Natalie: I like unicorns.

Wyatt: I bet unicorns like you, too. I hear they like adventuresome, sexy, hot, kind, caring, organized, and totally fucking awesome babes.

Natalie: There’s only one problem with this unicorn.

Wyatt: What’s that?

Natalie: He’s my boss.

Wyatt: Yeah, I find myself in a very similar situation with an employee.

Natalie: What are we doing, Wyatt?

Wyatt: I wish I knew, Nat. I wish I knew. All I know is I can’t stop thinking about you, but I don’t want to mess things up for you. At any of your jobs.

Natalie: That’s the real unicorn. Having it all.

29

Charlotte hands me a margarita when I walk into Max’s living room in his pad in Battery Park City.

“It’s my secret recipe. Made with Gummi Bears,” she says with a big smile.

I take the glass and down a gulp. It’s cold, delicious, and mildly candy-sweet. “Not very secret since you’ve spilled the beans, now is it?”

She laughs and pats the cushions, so I take the seat next to her on the huge L-shaped chocolate-brown couch facing the windows. The gang’s all here. Nick is parked in the corner of the sofa, with Harper curled up next to him. Chase is on the other end, and I catch a glimpse of Natalie and Josie in the kitchen with Max. Spencer is by Charlotte’s side, and he raises a glass to me.

“Glad to hear you won the best-man derby. Just don’t make a move on the bridesmaid,” he jokes, clasping Charlotte’s shoulder.

I hold up my hand. “No worries there, man. Pretty sure your wife’s not the only bridesmaid who’s off-limits,” I say, since Harper asked Charlotte and Josie to be bridesmaids, as well as a few other friends.

“Speaking of bridesmaids,” Harper says, stretching across Nick to tap my knee. “My friend Abby knows someone in need of your carpentry services. You remember her? You guys are both encyclopedias of animal facts. I’ll have her reach out to Natalie.”

“Excellent. Appreciate you spreading the good word for us, especially to someone who can crush it in bar trivia, too,” I say, and Harper laughs. Then I lift my chin toward the view of the tip of Manhattan and mouth nice.

I haven’t been to Max’s new place, but damn, this pad is first-class. Up here on the twenty-fifth floor, there’s a view of the Statue of Liberty and the Hudson River. Early evening sun shines in the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Hey, Max,” I call out, turning my head toward the kitchen. “You building cars for Seinfeld and Leno now or something? This place is out of this world.”

He strides in from the kitchen with a beer in one hand and a margarita in the other, and laughs in a deep baritone. “I can’t divulge all my celebrity clients.”

“Oh yeah, it’s privileged information,” Chase says, sketching air quotes.

“How is business? Good, I trust?” I ask Max.

He sets down the margarita on a coaster atop a blond wood coffee table that looks to be handcrafted, and takes a swig of his beer. “You know, I really can’t complain.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the understatement of the year,” Chase says, a note of pride in his voice. “He’s killing it.”

I raise my glass to Max. “To continued good fortune on the business front,” I say, and gesture to the lot of us. Charlotte and Spencer’s bars are bona fide hits, with three thriving locations and a fourth opening soon. Nick just launched a second late-night naughty cartoon on a premium network, and both his shows are rocking in the ratings, while Harper continues to be one of the most popular kids’ magicians in New York. Josie’s a star in the world of flour, and Max is the king of the custom car business in Manhattan, building beautiful, powerful vehicles from the ground up. While Chase is the golden boy, Max is the dark knight, as I like to call him. Dark hair, dark eyes, big build, and he drives a sleek car the color of midnight that would make Batman jealous.

Max taps his bottle to my glass then nods to his brother. “I’ll drink to that. And to the fact that my little brother is back in town.”

“Aww, you missed me,” Chase says with a goofy smile.

Max smacks him on the back. “I just missed the free medical care.”

“Family,” Chase deadpans. “Can’t live with them, can’t perform a lobotomy on them without permission.”

“Where’s Mia?” I ask, since their sister is the only who’s not here tonight.

“Mia had to go out of town on a business trip.” Max points his thumb in the direction of the kitchen. “I better go check on the chicken.”

I look at Chase and furrow my brow. Max is not known for his prowess at the stove. “He cooked for you?”

Chase laughs and shakes his head. “Nope. Josie and Natalie did. Did you know your wife makes the best grilled chicken?”

All conversation ceases in a heartbeat.

Spencer straightens. “What?”

My brother’s jaw drops. “No fucking way.”

Harper throws a pillow at me. “You didn’t.”

From the kitchen, Josie shrieks. “When I told you to show her the sights, I didn’t mean the Little White Wedding Chapel.”

My sister strides across the tiled floor, huffing and puffing, her heels clicking purposefully, and shoves me hard on the chest.

“Ouch.” I crane my neck and meet Natalie’s gaze from the kitchen. “Did I mention my bud has the biggest mouth in Manhattan?”