Page 31 of My Boss's Sons

“I can’t deal with her right now, Soph. I need to go home and see if I can get her stupid clothes off my work.” Ava glared back at Lily. “Iambeing mean but I’ve never been so angry at you, Lily. You ruined my art and that wasn’t okay.”

“I don’t want to go with you anyway! I’m angry at you, too.” Lily stuck up her nose and turned away. “John Cena doesn’t like you right now.”

“That’s enough.” Sophia turned a hard stare on her sister. “You’re the adult in this situation. You need to remember that she’s seven when you’re talking to her. You’re using a lot of phrases right now that you can’t take back. Don’t forget that you love your niece and that she’s going to be the one picking out our nursing home, so maybe don’t leave any lasting damage, huh?”

I watched Ava deflate and gained even more respect for Sophia. I wasn’t sure how she was the same woman who’d argued with me about steak earlier, but she was amazing.

“Lily, you and John Cena need to learn a lesson from this. People have boundaries and you don’t get to cross them, just because you want to. Aunt Ava’s art is off limits. It doesn’t matter what you think about them. You don’t get to shove your opinion on her or her work. Your aunt is beyond good to you and you need to respect that. And if John Cena isn’t nice to everyone in this family, he’s going to find himself in trouble. I saw you use him to hit Aunt Ava and the moment John Cena brings his fighting attitude into our house, he has to go. Do you understand me?”

Lily folded herself around the stuffed seal, whose name I was realizing was John Cena. “He didn’t do it! It was me!”

“Well, I’m never getting rid of you, so you’re safe. If you show John Cena bad behavior, though, he’s going to copy it. Be better for him.” Sophia moved around the desk and knelt in front of her daughter. “Apologize to Aunt Ava, baby. You hurt her.”

“Sorry, Aunt Ava.”

Ava sighed. “I accept your apology, but I’m still upset for now. That doesn’t mean I don’t love you to the moon and back, though. It just means I need a few hours of space to calm down.”

Sophia squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and then focused on her sister. “This isn’t okay, Ava.”

“I need some time to myself, Soph. I’m sorry, but I do.”

“Fine.” Sophia stood up and started gathering things from her desk. A notepad, a few pens, and a handful of highlighters filled her hands as she walked to the small table on the other side of her office. “Lily, you’re going to finish the work day with me, kid. Mom’s busy right now, but I want you to make me something. If you’re quiet and put up with Mom’s work, you could find yourself one ice cream richer after we leave here.”

Lily rushed over to the table. “I’m going to write a book about Aunt Ava. It’s going to be art so she can’t do anything about it.”

I barely stifled a laugh. The kid was clearly smart and being raised around artists who talked to her about freedom of expression in art.

Ava frowned but didn’t say anything to her niece. Instead, she focused on her sister. “I don’t know if I can save the painting, Soph. If I can’t, that’s weeks of work wasted.”

“Go home and try to fix it. It’s not wasted, though, Ava. You always talk about the process being so important in growing as an artist.” Sophia hugged her sister and then pushed her towards the door. “Go. Maybe visit Milo in his shed before we come home tonight.”

“Did you just tell me to get high?”

Sophia glanced around the room and seemed to register that we were still there, watching everything. Her eyes went even wider and she cleared her throat. “No. Goodbye, Ava.”

I couldn’t hold in my laugh when Sophia pushed her sister out and closed the door on her. “Wow.”

“Okay, that wasn’t great.” Sophia rubbed her hands over her thighs and blew out a deep breath. “Not my finest moment as a professional. Okay, okay. Mrs. Bush should be calling back any second. You three still haven’t eaten. Lily, did you eat lunch, yet?”

“Nope.” Lily looked up from her tell all book. “Are these your boyfriends, Mom?”

Ethan’s face nearly split in half his smile was so wide. “Your mom’s been talking about us?”

Sophia looked like she was close to throwing us out so I jumped in. “I’m Noah. That’s my twin brother, Ethan. And our little brother, Alex. It’s nice to meet you, Lily. What do you think about steak for lunch?”

“I want a burger.” Lily put down her pen and came over to take my hand. “If you take me to get a burger, I’ll let you hold John Cena while I eat it.”

Her tiny hand in mine did something to my chest to make it feel uncomfortable. I rubbed at it with my free hand and glanced at Sophia. “We’ll go to the cafeteria, if it’s okay with you.”

She winced and seemed to not love the idea. I hated that she might not trust us but she didn’t know us well enough to fully trust us yet.

“Or I can just run down and grab burgers for everyone.” I smiled at Sophia, trying to ease her stress.

She laughed and flashed a bright smile at me. “I’m not worried about you, Noah. I’m worried about my kid. She’s a talker. I’mtrying to think about the worst thing she could say and then weigh that out against how much I’m willing to be embarrassed.”

Lily tugged at my hand. “Come on, Noah.”

Sophia sighed. “Fine. Listen to them, Lily. Don’t run off and don’t forget you have ice cream on the line.”

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