Page 84 of The Worst Best Man

Aiden and Frankie shared a glance.

“All the food’s already on the table, Ma,” Frankie pointed out.

“Now.” May’s tone left no room for arguing.

Aiden felt the dull throb of the headache that Frankie had promised him begin in the base of his skull. Here it comes, he thought. There wasn’t a mother in the world whose eyes wouldn’t light up at the thought of her daughter landing a Kilbourn.

Frankie squeezed his thigh and followed her mother into the kitchen.

“What in the hell have you gotten yourself into?” May Baranski yelled from the confines of the kitchen.

“Uh, Ma likes to think the kitchen is soundproof,” Gio said.

“You’re probably going to want another beer,” Marco predicted.

“You might as well get us a round,” Hugo sighed. “Sorry, Aiden.”

“Should I go in there?” Rachel wondered.

Marco’s arm landed on her shoulders. “It would be a danger to the baby, believe me.”

“Gotten myself into? What the hell, Ma?” Frankie yelled back.

“He’s amillionaire,” May said. “You can’t handle a husband like that.”

“I hate to break it to you, Ma, but you probably have to change that ‘m’ to a ‘b,’ and I’m not looking for a husband. He’s a nice guy. We’re having a good time.”

No one in his entire life had described him as a “nice guy.”

“You’re thirty-four years old, Franchesca. Just how long are you going to wait to settle down?”

“Until I find the right guy, Ma! Not all of us get lucky and find our soulmate in junior high.” Apparently, Frankie thought the kitchen was soundproofed too.

“He’s from another world! You can’t expect to be an equal partner in that relationship!” May shouted.

“Ma! Do you think there’s any man on the planet I’d let treat me like less than?” Frankie demanded.

“I don’t like this, Franchesca. Not one bit. It’s one thing to be friends with Pru, but dating a man who owns half of Manhattan?”

“Now you’re exaggerating.”

“Exaggerating? Me? I never exaggerate!”

“She always exaggerates,” Rachel said, smiling sympathetically at him.

“Hey, Aide,” Gio said suddenly. “How you feel about the Knicks?”

“The Knicks? I think they have a shot at the semis if not the finals this year.” Aiden was grateful for the rope.

“Me and Marco have an extra ticket for the game Tuesday. You wanna go?”

Aiden tried to remember the last time someone invited him somewhere that wasn’t related to business. He couldn’t come up with anything.

The shouting from the kitchen reached a crescendo. “He’s a nice guy that I’m not marrying, Ma. Chill the hell out.”

“Don’t you swear at me, Franchesca Marie!”

“You’re the one acting like a crazy person in front of a really nice guy that I like a lot.”