Page 88 of Mr. Almost

I nod, buckling her in. Ari chats about nothing as we make our way over to the parlor. I love listening to her talk. Sometimes she asks for my input, but she is also content just talking to herself. It’s sweet to listen to the innocence of a child. Makes me want to protect her even more.

“How about we get ice cream to go? Mommy will be home soon. We can get her some too.”

“Good idea, Daddy.”

After ordering her a cone and two pints for Olivia and me, we are headed back home. I cringe when the ice cream melts everywhere, but Thomas assures me it’ll be fine. Still, when he drops us off at home, I hand him several hundred dollars and tell him to get it detailed on me. He graciously takes the money.

Escorting my little princess up the stairs, I think about what a great day we had. How I can’t wait to have another one with her. I might have to take all of the holidays off to spend with her.

Opening the door, I call out, “Honey, we’re home.”

“Where have you guys been?” Olivia asks, coming around the corner with a smile on her face.

That is, until she sees Ari’s knee.

“What the hell happened?” She is in front of Ari in a second.

She’s looking up at me angrily as she looks at all the Band-Aids.

“I fell, but I’m okay, Mommy.”

“At the park?” Olivia asks.

“Yep. Can I go play now?” Ari asks.

“Of course.”

As soon as Ari is gone, Olivia turns on me.

“My daughter gets hurt, and you don’t even have the decency to call and let me know? What the fuck, Mason? This is not okay.”

“Whoa, calm down. She has a little scrape. I washed it and put ointment on it, then bandaged her up. It wasn’t that serious.”

I must say the wrong thing somewhere in that statement because she looks as if steam could be coming out of her ears.

“Calm down? Don’t you dare tell me to calm down. That’s my child. I have a right to be upset about this. I trusted you with her, and she got hurt on your watch. Not only that, but you didn’t bother to tell me. Instead, you tell me it’s not that serious. I guess my daughter doesn’t matter that much to you if it’s not that serious. How did she even end up falling? Weren’t you watching her? This is why I should have stayed home. This wouldn’t have happened.”

I can feel my own anger rising with each word.Herdaughter. Not our. She is acting like I’m some babysitter who fucked around and let her kid get hurt, but it’s not her kid. She’s ours. Arianna is as much my daughter as hers. I might not be on the birth certificate, but if she wants to keep this up, I will go through with getting added. I thought we were making progress, but I guess I was wrong.

Here I am, falling in love with Olivia and seeing a family with her, and all she sees me as is some incompetent asshole who is only a part-timer in her life.

Realizing this, I say the words before I can even consider what they mean.

“I can’t keep living like this, Livvy. I want you, but you have one foot out the door. You’re waiting for me to mess up, and when I do, you are ready to crucify me for it. I’m not perfect. Ari got hurt, but I took care of it. If you can’t trust me to be her father, then I can’t do this with you anymore.”

The look on her face is a punch to the gut, but those words ring true in my heart.

I can’t have her ready to bolt. That’s not a healthy relationship.

As much as I want her, Ari is too important.

So for Ari, I have to let Olivia go.

Chapter

Seventeen

OLIVIA

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