I watch his neck and chest flush as if the anger has begun to burn his skin, my fingers digging into my palm.

He releases my arm and leans in a bit, eyes searching mine. “Don’t embarrass me,” he says again, the words a warning, and then stalks away.

I keep my eyes on him until he turns the corner. Goose bumps rise on my skin. I swallow and puff out a breath, realizing I’ve started to hold it in, adrenaline rushing through me. My arm pulses where he gripped me. My jaw stings.

If there was any doubt left in me, any hesitation, any ambivalence at all, he just completely fucking demolished it.

When I get home and walk out past the pergola, Jared’s at the front edge of the infinity pool in the smallest pair of swimming trunks I’ve ever seen, the outline of his dick visible through the fabric, practically winking as he poses for Mei. She’s straddling a swan floaty in an equally tiny black bikini, trying to get the best angle of him with her DSLR camera without falling into the water or dropping the half-smoked cigarette between her fingers. Her hair is wet and dripping, a slow trickle down her back.

“All my parents do is go at each other ever since we found out about the bankruptcy,” Jared says, flexing the muscles in his arms but trying to make it look like he’s not. “I honestly have no idea how people live like this. My level of depression is beyond.”

Mei takes a couple shots. “Pretty sure some people are born into it, but I hear you.”

“I wake up with zero motivation to do anything.”

“So...like always.”

She laughs, smoke streaming from her nostrils. Jared joins in, the irony not lost on him. I don’t.

“Unless we want to be slaves to paychecks for the rest of our lives,” I say, biting back my rising frustration, “we need to expedite the plan. This asshole is talking about a Fourth of July wedding.”

They both notice me at the same time and stop what they’re doing.

Mei’s eyes almost pop out of her head. “Wedding...as in nuptials?”

I walk over to Mei and take the Nikon from her hand. I need to do something with my hands before I lose it. “He’s engaged.”

My eyes fall down Jared’s body.

“Move your...” I gesture to his crotch with my eyes. “IG will flag it.”

Jared adjusts himself in the trunks so his bulge is less in-your-face and continues posing, shifting into the light. I snap a few pictures.

“What about Brandi?” Mei asks, shifting closer to me.

I glance at her, then get a few more shots of Jared and delete the ones with too much glare from the sun. “What about her?”

She levels a gaze with me and holds it. “You really think she won’t talk?”