The only other person who knew was our mother, because she’d been watching Ben.
“We were,” Jordan said.
“And you never came down to kiss your grandmother?”
I pointed at Jordan, silently letting him know it was up to him to answer.
“We wanted to give you time with the ladies, Grandma. We didn’t want to crash your party. And we didn’t want to take any of the attention away from you. It was your evening, not ours.”
I pretended to hold a glass and tip it toward my mouth, which made both of us laugh. Once I’d finished tasting Emily, my brother and I proceeded to get wasted in the suite. We’d been in no shape to go see Grandma.
“I understand that, but I want to spend time with my boys too. That means you and Gavin need to make your way over for some milk and cookies. I just made peanut butter kisses. I know how much you love those.”
Jordan patted his stomach like fucking Santa. “They’re my favorite, Grandma.”
“They’re not my favorite,” I countered.
“Don’t you worry, my pumpkin. I’ll make you some chocolate chip ones that I know you’ll love. They’ll be ready tomorrow afternoon at four. I’ll see you then.”
“I—”
“No excuses,” Grandma said, cutting me off. “I’d like you to bring Ben as well, and I’ll make my little one some cupcakes. Toodles.”
She hung up, and Jordan placed the phone on his desk.
I groaned, “That woman.”
“Did you hear how she just sold us? And gave us no choice? What if we had dinner plans? What if we had a business meeting?”
“It doesn’t matter what was planned or what wasn’t planned—when Grandma calls, we’re there. She allows for no exceptions.” I rested my arms on my legs.
“We should have used her to negotiate the Clover deal,” he said, referring to our most recent acquisition. “She’s a million times better than the both of us put together.”
I laughed. “You’ve got that right.”
Jordan looked at his phone again, and when he glanced up, I knew the message that had just come across his screen was from Maya.
“Dude, now that’s a look of love if I’ve ever seen one.” I created a gun with my fingers and pulled the trigger.
He nodded at me. “When is it your turn?”
There was no way I was going to have this conversation.
I rubbed my hand over the top of my head, ignoring the gel that was in there. “For love? Shit, I don’t know.” I didn’t know why, but I fucking hated saying those words to him. So much so, I stood to leave. “Right now, things need to be all about Ben.”
“He’s seven.”
“And?”
“And Ben wants you happy.”
Fuck, not him too.
As I was walking out, I looked at him from over my shoulder. “I am happy.”
A statement that couldn’t be truer.
“You’d be happier if you had someone like Maya in your life,” he told me.
