“I told you. We’re good, and I’m fine. I’ll be right back.”
He went to the bathroom. Once inside, he adjusted himself into a more comfortable position that would have to work until he went down fully. He then washed his hands before returning to the living room.
“You want to finish the movie?” she asked.
“Do you think you can?” he teased, smirking as he retook his seat.
“Stop picking on me,” she demanded playfully, settling back into his side and rewinding the movie to where they’d last actually seen what was happening.
He wrapped his arm around her, and when she snuggled into him, letting out a little contented moan, he had to tell his dick to behave.
15
“What’s up with you?”
Rohan rolled his head, which was leaning back on the couch, to look at his brother. His brother and niece had stopped by his house after signing her up for tap lessons. She’d been wanting to get into something extracurricular for a while, but hadn’t known what she wanted to do. She had finally decided on tap.
“It’s your mother.”
Trent chuckled. “What’d she do this time?”
“She hid out in my office for three hours today and had the audacity to get mad at me because I was working and didn’t want to listen to her woe is me story.”
“Is she still hiding from him instead of just telling him no?”
“Yes, and she thinks I don’t know what she’s doing,” Rohan stated, shaking his head. “A part of her is hoping that I’ll volunteer to come out and tell him we’re partners, and I have no intention of doing that.”
He listened as his brother hummed in acknowledgment. “Would it be so bad for them to know that you are?”
“In a way, yes.” Rohan sat up. “I’ve worked extremely hard to get them to see me as one of their co-workers. Not as their boss, and that job was not made easy because everyone on my teamand everyone else at the company knows that she’s my mother. I started with that disadvantage. I in no way want to give myself another one.”
“I mean, I told you it wasn’t smart to go work with Mom when you graduated, but you were hellbent on doing so.”
He scoffed. “I wasn’t hellbent. I just like making concepts and helping someone’s vision come to life. I will admit, I was impatient to make that happen, and didn’t want to strike out on my own because, in truth, I didn’t want to be my own boss or anyone’s boss.”
“But you had to have known that it was going to eventually happen, especially when Mom steps down.”
“Yeah, but that won’t happen for a while,” Rohan countered.
“Doesn’t matter the time frame, it’s going to happen. Besides, she may decide tomorrow that she’s ready to retire,” Trent countered.
At that moment, Alynn, who he was sure had been in his game room getting mad at his pinball machine, came bounding into the living room.
“I’m hungry,” she announced. “Can we order pizza?”
“Yeah,” he replied at the same time his brother said, “No.” The two men looked at each other.
“She doesn’t need any junk food,” his brother told him. “She had nachos yesterday and needs a nourishing home-cooked meal tonight.”
Rohan raised an eyebrow at his brother. “You know where the kitchen is. Knock yourself out.” He then watched as his brother looked at Alynn before looking down at his watch. It was already almost seven-thirty.
“What kind of pizza do you want?” Trent asked, and Rohan had already started dialing the number. He knew his older brother well enough to know that he did not like to cook after a certain time.
Once they had ordered pizza, Alynn made sure three times that they knew she wanted extra cheese on hers before she bounded back down the hallway.
“So, how are things with Jalen?” Trent questioned, taking his eyes off the television to glance at him.
Rohan chuckled before he smirked slightly. After theirencountera week and a half ago, she’d been somewhat distant with him. Not that they hadn’t been texting or calling one another, but he’d asked her out twice now, and she’d asked him if she could have a raincheck. He only knew that she was avoiding him a bit because, typically, if he asked her out and the day didn’t work for her, she would counter with a different day and time.
