She was. It was just as it had always been between them: the sparring, the shifting moral high ground. Only now, there was a bitter undertone to their spats, the air curdling between them ever since the last night they’d spoken.

“I shouldn’t have asked about your work,” Alex finally conceded, hearing Sophie shift in her sleep.

She intentionally omitted that she already knew everything about it, that she’d researched it thoroughly and was planning to integrate it into her next video.

“It’s fine, I just don’t want to get into it. This is my only real vacation this year, and I’d like to enjoy myself.” He sounded genuinely fatigued. It wasn’t an apology for his harshness, per se, but it was an explanation.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure you must be really worn out.” She felt a rush of immaturity bubbling within her. Before she could stop herself, she let it out: “With all those layoffs.”

“Fuck you.” He laughed, a genuine smile moving across his face. “I know you’re just trying to get under my skin, but I have nothing to do with that.”

“Sorry,” Alex said, leaning her seat back and putting her feet up on the dashboard. Her freshly waxed, golden legs caught the sunlight as she crossed them, her skirt falling loosely around her knees. “I meant workforce optimization.”

From behind the wheel, Danial’s eyes moved in her direction, running quickly down her legs before turning back toward traffic.

He cleared his throat. “Did you see Dev’s dad is sick?”

“No, I didn’t.” Alex felt a tad embarrassed that in her obsessive information-collecting about Danial, she’d missed such a huge event about another member of the Club.

“Yeah, he’s probably going to have to retire. I think the board is trying to push Dev out and put in one of their guys.”

“He must be worried.”

“He’s fucking terrified. That’s probably why Bee was so rude in the group chat last night—between that and the twins, I doubt she’s had a decent night’s sleep in weeks.”

“Well, his dad must be pulling for him, right? He must still have some leverage.” For as much as she raged against nepotism in her work, it was easy to play defense when it was for someone she knew personally.

“I mean, kind of.” Danial had become more relaxed in the driver’s seat, one hand loosely cradling the bottom of the steering wheel. “I don’t think he ever really forgave Dev for getting married at Burning Man, to be honest.”

Alex let out a burst of laughter that took her by surprise. “I totally forgot about that.”

“Lucky you.”