Page 70 of On Your Knees

She elbows me in the side. “It’s cute, and it’s a wonderful trait for a man to have a good relationship with his mother.”

Aspen has met my father because he likes to insert himself into my life, and he insisted last week that we meet his new wife—who isn’t a child this time—and her son. They, surprisingly, seem decent enough. However,my mother, she’s... well... a lot. She is of high society breeding, and though I know she loves me, she is the only person in the world who isn’t a fan of Zeland. And if she can’t accept him, then I still have no immediate need to see her.

Aspen twists her fingers with mine and pulls me toward where Arlo, his mom, and Zeland are standing.

“Mom, this is Aspen and Ridge.”

“Oh my gosh, it’s so nice to finally meet you. My baby boy has told me so much about you. I’m so happy that he is happy. Come in.”

We follow her inside. The hallway is narrow, and I have to push Aspen in front of me so we fit. I look at the framed photographs that line the hall as we pass and smirk—Arlo was a cute baby. Aspen and I have spoken about how against children we are, me because I am not fond of children and Aspen because she doesn’t want to be a mom. She laughed and said she would be okay with it if she was the dad. That started a conversation that is way too early to have in our relationship because Zeland started blending all our baby pictures with Aspen to see who would have the cutest children. Zeland’s looked like something out ofThe Hills Have Eyes, and Arlo won by a landslide, all because of, in his words, “the gorgeous curls.” I gave up, dragging Aspen to my bedroom and screwing her brains out while leaving poor Arlo to deal with Zeland. I did tell him just to put his cock in his mouth—it’s how you shut him up.

“Ridge,” Rowena says, catching my attention as I step into the dining room. She wraps her arms around me, andI freeze because it’s not from one of the very few who can touch me, though they all happen to be in this room. “Thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to work in a good-paying job.”

“You were more than qualified. And I like to know my customers are in good hands. Arlo speaks very highly of you.”

She pulls back, and I exhale a sigh of relief. “Everyone sit. I’ve made lasagna, Arlo’s favorite, and homemade garlic bread.”

Arlo helps his mother serve the food and I watch as they bring out the plates. Aspen digs her nails into my leg, and I smile.

“This looks wonderful,” I say, even though it looks like a sloppy mess. I’m not sure if I have ever eaten lasagna that looked like this before.

Everyone digs in, and Rowena asks lots of questions—thankfully Zeland answers the questions about our business. By the time we have finished eating and dessert is pulled out, I’m stuffed. Dinner may have looked a certain way, but I think it was one of the best meals I have ever eaten.

“So, what are you kids up to tonight?” Rowena eventually asks.

“I have a surprise date, actually. Arlo and I planned it.”

Both Aspen and Zeland look at me with raised brows. I didn’t tell them before this because they would have nagged us endlessly until we told them what we weredoing. Well, Arlo would have spilled the beans, because let’s face it, he is the weakest link out of the two of us.

“Oh, how fun!”

“It will be,” Arlo says.

We finish dessert, though I ate as slowly as I could to annoy Zeland, who finished in a few minutes. He hates waiting for surprises.

“We will have to have you over for dinner one night,” Zeland offers. “The meal won’t be as nice as this, but Ronny is an amazing cook.”

Once we say our goodbyes and are back in the car, Zeland puts his hand on my leg and inches it higher.

“Nice try. I’m not telling you where we are going. Arlo, can you get out the blindfolds?”

Arlo hands one to Zeland, and when I look back, he is helping Aspen into hers.

“I hate surprises,” he huffs as he pulls it over his head, and we all say that we know.

I drive in circles for a bit to put Zeland off, as he is great at knowing how far places are, and what turns we have to take. When I feel like he is completely lost, I pull up to the golf club. It cost me an exorbitantly large sum of money, and I had to cash in some favors, plus I had to call my father for help—which cost me lunch and a round of golf next month. But the entire place is shut down for the night, for a private party, though they don’t generally shut the entire building and grounds. We don’t need to go inside anyway. I hired a company to place some motion alarms along the perimeter, so I will be alerted if any prying eyes are trying to watch.

Arlo stands with Zeland and Aspen, helping them out of the car, and I grab the duffle bag with the masks. This time Arlo plans to do the chasing—he was the mastermind behind this date. He loved the idea of this location when I explained to him how Zeland mentioned it a while ago, so I made it happen. Today is three months since we all officially got together, after Arlo forgave us, and he wanted to do something special.

I will watch, to make sure no one gets to see what is mine naked. I don’t like when people stare or touch them, including Arlo. He is a part of my life, and while I’ll never say it out loud, I like having someone else levelheaded around. It evens out the chaos.

Arlo smiles as he slips a mask over his head, and I do the same.

“You can take the blindfolds off now,”I say, Arlo by my side.

They both remove them and blink at us for a few seconds. Aspen’s lashes flutter before her eyes lock on mine, and Zeland just grins like a lunatic.

“Run,”I say.

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