“Ah,” Church’s jaw tightened. “So he’s turning out to be a decent guy?”
Severin shrugged. “He’s fine, I guess.”
“You guess?” he pressed, seeming weirdly focused on hearing more.
“He’s...” Severin shrugged again. What the hell was he supposed to say? “He’s a stranger, man. It’s not like we had a fucking heart to heart about Rodrigo. He started flirting with Ro and I – sort of lost my shit.”
“You? Lose your shit? Nah. I’m not buying it.” He smacked the table, laughing.
“I’m the poster boy for fucking lorazepam.”
“Prince Valium?”
“If you start quoting Space Balls at me, I’m leaving.”
It felt good to steer the topic away from Loïc. Church seemed odd about him for some reason.
Church sighed. “You always hated watching movies that made me laugh.”
“No, I always hated watching movies that almost made me laugh.”
“Well, fuck.” Church gazed at him with unabashed amazement. “You’re so in touch with your feelings now you just tell me shit instead of making me guess? You going to start writing Hallmark cards next?”
“Right. If the billionaire thing doesn’t work out I’ll be hitting you up for a reference letter.”
“Oh, hey... Speaking of money, stop putting money in my bank account.”
“I haven’t been.”
“Bullshit.”
“Why would I send you money? I don’t even fucking like you.”
“I love you too, asshole, and I don’t need your money.”
“It’s not my money. It’s just numbers on a computer screen. Loïc sent me a bunch and I told Ro to spread it around. Your girls will never need to work, if they don’t want to, by the way.”
“For fuck’s sake, there was already enough money in their accounts for that.”
“Well, there’s more now.”
Church leaned back in his chair and flicked his hand, as though he was finished arguing about it for now. He should have known better than to think Severin would stop sending money.
“So how is this going to work? You’re marrying Minnow, so Rodrigo’s your what? Friend with benefits? I mean, it’s not really my business, but...”
“...but it’s Rodrigo, and he’s been your best friend for ages,” Severin finished for him.
“And he’s been in love with you for years. If things go south, he’s going to be completely fucking destroyed. I just don’t want you getting involved with him if this is a joke to you.”
“It’s not a joke.”
“Do you love him?”
Severin gritted his teeth and looked out at the ocean, hoping like hell the blush he could feel heating his ears wasn’t visible to his brother.
“The details of our relationship are private. I won’t disrespect him or Minnow by discussing our relationship with other people – even if they’re family.”
“So it is a relationship?”