight?” Cole asks as he stuffs his phone into the top pocket of his suit jacket.
“Looks like it,” I reply, wishing Paige could see me now to prove her wrong. See, I don’t always have someone warming my bed at night. However, that might change depending on where Cole and I end up after dinner.
I haven’t had my dick sucked in so long that I’ve forgotten what it feels like. Although, since I split up with Juliette, I haven’t been interested in anyone. According to Eli, I’m going through a dry spell. More like a drought, but whatever.
Cole stands to his full height of six feet five, two inches taller than me.
The guy has everything going for him: estate lawyer, dark features and hair, penthouse apartment, sports cars, and more money than he knows what to do with.
His single status makes no sense. “Why did your day start off shit?” Cole asks, stretching his arms above his head to unwind his tense muscles from sitting behind a desk all day.
“Two words. Paige. Bradshaw.” I still fucking hate that she prepared an ironclad alimony proposal. If I had to guess, I’d say it seems like she’s trying to present Stella in a more favorable light than her client.
“Yikes.” He shudders. “That woman makes my balls jump inside my body.”
“I think my balls have yet to come out of hiding,” I lie.
Usually, she has the same effect on me too, but today… well, today was different. My dick got hard thinking about having hate sex with her.
Fuck, what was that all about?
I hope that never happens again.
“I needed that.” I wipe the corners of my mouth with the napkin and lay it on top of my empty plate.
“Me too.” Cole pats his stomach, which is covered in tattoos beneath his black shirt. “They make the best steaks here,” he says, looking around No.33, the steakhouse we regularly dine at.
“And the new waitress is fucking hot,” I point out. Our server has already slipped me her number, which I have no intention of calling. She’s a bit too young for me.
“She’s not my type.” He scrunches his nose up.
I scoff, unable to comprehend him sometimes. “What the fuck are you looking for exactly? What is your type, then?” I push my plate away from me, fold my arms on top of the table, and lean forward.
“I want more than just looks, Max. I need someone who can connect with me without even speaking, someone who will support my dreams, and someone who laughs at my shitty jokes even when they aren’t funny. Damn, if I had that, I would love them with everything I’ve got.”
It’s what he had with Stephanie, or so he thought, until she screwed his bestie.
I listen closely as he continues sharing words he hasn’t admitted before: “I want someone who sees me for me. Not my job, the money, and the cars, or the high-profile cases I work on. I also want someone who looks past my looks and charming personality.” He lazily grins at the last two items he mentions, messing with me a little, but I understand what he means.
Owning the largest law firm in the city has its challenges.
Cole’s recent trials have drawn a lot of media attention, but not because of the case itself; it’s his looks.
He went viral on social media after someone filmed him walking in and out of the courthouse.
Now, he’s become an American heartthrob, and his DMs are flooded with women eager to date him, but like he said, that’s not the type of woman he’s looking for.
He wants someone who doesn’t exist—someone who will fit seamlessly into our work life. Difficult, given how busy we are. When our dad was diagnosed with dementia and Parkinson’s, all four of us took over running the firm our father spent a lifetime building.
As the older brother, Nathan seems to think the success of the business weighs solely on his shoulders, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. We share the burden equally, and we all play our part.
As brothers, you would think we would fight all the time, something we did do when we were younger, but my three brothers are my best friends, and I couldn’t do my job or run the firm without them.
For a while, when things fell apart with Arianna, it made us doubt each other. After Mom brought us together, she showed us that no matter what, we stick together and support each other through good times and bad, unlike my clients, who can barely make it through a few months of marriage.
Cole shifts the spotlight to me. “Anyway, what about you? Have you been on any dates recently?” he asks.
I hate to admit it. “No,” I reply firmly, pushing my hands through my hair in frustration. “I have my plate full with work.” I’m juggling too many cases to consider a social life. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
“So, the fire chief’s daughter is off the table.” It’s not a question; he already knows it is.
“Something like that.” I’m non-committal with my answer. Like all the others, after a few months, she started talking about the future, diamond ring settings, and babies.
Nope. Never happening.
Being a fun uncle will be enough for me.