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I looked at the two men, then at Tom. Jesse was still in the kitchen, and Mason was in the office. I felt strange having this conversation without everybody present.
“I really don’t want to step on anybody’s toes,” I said.
“You won’t be,” Tom said. “Trust me, Mason would be relieved to know somebody who has actual business experience is at the helm. He told me himself that when he first hired you, he asked if you could help with the business aspects. That’s how you ended up doing all of this anyway. Wouldn’t you like to have the position officially? And the pay to go along with it?”
I looked at them all again, then finally nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
The guys cheered, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Tom got to his feet.
“Come on, then.”
“Where we are going?” I asked.
“Back to the office to set you up on the computer with your own account before you’re able to change your mind,” he said.
We went back into the office, and Tom gestured toward me dramatically. “Mason, may I present the new general manager of The Hollow.”
Mason looked at me with widened eyes. “Seriously? That’s amazing. Congratulations.”
I took a step toward him, wanting to jump into his arms and kiss him, but hesitated. Emotion flickered over his eyes, and he stood up, facing Tom. The other brothers were standing behind me, wanting to witness me being phased in as the manager. I could feel tension rising in the room, but there wasn’t anything I could do to stop Mason.
“Tom, we need to talk,” he said.
“Later,” Tom said. “I want to get Ava set up on the computer and then celebrate.”
“It’s actually about Ava,” Mason said. “You need to know that I’m in love with her. I have been all along, and I’m going to be with her whether you like it or not.”
Tom stared at him for a second. “We’ll discuss this later.”
“No,” Mason said. “We’ll discuss it now. I’m not going to let you control me. Ava and I want to be together, and we’re going to be.”
Tom’s phone rang, and he reached in his pocket to pull it out. He glanced at the screen, answered it, and had a brisk conversation. He shoved the phone back in his pocket and glared at Mason.
“I have to go do some work. We’ll talk about this later.”
He turned and pushed through the rest of us to get out of the office and leave the bar. When he was gone, I turned back to Mason.
“You didn’t have to do that right then,” I said.
“Yes, I did,” he said, stepping up to me and put his arms around my waist. “I wasn’t going to wait another minute.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he leaned down to kiss me. Matt, Tyler, and Jesse backed up as our kiss became more intense. I wanted to just close the office door and be alone with him, but that wasn’t an option. We had work to do, so we had to pull ourselves apart and wait for later.24MasonI had every intention of going home with Ava the night before. After those kisses in the office, she was all that was on my mind for the rest of the night. But my brothers insisted on celebrating her becoming the general manager, which meant we spent hours after closing having drinks and eating food delivered from restaurants in the area.
Jesse had offered to do the cooking himself, but we insisted that we were celebrating him as well, so he needed to sit back and relax along with us. By the end of the night, it was obvious both Tyler and Matt were a bit the worse for wear. I had made a concerted effort to minimize my drinking, nursing one beer throughout the celebration so I would be primed and ready for when I finally got to be alone with Ava.
But when the time came for us to finally close up the bar completely and head home, it was readily obvious Tyler and Matt couldn’t do it on their own. I wasn’t going to get a chance to be with Ava that night because Jesse and I had to each claim one brother and make sure they got home safely.
I got Matt into my car and walked Ava over to hers. Taking both her hands in mine, I pulled her close and gave her a disappointed look.
“I was really looking forward to bringing you home and spending some time with you tonight,” I said.
“So was I,” she said. “But it’s okay. Your brothers need you.”
I sighed and leaned forward to rest my forehead against hers. “Why can’t Jesse take care of both of them?”
She laughed. “You know that’s not fair. Play nice with your siblings.”
“Fine,” I said dramatically. “You drive carefully home, okay?”
