Page 115 of The Irresistible Distraction

“Not exactly.” He steeples his fingers and reminds us, “You both already agreed, right? To marry me, for richer or poorer?”

Seba and I look at each other, but I’m the one who answers. “We agreed that we will likely agree, when the timing feels right to us.”

“Great, because there’s something I haven’t told you.”

I bite back a sigh, because it’s always got to be something with Brody. “Is this the part where you tell me you’re maxed out on credit card debt?”

Sebastian shakes his head. “Lost it all on bitcoin?”

“No. Remember when I said my father never stopped giving me an allowance?” I nod, and Sebastian’s face twists a little, trying to understand where this might be going. “The first couple of months, I blew it all on Nobu and other DoorDash.”

“Okay.”

“Long story, the details of how I might have figured out”—he gives Sebastian a sidelong glance—“how to edit meta information and rig Google’s coinflip.” I can see Sebastian’s eyes grow wide, and Brody holds up a hand. “It’s harder to do now, and that’s probably not the example your mother wants me to be setting. But at the time, I used it to win at credit card roulette against my friends a statistically unlikely number of times.” He takes a look at our faces and says, “That’s probably a story I should save for another day, but basically, I didn’t have to pay for going out to eat as often as my also-nepo-baby friends did, which meant I had excess allowance.”

Sebastian speaks first. “So you made money on bitcoin?”

“No, more like Shark Tank, but I’m Mark Cuban and Mr. Wonderful combined, but hotter and with better hair.” He shrugs. “My father’s allowance became seed capital for various Caltech classmates’ startups.”

“Did they do well?” Sebastian asks, because clearly he’s never spent too many hours googling Brody Branca.

I understand something, finally. “Friends like Lucas Murray?”

“He’s my most successful investment, yes. But . . . I’ve had some really smart friends. A couple failed. Most didn’t.”

“So even if your father disinherits you . . .”

He looks vaguely uncomfortable. “I did spend a chunk on The House—which I promise to explain later, a whole long thing between Vera and my father, and also, apparently, Vera and Adeline were friends—but in broad strokes, I’m not as wealthy as, well, Lucas freaking Murray, but I definitely have more money than, say, my father, or, just as importantly, the Williamses.”

“You can quit your job and not be poor?”

“I mean, if I don’t consult at all and if Lucas’s company goes bust, we’ll no longer be ultra-wealthy.”

“Define ultra-wealthy.”

“We’d have to timeshare a private jet?”

I laugh.

It makes sense, when I think about it, that this would be Brody’s source of wealth. He’s always starting projects, always encouraging others to go for it, from helping me finally see through the diner renovation to jump-starting Reuben and Mario’s food truck. I can see a younger, bored Brody not knowing what to do with his money and realizing he can pour it into his friends.

Brody’s always made it seem as though not pursuing physics was some grand regret, always talks wistfully of constellations and telescopes, but I’m thinking, now, that this was always his passion: his friends and the freedom to always be trying new things.

I should tell him this, I think, but Sebastian can’t seem to help but repeat, “So you really can live anywhere.”

He smiles. “Yes.”

My son’s voice is a bit fragile as he asks, “Could we consider staying in Lake Arrowhead?”

Brody looks to me before answering, seeking permission to give the answer we both know Sebastian wants. It’s a small improvement for a guy who’s used to rushing in headfirst. “Yes. Especially⁠—”

I’m squeezing my eyes shut even before I ask. “Especially?” I prompt.

“So there’s this traffic light that’s always so slow, right? And normally, I would just tell Cally to figure out how to get it fixed, but first, you grounded me from her—” He looks at me, and we briefly make eye contact as another piece of the puzzle falls into place. This is why Cally’s such a great researcher, why she knows a little about everything. She’s basically been his venture capital partner in crime. “Cally sometimes gets profits,” he tells me. “Long story, but basically I taught her how to negotiate and then she definitely turned it against me.”

“Right.”

“Like me.” Seba grins.