Page 43 of Mr. Almost

“Fine.”

Ari scrambles out of the bathroom and straight into the bedroom.

“Coming!” I holler when I hear a knock on the door.

“I wanna answer it!” Ari yells.

“No, you need to get dressed,” I say over my shoulder as I make my way across the apartment.

I swing the door open and come face-to-face with Mason.

“Good morning,” he rasps.

“It’s morning, all right.”

He raises a brow but doesn’t say anything as our daughter throws herself into his arms.

“Daddy! You’re here.”

He picks her up and gives her a hug. “Of course I am. Where else would I be?”

Ari’s little shoulder shrugs.

“We need to brush your hair,” I remind her.

“Seems like I just missed bathtime, huh?”

“I take showers. Baths are for little girls,” Ari tells him seriously before turning to me. “I don’t want to brush my hair.”

I start shaking my head before she can even finish the sentence. “Nope, hair brushing is nonnegotiable. Go grab your brush so we can get it done,” I remind her.

Mason sets her down, and Ari stomps down the hall.

He turns to me and raises a brow.

“It’s been a morning,” I tell him as he flips the lock on the front door.

“Has it?”

“Unfortunately. Hopefully, now that you’re here, she won’t keep acting out.”

Mason steps forward and pulls me into a hug. “You know it’s not personal, right? I’m just new and shiny compared to you.”

“Gee, thanks. Every woman wants to hear they aren’t new and shiny,” I deadpan as I rest my forehead against his chest.

Mason squeezes me tight, and I hear him rumble. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“Say what you want to say.”

“How do you know I want to say something?”

I pull away slightly to look at him. “I can feel it in your body language.”

Ever so slightly, Mason shifts as he looks over my shoulder, down the hallway, before looking back at me. “You haven’t gotten to hang out with your best friend since I found out about Ari.”

“I haven’t.” I shake my head.

I feel Mason lightly run his hand through the back of my hair. “What if you leave Ari with me for a few hours and go get some girl time?”

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