Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men 9)

“I don’t know.” I moved toward him and grasped two handfuls of the front of his shirt. When I looked up into his eyes, he sighed and cupped my cheek in his hand.

“The only thing that matters is what we want. And I want you. So it comes down

to what you want, baby doll.” He arched a single eyebrow. “Do you want to drop me like a dirty rag or not?”

“No,” I whispered, leaning forward to press my face to his collarbone. “Never.”

“Good.” He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and held me against him. After resting his cheek against mine, he straightened and cleared his throat. “You know, I could afford both your and my college tuition.”

I jerked back to gape up at him, my mouth falling open. I’d had no idea he made that much from his Vines. But then I shook my head, getting past that and focusing on his suggestion. “Colton, don’t be ridiculous. You’re not paying for my college.”

“Why not? You’re giving up that money and more for me; it’s the least I can do.”

“Just…” I patted his chest and then touched his cheek, honored he even offered. “I’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah, I didn’t figure you’d accept.” He blew out a long breath. “I guess that means there’s just one thing for me to do.”

“What do you mean?” I looked up into his face, almost dreading the answer even as I asked for it. “What are you going to do, Colton?”

He shrugged. “I’m going to talk to your dad and convince him to approve of our relationship so you can keep going to college with his help.”

I stepped back. “No. What? No, that’s an awful idea.”

“No, it isn’t. Why is it a bad idea?” He looked kind of insulted by my insistence.

I pointed toward the door where my dad had just left. “You just tried to talk to him, and it only made things worse.”

“Hey.” He grasped my shoulders. “Will you trust me? I’m the king of bullshit, remember?”

“Except my father sees right through bullshit,” I growled.

“So do you, but I won you over, didn’t I?” Pressing a kiss to my forehead, he murmured, “I can win him over too.”

“How?” I asked incredulously.

He shrugged. “Easy. The most important thing in his life is you, right? I just have to make him see you’re the most important thing in my life too. I can do that.”

I blew out a breath. Yes, he could. Colton had turned out to be the best person I knew. “Okay, you’re right,” I murmured, hugging him hard. “You can do anything you set your mind to. I trust you.”

He blinked at me suspiciously. “You do? Well, of course you do. I’m awesome. But, wait. You agreed with me too easily. What’s the catch?”

I smiled and kissed his cheek. “No catch. I love you and trust you. That’s all.” But inside, I had already started to think up a way to convince my dad to give Colton a chance too. And that’s what I really trusted. Us working together through teamwork.

COLTON’S CHAPTER | 32

I stayed with Julianna until morning, and I swear we held each other a little tighter all night long as if we both feared someone was going to barge into her room and physically tear us apart, namely her dad.

After her alarm went off, we knew we needed to get up and prepare for a day full of classes, but we didn’t want to move just yet. We lay there, staring up at her ceiling as we remained wrapped around each other in our safe little cocoon.

“Is it bad that I want to hunt down your ex and kick the shit out of him for telling your dad?” I asked.

She huffed out a laugh. “Honey, get in line. I would love nothing more than to punch him in the throat right about now.”

“I can’t believe he and your dad still talk. I mean, your dad knows why you divorced him, right?”

When Julianna swallowed audibly, I looked at her. “Julianna?”

With a sigh, she closed her eyes. “I just told him I felt like I was too young to be married at that time, which was also true. So, he still kind of thinks Shaun and I will get back together again someday.”