Colorado Game - 16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER *16*

"Hi," I greeted Ross as he stepped forward, "come in." He halted when he saw my mom and smiled.

"Good evening. You must be Mrs. Norcross?" he asked, extending a hand.

"Toriello, actually, Norcross is Mark's fathers' name," she said, sending me a grin from ear to ear. "For some reason he likes that better."

He shot her such a bright smile that I almost needed sunglasses. If he was still tired, I couldn't detect a trace of it. I closed the door, relieved that mom behaved; she had even managed to get rid of her gum, which she always incessantly, and audibly, chewed. I didn’t dare take a guess as to where it had ended up.

"Please, call me Gloria," she said, motioning him to the couches. ‘Sit, sit, sit. Tell me about yourself."
He followed her and took off his leather jacket on the way, handing it to me and then sat down opposite her.

"I'm Ross. Ross Forester."

"Forester... Forester," she repeated, frowning. Then her eyebrows rose up and she pointed at me. "Forester as in Forester Group; who hired him?" she asked. He nodded and she stared at him. "Mansion up in Castle Pines Village; you're one of those Foresters?"
I rolled my eyes and groaned inwardly but Ross simply nodded.

"One of those, yes."

"Oh my god, then you're loaded," she said, letting herself fall backwards into the couch. The way she was sitting; it wouldn't take a certified doctor to locate her spleen, for god sakes. She wore a skirt that even Julia Roberts would have declined in "Pretty Woman". Half the world was her gynecologist, sitting like that.

"Mom!" I hissed, causing her to give me a disturbed glance. She made a dismissive gesture.

"Shut up, I'm trying to get to know my son-in-law."

"Mom!" I repeated a second time, while Ross laughed again.

"It's alright, Mark," he said, turning his head back to my mom. "Yes, we did pretty well."

"Pretty well? Your family is on the Forbes list." I stared at him. I hadn't even known about that. "You sure know how to pick em, kid," Mom said, shaking her head.
Then she regarded him for a little while, long enough to manage it so that Ross started to become a little uncomfortable, his eyes flicking from her to me. He coughed.

"So tell me Ross; are you a top or a bottom? You look like a top but I'm always wrong about these things. It's when you play hubby in bed, right?" I closed my eyes and hung my head, embarrassed to the core. I couldn't believe she had just said that. But Ross surprised me by replying, without missing a beat.

"I'm a top, actually," he answered. "And yes, it's when you're the hubby."
My mom clapped her hands and laughed loudly.

"I knew it! See honey? I'm getting the hang of it."
I groaned loudly now and shot Ross a look that didn't promise much good. He winked back.

"So tell me; you two already had sex yet, right? God, I can't even remember the last time I had any. The next guy I have it off with will need a pickaxe and a crowbar to break his way in." At that, Ross gave a burst of laughter, shaking his head. "So how was my boy; any good in the sack?"

"Oh, he was amazing," Ross answered, not in the least bit uncomfortable. He sent me another wink and I groaned audibly.

"Just like his father," mom said, with a satisfied grin. I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me now. "It was the only thing he was actually good at, Mark's father. Thank God my son takes after me. Is he any good at giving..."

"Okay mom, that's enough," I said, interrupting her before this would get any worse and jabbing my thumb at the door. "Time to go. You've done enough damage for one day." She jumped up from the couch, extending her hand to Ross.

"Well, I'm off. Junior’s getting antsy and I'm already late as it is. You two; don't do anything I would do," she joked, winking at Ross. He shot her another bright smile as he shook her hand.

"Sorry, but I can't promise you that."

"Good." Then she got up to her toes and whispered loud enough for me to overhear. "The rubbers are in the left nightstand. But I'd check the expiration date before you suit up."
I didn't know where to look and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the door as she wobbled behind me.

"I can't believe you said that!" I hissed whispering. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? What is he supposed to think of me now?"

"That you practice safe sex?" she answered. At the door she stopped me from pulling it sideways and turned my head her way when I refused to look at her. I felt so embarrassed. "You are safe, right? With all these sicknesses going around..."

"Mom! Please... just go." She kissed me on the cheek and patted my shoulder.

"You really need to lighten up, kid."

At that she finally left, leaving me staring after her. Then I closed the door and slowly walked back to the couches, where Ross had sat down again.

"She is... something else," he commented, shaking his head and still laughing. His eyes were twinkling.

"Don't even start with me. ‘I'm a top, actually'?" I huffed. He simply grinned.

"She tried to waltz over me; I didn't let her." He had a point there. Still, I was positively embarrassed.

"I apologize for her behavior. Sometimes she just... she doesn't think before she says something."

"Sounds familiar," he replied, rising from the couch and coming towards me. "Love the shirt." I felt a bit self-conscious and walked backwards, keeping the distance between us and chiding myself in silence for my choice of t-shirt.

"You want coffee? I'll make some." I went into the kitchen and opened some cabinets, looking for the coffee. Where the hell did I put it? My mind was a complete blank.

I finally found it just where it always is, and put it on the counter, reaching for two mugs, but Ross had followed me in there and blocked me from doing so. He set two hands on the counter, at either side of me, pinning me in place and turned me around.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice sounding a bit nervous.

"Saying hello," he answered, lowering his head. His lips brushed against mine before he pressed them on my mouth and gave me a long, slow kiss. He hummed satisfied when I opened willingly for his seducing tongue. When he finally lifted his head, the nervousness, at least, was gone.

‘Some hello," I muttered and he smiled, looking around. I finished making coffee and handed a mug to him. He followed me back to the living room, where we sat down on the floor by the ‘salon' table; two large pieces of rough wood with a glass surface placed on top, allowing your legs to go underneath, be it just barely.

"How did you get this place?" he asked.

"My uncle lived here but remarried some classy lady from New York," I answered. "My new ‘aunt' didn't want to move here, so he moved there and asked me if I wanted to take over this place. I was looking around at the time and jumped at the chance."

"How much are you paying, if you don't mind me asking?" he asked. I told him and he raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, no wonder you jumped at the chance. Normally, these lofts go for what... fifteen hundred, two thousand?" I nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, I got real lucky."

"You could say that again," Ross agreed.

"So... you live up in Castle Pines Village?" I asked. He nodded.

I've never been up there but apparently it was one of the most, if not the most exclusive park in Denver. I had heard some stories, over at FG, about the Forester house but always dismissed those as envious gossip.

"And yes, the stories you heard are true, mostly," he continued, grinning when he saw that I was about to ask him more.

"I didn't..."

"Sure you didn't," he said, knowingly. "I hear what goes around at the company, what I paid for it and such. So I thought it'd be better to just come out and say it; get it out of the way."

"Out of the way of what?" I asked, still trying to grasp the reality of it. You read about stars in the newspapers or tabloids but you never expect to actually know someone who bought a place for that kind of money.

"Out of the way as in you not being intimidated by it; it's just a house, Mark." I frowned.

"I know that. Why would I...?" I asked. He sighed.

"Most people I meet are staring blindly at the money, the materialism that surrounds it. I'd like you to look beyond that and just see me for what I am; a simple guy who is rapidly falling for you."