Page 105 of Mr. Almost

“That you are. Once he tells you, you can then drop to your knees and…” She glances at Ari to make sure she isn’t paying attention before making a lewd gesture involving her hand and mouth.

“You are bad,” I hiss at her.

“You love me, though.”

I sigh. “I do love you. Thank you for always talking me down from crazy land.”

“Thank you for saving me from bad dates.”

“We make quite the pair, don’t we?” I ask.

“That we do.”

“Hey, Aunt Chloe, when can we go see Uncle Brantley again? I like those games we go to,” Ari pipes in, making Chloe groan.

“I can take you to one without Uncle Brantley,” she offers.

Ari shakes her head. “I like Uncle Brantley.”

Chloe grumbles under her breath, “That makes one of us.”

I smile at them both, loving the normalcy of the moment.

I don’t know what I would do without either of them.

MASON

“Are you sure you are ready for this?” Max asks as we stand outside my mother’s hotel room door.

“As ready as I can be. Let’s get it done.”

I knock on the door and wait. Knowing my mother, she will wait until a normal person knocks again. I refuse to participate in her games anymore.

Max goes to knock again, but I shake my head no at him. After several minutes, the door finally opens.

“Hello, Mother. What took you so long?” I ask.

“I wasn’t sure I actually heard the door. You’re lucky I checked. Why didn’t you knock again?”

“You were expecting us, I figured you were busy.”

What I really want to say is that I know she stood on the other side of the door, looking through the peephole. That’s the kind of shit she would do.

“Come in. I didn’t realize you were bringing Maxy boy with you,” she says as she leads us into her penthouse suite.

Of course she would book the most expensive room in our competitor’s hotel. It’s not like she couldn’t stay somewhere else. There are plenty of options. No, she is making a statement by choosing them specifically.

“We have things to discuss,” is all I say to her, walking past her to the dining room table sitting in the middle of the room.

She reluctantly follows, a drink in her hand.

“Would either of you like a drink? The bar is right there.” She waves at the bar.

“No, thank you,” Max tells her, taking the seat beside me.

She shrugs, sitting across from us. “Are you ready to get rid of the girl and come to your senses?”

It’s like she doesn’t get what is wrong with that statement. She looks completely serious.

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