Page 128 of Fourth Point Of Contact

PATRICK

I slammedthe door to the office as I sank into the seat across from Lock. He looked up, confused as to why I was there. “Women suck.”

He slowly put down his pen and leaned back in his seat. “Um…okay?”

“My mother is here.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

“And Piper is here.”

“The woman who saved you from the bear.”

I scowled at him. “I saved her first. Why does everyone forget that?”

“Um…maybe because she literally saved your life by talking down a bear? That’s some kind of fucking miracle.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled, leaning back in my seat and staring at the ceiling.

“So…are you just going to sit here all day?”

“Why not? It’s not like I have a mother to take care of.”

“I thought your mom was going to be here for another week?”

“Oh, she is. But Piper swooped in and took care of everything. Apparently, she’s fucking magical with this shit.”

“Isn’t that why you brought her out here?”

I glared at him, jabbing a finger in his direction. “First of all, I didn’t bring her out here. She came all on her own.”

“Because you wrote to her,” he said slowly, “practically begging her to save you.”

“So?”

“So, I think that means she’s doing exactly what you wanted.”

“Maybe, but why does she have to be so fucking good at it?”

“Would you rather she suck at it and you’d have to deal with your mother instead?”

He just didn’t get it. If he’d been there this morning, he would have seen the disaster unfold. “They get along. Like…really get along.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“No, it’s a fucking terrible thing. They don’t need me!”

“Which leaves you time to spend doing other things.” His gaze flicked to the side in confusion. “Though, what you could need to do, I really don’t know.”

“Exactly! I was doing something. Now I have nothing to do.”

“But you don’t want to spend it with your mom.”

“Of course not,” I snapped.

“And you can’t let Piper think this is anything more.”

“Hell no.”

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